What Are the Chrysanthemum Varieties? Detailed Guide to Planting Methods and Timing
The chrysanthemum is the third of China's ten famous flowers, one of the four gentlemen among flowers, and one of the world's four major cut flowers. Because of the praise given to it in Tao Yuanming's poem “Drinking,” it earned the title of “hermit among flowers.” So, what chrysanthemum varieties are there? What are the planting methods and timing?
1. What chrysanthemum varieties are there?
1. By flowering period, they can be divided into summer chrysanthemums (wujiu chrysanthemums), autumn chrysanthemums, and cold chrysanthemums (winter chrysanthemums). Summer chrysanthemums flower once each in the 5th and 9th lunar months; autumn chrysanthemums are divided into early and late types by flowering period, with early chrysanthemums blooming in mid-to-late September and late chrysanthemums blooming in October-November; cold chrysanthemums bloom from December to January of the following year.
2. By flower diameter, they can be divided into large chrysanthemums, medium chrysanthemums, and small chrysanthemums. Large chrysanthemums have a flower diameter above 10 cm, medium chrysanthemums have a flower diameter between 6-10 cm, and small chrysanthemums have a flower diameter below 6 cm and belong to the baby's breath type.
3. By flower color, they can be divided into single-color chrysanthemums and multicolor chrysanthemums. Single-color chrysanthemums refer to one flower in one color, including yellow, white, purple, red, pink, green, ink, brown, gold-dusted, snow-blue, and so on; multicolor chrysanthemums refer to those with two or more colors, such as two colors on the back and front of the petals, at the two ends of the petals, or in the petals and flower center.
4. By flower type, they can be divided into flat-petal chrysanthemums, spoon-petal chrysanthemums, tube-petal chrysanthemums, osmanthus-petal chrysanthemums, and irregular-petal chrysanthemums. Flat-petal chrysanthemums have ligulate flowers extending flatly; spoon-petal chrysanthemums have ligulate flowers of an intermediate type between flat petals and tube petals; tube-petal chrysanthemums have ligulate flowers extending in a tube shape; osmanthus-petal chrysanthemums have 1-3 whorls of flat, spoon, or tube petals; irregular-petal chrysanthemums have peculiar petals, such as burred petals, dragon-claw petals, and cut-velvet petals.
2. Introduction to chrysanthemum planting methods and timing!
1. Chrysanthemum planting methods
(1) Soil: Chrysanthemums prefer sandy loam with high, dry terrain, deep soil layers, rich humus, and loose, fertile, well-drained soil. They can grow in slightly acidic to neutral soil, with pH 6.2-6.7 being better. For the growing soil, garden soil can be mixed with 1/3 rice-hull ash, or leaf mold, sandy soil, and cake fertilizer residue can be mixed in a 6:3:1 ratio.
(2) Propagation: Chrysanthemum propagation methods include vegetative propagation and seed propagation. Vegetative propagation includes cuttings, division, grafting, layering, and tissue culture, usually mainly by cuttings, while beginners can use seed propagation. Buy seeds from a flower shop, mix them evenly with a certain amount of sand, and scatter-sow them onto the seedling bed, then cover with about 1 cm of soil. After sowing, water thoroughly, keep the soil moist, and maintain the temperature at around 18°C.
(3) Temperature: Chrysanthemums prefer warmth and can also tolerate cold. The flowers can withstand light frost, and in severe winter the rhizomes can overwinter underground, but the seedling growth and branching and bud-setting stages require higher temperatures. The suitable growth temperature is 18-21°C, with a maximum of 32°C and a minimum of 10°C. The underground rhizomes tolerate a low-temperature limit of -10°C. The minimum nighttime temperature during the flowering period is 17°C, and during the middle and late flowering stages it can drop to 15-13°C.
(4) Light: Chrysanthemums prefer sunlight and are slightly shade-tolerant. They are long-night plants. Under long-day conditions of 14.5 hours per day, they carry out vegetative growth of stems and leaves. More than 12 hours of darkness per day and a nighttime temperature of 10°C are suitable for flower bud development, but different varieties respond differently to sunlight.
(5) Watering: Chrysanthemums are relatively drought-tolerant and avoid waterlogging. When watering, water again only when the potting soil becomes dry. Do not water when it is not dry; when watering, water thoroughly, and do not let water accumulate. In spring, when chrysanthemum seedlings are small, water less; in summer, when the seedlings grow larger, water adequately; before the Start of Autumn, control water appropriately to prevent the plants from shooting up and growing wildly; after the Start of Autumn and before flowering, increase the amount of watering; in winter, when flower branches basically stop growing, watering must be strictly controlled.
(6) Fertilizing: Before planting, apply sufficient base fertilizer. Afterward, apply nitrogen fertilizer once every 10 days. From bud setting to visible buds, apply a slightly stronger fertilizer solution once a week. After flowering, apply one more strong fertilizer solution, then pause fertilizing.
(7) Pinching: When the plant grows to more than 10 cm tall, begin pinching, keeping 4-5 leaves at the base. When 5—6 new leaves grow, pinch again, keeping 4-7 main branches, and promptly remove branches and buds that grow later. For the last pinching, remove excessive branches and overly vigorous and overly weak branches, keeping 3—5 branches. When buds appear, remove the buds at the lower end of the plant, leaving only one bud at the top of each branch.
2. Chrysanthemum planting time
Chrysanthemums have propagation methods such as cuttings, division, grafting, layering, and sowing. Different propagation methods mean different planting times. If by cuttings, generally carry out in April; if by division, generally carry out in March; if by grafting, it can be done in May; if by layering, it can be done in June; if by sowing, it can be done from February to April.
The above is an introduction to chrysanthemum varieties, planting methods, and timing. We hope it is useful to everyone.