Al iS casen Chrysanthemum Ohbiive 
FROM THE OHIO STATE FLORISTS BULLETIN 
CUT FLOWERS 
The schedule of operations is that of Yoder Bros., 
adapted for the 40° to 45° north latitude (New 
England, New York, Pennsylvania, north half of 
Ohio, north half of Indiana, north half of Illinois, 
lowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Washington, 
and Oregon). For the latitude of 35° to 40° north 
(southern New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, 
West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern _ Illinois, 
Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, northern Arkansas, north- 
ern Oklahoma, southern Nevada, southern Utah, and 
central California) a slight modification of the sched- 
ule should be made between the dates of July 21 
and March 3 only. This modification consists of cut- 
ting off one week of long day treatment or, to state 
in another way, give short day conditions one week 
earlier than is shown in the schedule presented here. 
For more southern latitudes, other schedules should 
be consulted. 
Even though you may not be interested in chrysan- 
themums at all seasons, there is considerable interest 
in the flowering of the mum for specific periods. For 
example, the production of white, yellow, and light 
pink pompons for the spring months has been very 
profitable for some growers. The schedule can also 
be used for production of standard mums when 
natural varieties are mediocre or poor. This is well 
illustrated in December, when Smith's Late White 
and Tobin's Late Yellow may be the only varieties 
available. In this case it is quite simple to delay the 
flowers of the Indianapolis group, the Mefos, or the 
Queens for December to have good quality stand- 
ards for this period. 
CUTTINGS 
The cuttings must be taken from lighted stock 
plants, and it is simplest to buy them from the spe- 
cialist who is doing it. 
LIGHTING 
To prevent formation of flower buds the light in- 
tensity must be 10 foot-candles (F.C.), for an ex- 
tensive area, additional light is best supplied by 
bulbs near the roof of the greenhouse and you should 
consult your local light and power company con- 
cerning the cheapest method of providing the de- 
sired intensity. For smaller installations the spacing 
given below will be satisfactory for a bench 4 feet 
wide: 
60-watt bulbs in a reflector, spaced 4 feet apart, 2 to 4 feet 
above the tops of the plants. 
100-watt bulbs in a reflector, spacd 6 feet apart, 2 to 4 feet 
above the tops of the plants. 
200-watt bulbs in a reflector, spaced 8 feet apart, 2 to 4 feet 
above the tops of the plants. 
Page 28 
Lights must be used between August | and May 
15 because during this period the day length is 
short enough to cause flower buds to form on some 
of the varieties. 
Results of work by experiment stations’ and com- 
mercial firms show that best results with lights are 
secured by interrupting the night. Actually, the 
chrysanthemum is a ‘long night" plant rather than 
a ''short day" plant. This may appear to be splitting 
hairs, but flower buds can be prevented from form- 
ing by interrupting the night even though at the 
same time the day length is short. Therefore, begin 
lighting at 10 p.m. for the number of hours shown 
below: 
Month Hours of lighting per night 
August 2 
September 2"/p 
October 
November 
December 
January 
February 
March 
April 
May 1-15 
NNW ROM Bw 
Though manipulation of light to control spray 
formation is feasible, it is too complicated for the 
grower who is not a mum specialist. 
SHADING 
Between September | and February I5 the day 
length is short enough to cause flower buds to form 
on all varieties. Therefore it is not necessary to cover 
the plants with black cloth during this period. How- 
ever, if you have a number of houses or benches in 
mums and the lights are not all turned off the same 
day, then you must use black cloth as a curtain be- 
tween lighted and unlighted benches. 
TEMPERATURE 
To insure rapid vegetative growth as well as flower 
bud set, the night temperature must be 60° F. 
There are only a tew crops that can be grown with 
chrysanthemums at the 60°F. night temperature dur- 
ing the fall, winter, and early spring months. Chrysan- 
themums can be grown with roses, gardenias, and 
China asters. However, stocks, snapdragons, and 
other cool crops cannot be grown with chrysanthe- 
mums. Flowers of extra fine quality can be produced 
by gradually lowering the night temperature to 50°F. 
after the flower buds are visible. This requires more 
time than shown in the schedule and cannot be 
practiced where chrysanthemums in various stages 
ot development are being grown in the same house. 
In hot summer weather, black cloth shade should 
be applied late in the afternoon and removed later 
in the morning—this will reduce the heat under 
