GROWING CHRYSANTHEMUM WITH EARTHWORMS

CHRYSANTHEMUM / Chrysanthemum  / Astercese / Grandiflorum / Garden Mum
Chrysanthemum is considered queens of the fall garden. It has about 160 species, mostly native to China, Japan and European. New hybrids come out regularly. It is a traditional cut flower and gift –plant item in the market. The rich color and endurance of the chrysanthemum blooms are unbeatable in late summer and fall.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF CHRYSANTHEMUM:
Perennials and Annuals
C. Articum-perennial, very hardy autumn bloomer, 1 to 2 inch diameter bloom, white or pinkish;  C. Balsamita-perennial, herb garden use, sweet scented foliage used in salads and sachets;  C. Carinatum/summer chrysanthemum/tricolor chrysanthemum-annual, summer and fall bloom, longlasting, showy, single, daisy-like, 2-in. wide cut flower, Court Jester is excellent strain; C. Coccineum/pyrethrum/painted daisy-perennial, bushy 2-3 feet, pink,red, and white daisy-like flowers, blooms  April to June, if cut back blooms again in late summer, excellent cut flower, divide clumps or sow seeds in spring; C. Coronarium/crown daisy-annual, yellow daisy bloom, known as shungiku, chop-suey greens, or edible chrysanthemum, can be cooked like spinach;  C. frutescens/argyranthemum frutescens/marguerite/paris daisy-perennial, short lived as summer annual too, white,yellow, or pink bloom 1.5 to 2.5 inches across; C. leucanthemum/leucanthemum vulgare/common daisy/ox-eye daisy-perennial, blooms in early spring; C. Maximum/c. superbum/shasta daisy-perennial, blooms summer and fall, gold-center-white blooms 2 to 4 inches diameter, excellent cut and border flower.

SIZE:                                      1 to 6 feet
BLOOM TIME:                     Late summer to fall
LIGHT:                                   Full sun
TIME TO PLANT:               Spring
COLORS:                               Yellow, white, red, maroon, pink, lavender, orange
SOIL:                                      Well drained, rich and loose
DEPTH:                                  3 to 6 inches to cover the roots
HARDINESS:                        USDA zone 4 to 10

HOW TO PLANT AND CARE FOR CHRYSANTHEMUM
Commercial greenhouse force mums into bloom year-round by subjecting them to artificial day length using lights and dark cloths. It is not easy to grow prize winning chrysanthemums which requires more feeding, watering, pinching, pruning, grooming and pest control; but the good news is that it is relatively easy to grown ordinary none-prize winner mums. Normally, mums will bloom in autumn. Before planting, prepare the soil one or two months ahead by digging plenty of earthworms casting with some and compost, leaf mold or well aged manure into the future chrysanthemum bedding. Plant your chrysanthemum cultivars into sunny, the prepared soil bedding in spring and put a bunch of live earthworms into the soil, you will be amazed with the results of earthworms on the growth of the plant.  Keep the mum watered during growth especially during hot summer weather. Using mulch will insure plenty of moisture in summer. When the plant is around 5 inches tall, pinch back the mum plant to force it to branch, then pinch it once again evenly as it grows, to give it a symmetrical shape.  The plant will bloom before the onset of cold weather.  Feed the plants weekly with half-strength fish emulsion. Chrysanthemums are perennials in garden cultures, they are easy to over-winter. Though some people treat them as annuals in container culture and buy new plant every year.

HOW USE EARTHWORMS TO DO THE POTTING MIX FOR CONTAINER OF CHRYSANTHEMUM:
Chrysanthemums are perennials in garden cultures but for container cultures, some people treat it as annuals and buy new plant every year. Prepare a porous, fibrous, moisture-holding planting mix by the following procedure: 1 part peat moss. 1 part other organic material such as earthworm castings, compost. Leaf mold or nitrogen stabilized bark.  1 part builders’ sand.
Water this mixture and let it stand for a week before planting. Plant the chrysanthemum into this pot and cover the root, water thoroughly immediately. Dig a small ½ inch hole beside the plant the next day and put a dozen live earthworms into it, then cover the earthworm with soil so that birds won’t come and pick them up right away.

HOW TO FIX PEST AND PROBLEMS OF CHRYSANTHEMUM:
Chrysanthemums are subject root rots when the soil is too wet and heavy. If this happens, try to mix builders’ sand into the soil or consider raising the bed of your plant. Aphids are the only known pest in all areas. Use diluted Murphy oil to spray the plant.

HOW TO PROPAGATE CHRYSANTHEMUM:
Start your chrysanthemum bed with rooted cutting from a preferred nursery or plants store. When dividing clumps, take from outside and discard the woody centers. Immediately plant the young rooted, vigorous, single stem cuttings in spring and water thoroughly, put a piece of cardboard to partially shade the new replanted chrysanthemum for a few days until you notice the vigor has returned. Water regularly and thoroughly and frequently in porous soils, less frequent in heavy soils. Some chrysanthemum species can also be propagated from seeds, although some double form flowers may not come true from seeds, new seedling offspring may revert to single flowers.