5 Tips to Getting the Most Out of Potted Mums

Mums (full name Chrysanthemums) are such a popular flower for seasonal decorating, for many of us, it doesn’t really feel like Fall until they appear at your local Garden Center or Nursery to bring home. There’s a mum for every home, because they come in such a wide variety of colors and are such hardy plants that can thrive in large, dense clusters or with a few sisters in small pots on any surface inside or out.

If you’re planning a trip to visit one of our Garden Centers to pick up some mum arrangements, here are 5 quick tips to helping them be their best and beautiful for the whole season. Obviously these quick tips may not answer every question you have about plant care, so please don’t hesitate to ask our Garden Center associates for more ideas and information.

Prepping Your Mums for a Marathon Display: Once you pick your perfect containers of mums, make sure to also bring home a larger pot to transfer them to. If left unchecked, mums tend to get root bound, making it difficult to properly water the soil. A larger bed and pot will allow more room for the roots of this thirsty flower to spread.

Spread The Roots: After removing the mums from the purchase container, place the plant in the larger pot, maintaining the depth of soil that the plant was originally grown in. But don’t over-fill the pot. It will need an inch at the top to hold water until it can sink down into the soil.

This would also be a good time to remind you that your container pots must have drain holes. When you take the mums out of the store container to get ready to repot, look to see if the roots seem tightly bunched up, or are growing in a circular direction from the bottom – this is a sign that the small pot it was in was too small and the roots need to be loosened up so they can grow outward again. Here’s a quick video that shows you what to look for.

Don’t Drown Thirsty Flowers: While your plant is in its container, keep the soil moist, but not soaking wet. Mums are thirsty plants, so check them for moisture often.

Water them during the morning, so that the leaves have time to dry during the day. Avoid spraying water directly on the flowers, and never allow them to wilt because they will be tough to bring back.

Variety Is the Key: Place the pot of mums in an area that receives full sun in the morning and partial shade in the afternoon.

Clip Clip Clip: Removing fading, wilted or sun-starved flowers allows the plant to put more energy into producing more blooms, so don’t hesitate to thin the grouping out here and there to extend the life of the plant.

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