As the mornings grow cooler, it’s time to get rid of your tired summer annuals and make room for vibrant blooms of fall mums. Our fall mums have been a highlight for both our customers and us. Like our homegrown spring and summer annuals, our fall mums are grown right here under our watchful eye. Explore some of the steps involved in growing mums to create the large and beautiful plants you get to enjoy all fall!
Mid-June
Our Mum liners arrive at the greenhouse, but before they do, we’ve already prepared by filling and organizing pots in our main greenhouse. This careful preparation ensures that planting day runs smoothly. We plant our mums in a variety of planters, ranging from 6″ to 14″, making sure to use the right number of plants in each planter to create a lush and stable arrangement when we’re done. Mums thrive on fertilizer, so when we water them for the first time, we include a high concentration of fertilizer along with some of our secret additives. This combination helps our plants grow strong and healthy throughout the entire season.
Late June/Early July
As our mums begin to show new growth, we transition them outdoors. Mums grown outside develop sturdier stems, which can withstand wind better than those grown in greenhouses. Ensuring proper spacing between mums is crucial as it allows them to naturally form into a well-rounded shape.
Late July/Early August
The size of the mums is starting to increase significantly. We’ve been applying our specially formulated fertilizer to promote lush growth in our mums. At this stage, you might start to notice a few buds, but ideally, we prefer not to see too many until mid-August. Our mums are grown under natural conditions, so they will naturally begin to set buds in response to changing day length and temperatures.
Late August/Early September
We usually begin offering our mums for sale when we observe color appearing in the buds. Typically, this occurs approximately two weeks after this stage, resulting in about 1/4 of the plant showing color. Another 1-2 weeks later, or mums are in full bloom.
One question we often hear is why our mums are not blooming in mid-August like the box store mums are. We simply don’t want them blooming that early.
