A Detailed Guide to Chrysanthemum Seed Selection and Seedling Raising Methods

Chrysanthemum is one of China's top ten famous flowers, and is mainly divided into ornamental and medicinal types. Many regions now grow chrysanthemums, so how should you select seeds when growing them? What seedling raising methods are there? Let's find out together.

How to select chrysanthemum seeds?

Chrysanthemums are mostly propagated by cuttings, which is a form of asexual reproduction, so seeds are rarely used. Chrysanthemums do indeed have seeds, but not that many, and in many cases even when seeds are produced they are usually kept for personal use, so most chrysanthemum seeds on the market are fake. The rarer something is, the harder it is to buy, and the more fakes there will be. So when buying chrysanthemum seeds you must pay attention to a few points. First, buy from legitimate seed merchants, where after-sales service is guaranteed. Second, check the production date, variety and anti-counterfeiting mark on the packaging to avoid buying fake seeds.

What seedling raising methods are there for chrysanthemum seeds?

1. Soil selection

When sowing chrysanthemums you should choose loose soil rich in organic matter, and apply a certain amount of decomposed organic fertilizer as a base fertilizer before sowing.

2. Sowing method

When sowing chrysanthemums, mix the seeds evenly with a certain amount of sand and scatter them evenly over the seedbed, then cover with about one cm of soil.

3. Transplanting at the right time

When chrysanthemum seedlings grow 4 to 5 true leaves, they can be transplanted into nutrient pots and pinched, and during the seedling growth period no additional topdressing is needed, so as to avoid excessive vegetative growth of branches and leaves that would affect flowering.

4. Care and management

Chrysanthemum is a typical short-day flower, forming flower buds and blooming only when the daily sunshine is relatively short. During the vegetative growth period it needs 14.5 hours of sunshine per day, and during the flower bud differentiation period it needs 12 hours of sunshine per day. Chrysanthemums have a relatively large demand for water but are afraid of waterlogging, especially during vegetative growth, when growth is fast and water demand is high, making them very prone to water shortage, so water frequently, but be careful not to let water accumulate.

5. Pinching management

Once the chrysanthemum plant grows to more than 10 cm tall, you can begin pinching. When pinching, keep only 4 to 5 leaves at the base of the plant and remove all the upper leaves, and the branches and buds that grow later should also be removed promptly.

6. Pest and disease control

The main diseases of chrysanthemum include rust, black spot and gray mold, which cause relatively great harm to the growth of chrysanthemums, so appropriate control must be carried out during chrysanthemum cultivation. Rust harms leaves and stems, with leaves suffering the most, and can be sprayed with a 500-fold dilution of 65% zineb wettable powder. Black spot mainly harms leaves and can be controlled by spraying an equal-amount Bordeaux mixture. Gray mold harms flowers, leaves, stems and so on, and in the early stage of onset can be sprayed with a 500-fold dilution of 65% zineb wettable powder.

The above is an introduction to chrysanthemum seed selection and seedling raising methods. Different chrysanthemum varieties have somewhat different growing methods, so you can follow the requirements of the actual variety. Is there anything you would like to add about chrysanthemum seeds and seedling raising?

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