Garden Mum Crop Scheduling October 3, 2018 Mark Smith mark.a.smith@syngenta.com 2018 Syngenta. Some or all of the varieties may be protected under one or more of the following: Plant Variety Protection, United States Plant Patents and/or Utility Patents and may not be propagated or reproduced without authorization. The trademarks or service marks displayed or otherwise used herein are the property of a Syngenta Group Company.
How do mums flower? Two ways to cause flower bud initiation and development Short days (long nights) Cool temps primarily night temp Critical temp generally considered about 16 C to 17 C
What is a short day? We conducted a simple photoperiod screen of a range of varieties. Full range of natural response from very early to very late Plants received the photoperiod treatment until open flowers My hypothesis was that 12.5 hours of darkness was more than what is needed for flowering of most of our garden mum varieties.
What is a short day? Four treatments based on night length: 13.5 hour, 11.5 hour, 10.5 hour, and 9.5 hour nights We found similar flowering response for most all varieties in 13.5 hour and 11.5 hour nights
What is a short day? Decreasing the night length to 10.5 hours did delay flowering for some varieties (later natural response varieties) But they did flower Most varieties delayed flowering when the night length was reduce to 9.5 hours Most Mid season and earlier varieties did flower Some of the later varieties would likely never flower
Photoperiod Trials 13.5 hour night 11.5 hour night Elena Gold Dawn Yellow Hannah Orange Fiona Coral Orange Hestia Hot Red 10.5 hour night Trials in Gilroy, California, 2016 All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.
Photoperiod Trials 13.5 hour night 11.5 hour night Gigi Orange Danielle Purple Beverly Bronze Chelsey Yellow Chelsey Pink 10.5 hour night Trials in Gilroy, California, 2016 All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.
What is a short day? Flowering initiation must occur under daylenghts that are longer than 12 hours Natural 12 hour days start around Sept. 20 14.5 hour days will cause flowering for most early natural season varieties You will need to manipulate daylength to prevent flowering when the natural daylength is 14.5 hours or less Unless you are using very late natural flowering varieties
How to keep mums growing
Prevent Premature Flowering Focus on flower buds not crown buds Trial in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2011 All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.
Prevent Premature Flowering Focus on flower buds not crown buds Trial in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2011 All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.
Prevent Premature Flowering Focus on flower buds not crown buds Trial in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2011 All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.
How to Prevent Premature Flowering Lights and temperature are the tried and true system Night interruption lighting works year-round at any latitude 10 ftc of light from 10 PM to 2 AM each evening Breaks up the long dark period into two short nights that will not cause flower initiation Maintain night temps above 18 C
How to Prevent Premature Flowering Florel plant growth regulator may help Can be used to compensate for marginal day length and night temperatures It is a preventative tool, not curative Develop a plan to begin with to prevent problems Be careful not to apply too much or too frequently It is a growth retardant, so some GA 3 may be needed as a tank mix
Florel with Garden Mums If you are planning to use Florel plant growth regulator First application should go on during propagation Applications should be repeated every two weeks Applications should stop two weeks before blackcloth starts or approximately eight weeks before desired ship date Typical rates vary from 350 to 500 ppm
Bertha White 4, 6, 11 Weeks After Transplant August Crop Trial in Orange, Virginia, 2014 All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.
Hestia Hot Red 4, 6, + 12 Weeks After Transplant August Crop Trial in Orange, Virginia, 2014 All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.
Florel with Garden Mums Florel plant growth regulator is a tool to prevent early flowering It is not perfect It will not work for all varieties late in the fall Natural pressure to flower caused by short days and/or cold nights can be too much for Florel to stop Proper variety selection can help Florel be more successful
Elena Gold 3, 5, + 7 Weeks After Transplant October Crop Trial in Orange, Virginia, 2014 All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.
Makayla Yellow 3, 5, + 7 wks after transplant October Crop Trial in Orange, Virginia, 2014 All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.
Keep mums actively growing Do not over root - transplant on time Keep feed and moisture in the pot More ammonium in the fertilizer mix appears to help stimulate vegetative growth Keeping the moisture in the pot more consistent encourages growth Less dry down between irrigations from more frequent applications Not more volume at the time of irrigation
How to get mums to flower
How do growers initiate flowering? Naturally For east coast growers in North America, this means allowing the plant to initiate flowers once the photoperiod is short enough Critical photoperiod varies by variety In addition, flowering response after initiation also varies by variety These two factors determine the natural flowering date for every variety
How do growers initiate flowering? Naturally For west coast growers with cool nights (below 16 C) on a regular basis during the summer months in North America, this means allowing plants to initiate flowers by exposing them to natural temperatures after sufficient vegetative growth Plants can flower during 14.5 hour days
How do growers initiate flowering? Cool nights will influence natural crops flowering by photoperiod East coast growers will see faster natural flowering during a cool summer versus a hot summer Temperatures around the time of flower initiation can have the greatest influence Shorter days will influence natural crops flowering by temperature West coast growers will see faster flowering later in the season, as the daylength gets shorter Adjustments to the crop schedule are required to obtain sufficient plant size
How do growers initiate flowering? Artificially, with the use of blackcloth Allows the grower to control when initiation occurs to make the flowering date more predictable Being used more than in the past Temperatures can still have an influence: Cold nights can cause initiation before blackcloth starts Warm nights can delay initiation even with blackcloth
Can we compensate for weather? Overcome early season cold temps when you want vegetative growth Keep crop indoors where you can artificially manipulate temperature to stay above 18C Maybe in the finishing container or maybe by growing an oversized liner to allow transplant outside at a later date Set-up a Florel plant growth regulator program and continue sprays outside as needed based on predicted temperatures
Can we compensate for weather? Overcome late season high temps when you want flowering Influence of high temperature is greatest when the photoperiod is close to the critical daylength Night temperature is more important than day temperature Stagnant air is worse than moving air for high temps
Can we compensate for weather? Overcome late season high temps when you want flowering Use blackcloth for 7 to 14 days around initiation to increase the photoperiod pressure Our At-A-Glance table indicates which varieties are more tolerant of high temp in blackcloth
Ways to speed up flowering Fertilizer Less ammonium or urea late in the crop Switch to nitrate based nitrogen Reduction in overall concentration can also be beneficial Temperature If possible, allow the night temperature to drop below 17 C at the point of flower initiation
What is Causing the Difference in Flowering? Photos taken in Cheshire, Connecticut, 2012 All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.
Ways to speed up flowering Water Allow the plants to dry down more between irrigations Light This will also help control plant size More light will speed up flowering In some cases, extra shading to reduce temperatures cause a delay in flowering because of the reduction in light Blackclothing for more hours than needed reduces the amount of light the crop will receive
How to build a mum program
Initial Questions to Ask When do you need to ship? And what stage of color? What pot size? Pint/Qt, 6-inch, 8-inch, 10- to12-inch, 14-inch and larger
Key Point to Remember Flower Date versus Ship Date Our flower date represents some open flowers on the plant. Buds cracking color is roughly 7 to 10 days earlier in blackcloth and 10 to 14 days earlier for natural crops. Ideal wholesale ship stage is likely between cracking color and our flower date.
Key Point to Remember Stage 1 bud color, typical wholesale ship stage Stage 2.5 some fresh flowers, our catalog response Trial in Monroeville, New Jersey, 2013 All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.
Ready Date determines everything If need to ship wk 34 or earlier, Should plan for a blackcloth crop unless reliable cold nights similar to the west coast Check Blackcloth Recommended Table If need to ship wk 36 or later, Could be grown based on natural photoperiod or with blackcloth Check Fresh All Fall table for natural crops
Understanding the Tables Blackcloth Shorter list of varieties Varieties that work well in blackcloth programs that are grouped based on flowering response and finished size Variety groups with less vigor at the top of the table, more vigor as you go down the table Ready date should be faster than the response listed if shipping at the typical wholesale flowering stage about 7 days earlier
Crop Schedule This does vary depending on the grower Use this as a very general guide and fine tune based on your own experience Schedule is based on 3.0 qt. pots for a big box retailer
Crop Schedule Overall 12 week crop time starting with an unrooted cutting Propagation = 3 weeks Actual time is closer to 17 days Long day growth = 3 weeks If only 14 days in prop, make Long Day period 4 weeks Short day growth and flowering = 6 weeks Plant with bud color but not flowers
Crop Schedule If planning to pinch the cuttings Add at least one week of long day time If planting cuttings deep Add at least one week of long day time Compact growing varieties will require more long day time to reach the desired finished plant size
Crop Schedule For pots larger than 3.0 qt. Some growers use the same grow time and add more cuttings to fill out the pot Some growers use additional long day weeks to increase plant size Some growers do both For pots smaller than 3.0 qt. Reduce the number of long day weeks
Key Points to Remember Long days = Bulking or growing Mums grow more per week in late June/July/early Aug than in May/early June or late Aug./Sept. Compensate with better growing conditions or additional growing time Natural daylength is not long enough to prevent bud initiation in May and August Variety and latitude dependent
Example Crop Wk 37 ship of 3.0 qt. and 1.5 gal. pots This can be done as a natural crop Fresh-All-Fall table indicates the following families will flower for this timing: Chelsey family for Yellow, Pink and White Danielle family for Red and Purple Beverly family for Bronze, Orange, or Dark Bronze Twelve weeks before ship is Week 25
Example Crop Wk 37 URC Ship Night Interruption lighting URC Stick Transplant Natural day length Ship 3.0 qt. with 1 ppp 1.5 gal. with 3 ppp Week 25 Week 25 Week 25.5 Week 28 Week 28 Week 37
Example Crop Wk 33 ship of 3.0 qt. and 1.5 gal. pots This will require blackcloth Blackcloth table indicates the following families will flower with similar timing and vigor: Chelsey family for Yellow, Pink and White Danielle family for Red and Purple Beverly family for Bronze, Orange, or Dark Bronze Twelve weeks before ship is Week 21
Example Crop Wk 33 URC Ship Night Interruption lighting URC Stick Transplant Blackcloth Ship 3.0 qt. with 1 ppp 1.5 gal. with 3 ppp Week 21 Week 21 Week 21.5 Week 24 Week 27 Week 33
Thank You 2018 Syngenta. Important: Always read and follow label instructions. Some products may not be registered for sale or use in all states or counties and/or may have state specific use requirements. Please check with your state or local extension service to ensure registration and proper use. Some or all of the varieties listed herein may be protected under one or more of the following: Plant Variety Protection, United States Plant Patents, Utility Patents, and/or Plant Breeders Rights and may not be propagated or reproduced without authorization. All trademarks displayed or otherwise used herein are the property of their respective owners. Photos are either the property of Syngenta or used under agreement.