A.B.C. Special Wholesale Price List Mums for 1946 

CHRYSANTHEMUMS by Atex Laurte 
Continued 
PROPAGATION 
Three to four inches of sharp sand that is well 
drained is the most satisfactory rooting medium. 
Steam sterilization of the sand prevents damping- 
off, stem rot, and infection from verticillium wilt. 
Three- to four-inch cuttings from stock plants should 
be firm and if soft enough to root rapidly removal 
of only a few lower leaves is necessary. Treat- 
ment with growth substances and bottom heat 
hastens rooting. Protection with paper or cloth the 
first few days prevents flagging. Cuttings should be 
rooted in two to four weeks. Potting the unrooted cut- 
tings in 2¥2-inch pots in light soil (2 soil and 1 sand), 
covering with cloth, syringing frequently, is new but 
very successful. It saves one operation and plants 
so produced are soft and vigorous. No special at- 
tention is necessary other than syringing. Planting 
unrooted cuttings in the growing bench 8 x8 inches 
is not recommended because of unsatisfactory re- 
sults unless very closely watched. Do not propagate 
too early or the plants will become hardened be- 
tween the time they are stuck as cuttings in the 
propagation house and the day they are planted in 
the bench. 
Buying Cuttings 
The trend now is to buy cuttings every year in- 
stead of attempting to carry over stock plants. There 
are a number of valid reasons for so doing. In the 
first place, few growers are either equipped or care- 
ful enough to produce verticillium free cuttings. This 
should be left to a specialist. Secondly, the space 
occupied by the stock plants could be utilized to bet- 
ter advantage. Third, propagation has to be done 
when you are busiest—in the spring. In addition, un- 
less stock plants are given adequate care, some vari- 
eties will die out and you will be taking cuttings from 
the remaining ones, even though these are not the 
kinds you need to grow. Your balance of colors, sea- 
sonal cut, becomes disturbed. So in general, most 
growers have found it more economical and satis- 
factory to buy cuttings as they are needed. 
YOUNG PLANTS 
Rooted cuttings may be potted in 2¥2-inch pots or 
placed directly in the bench where they are to be 
grown. The potted plants may be allowed to grow 
enough to take a top cutting from them, but they 
should never be allowed to become hard and pot 
bound. (Fig. 2.) Loss of lower foliage upsets methods 
of pinching and such plants are hard and woody and 
require considerable time to develop new leaves. 
PLANTING 
The usual distance is 8x8 inches for standards, 
pompons, and disbuds. Greater distance on strong 
spreading varieties may be necessary. For stand- 

PETE ROBERTSON (Right) of Yoder Bros., delivers a shipment 
of rooted cuttings for air-express shipment. 
ards one plant per hill is recommended, and they 
should be pinched to give two or three stems rather 
than use two or three plants per hill. The plants 
should be set so that there is a dish in the soil with 
the stem in the center of the dish. This practice facili- 
tates spot watering, which is recommended until the 
plants have become established. Syringing of the 
foliage prevents wilting and helps the pliant get 
started. 
For early flowering the plants should be benched 
by the middle of May. Mid-season and later vari- 
eties should be planted from the last of May until 
July 1, except those which are shaded. Plants to be 
shaded should be benched by June 1 in order that 
sufficient growth is made to give necessary height 
before shade is applied. 
WATERING 
Profits or losses are often determined by the man 
with the hose. (Fig. 3.) In the early stages spot 
watering around the plants is preferred to watering 
the entire bench. When the plants are well estab- 
lished, the bench should be given a heavy watering 
and this practice should be continued until maturity 
of the crop. When watering is done it should be 
thorough in order to insure wetting of all parts of the 
soil in the bench. The soil should dry in between 
waterings but the plants should never wilt. Steam 
sterilized soil requires more water than unsterilized 
soil. In steam sterilized soil the granulation of the 
soil permits rapid passage of water, and the soil in 
Please turn to page 11 
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