Cabal 
BETTER MUMS FOR 1946 FROM— 7 pia 
may not make a crown bud at all. The terminal or final bud comes usually surrounded 
by a few smaller ones or in a cluster. The larger center one is “taken” or “left,” as you 
choose to express it, to become the flower. The crown bud might be referred to as a 
premature one, tho with some varieties it may, with favorable weather, make a good 
and an earlier flower. However, it does not generally produce the true shade or color 
of the variety it represents. When crown buds develop early they should generally be 
pinched out and the strongest break that follows selected to carry on. Except with a few 
extra early kinds, the next bud to form should be a terminal bud. 
AS-POT PLANTS 
From early until late fall the florists’ pot plant business is quite monopolized by the 
Mum in all its many types. Considering that practically all their development is made 
outside the costly overhead of artificial heat, the margin in growing them at prevailing 
prices is pretty good. There should be little or no losses connected with them for the 
flowers of unsold plants can be used as cut material. 
Today’s method of producing pot plants is not only more economical than that of the 
past, but it makes for greater compactness, a highly desirable point in any pot plant and 
it is sometimes missing in pot Mums. The general procedure is to plant 4 rooted cuttings 
or small pot plants in a 6 in. regulation deep pot that is generally preferred for pot Mums 
to the shallow pot or pan. Just why, I can’t say. In our latitude this is usually done the 
first half of July with the early varieties, and some later will do for the Thanksgiving 
kinds. If the plants are to be shaded for early flowering, the planting into flowering pots 
should be done a few weeks earlier. While some planting is done directly with rooted 
cuttings, the most uniform results are to be had by using nicely started small pot plants. 
Uniformity in growth is a more important point in a pot plant than in a bench crop. 
When the cuttings get up 6-8 in. they should be topped back nearly half way down, later 
disbudded down to about 3 breaks to each plant. These breaks are again topped. Should 
the planting or potting of early varieties be done early in August, an additional cutting 
might be used to advantage, for some might not be strong enuf to make more than two 
good breaks. Furthermore, the late kinds, unless they are to be shaded, will generally 
have time enuf to get plenty tall from an early August planting. The cuttings available 
from the earliest topping are sometimes rooted and used for direct planting into 5 or 6 
in. pots. 
The best results with Mum pot plants are had on raised benches of low well ventilated 
greenhouses. The best growers use no material on the benches, because the moisture 
it gives off encourages decay of lower leaves. However, while they will take hold and 
start more promptly under glass, they can be very well grown in the Open or moved 
into the open after an indoor start. In fact, to grow outdoors thru the hottest part of 
summer naturally insures a greater degree of compactness than will a hot greenhouse, but 
with the coming of cooler nights get them under glass to finish. The open air also has 
some advantage in greater freedom from insects, excepting perhaps the grasshopper. 
D.D.T. might fix him. When outdoors, watering must be watched more carefully. They 
do dry out rapidly and the tendency to over or under water might be increased, particularly 
if they are partly plunged. In fact, we feel safe in saying that under our conditions the 
outdoor advantages for the pot plant grower are largely offset by the disadvantages. Be- 
sides, with the standard price of well grown pot plants at around $2.00 wholesale, the 
indoor space can be well afforded. 
Another plan is sometimes used that is not nearly so costly and might be equally 
profitable. We refer to growing the plants in the open ground outdoors until early fall 
then potting them individually into 5 or 6's. To make a shapely plant, this plan calls 
for naturally compact small flowered varieties and more attention to pinching thru the 
summer. With some protection from sun and air for a few days after potting they re- 
cover surprisingly well, especially during the cool days of fall. The early hardy ones are 
Thirty-six 
