Some Horticultural Practices for Cultivation of Chrysanthemum
1. Pinching or Stopping:
The removal of the growing point of a shoot along with few leaves is termed as ‘Pinching’ or ‘Stopping’. The main objective is to encourage lateral branches to produce bushy growth and more number of flowers. The method of stopping depends upon the nature of bloom one intends to obtain. If only one bloom per plant is required, then no stopping is needed but if 3 or 6 stems are needed for the plant, stopping is essential. The top of main stem measuring 3-5 cm is removed when the plants are 8-10 cm tall. This stopping will encourage" the lateral shoots to develop from the leaf axil. First pinching is done 4 weeks after planting while second is done 7 weeks of planting i.e. during June-July.
2. Disbudding:
Disbudding means removal of all the buds except 1 or 2 on a stem. The objective of disbudding is to get large stee, quality blooms over a long period by discouraging the development of lateral shoots.
It is generally followed in big flowered varieties. In ChrysanUiemum if all the buds in one stem are allowed to bloom, the flowers become smaller in size due to the competition for food material. Therefore, in large flowering cultivars only bud per stem is allowed to bloom and others are removed or disbudded. The ideal time for disbudding is when the buds surrounding the central one have developed 5 cm long pedicles. Disbudding starts in October or as soon as the flower buds appears.
3. Deshooting:
Deshooting is practiced from time to time by removing all side shoots before they attain the size of 2.5 cm. The aim is to divert all the energy of plant towards the bud which has been retained for flowering.
4. Staking:
Staking is very necessary to provide the support whether the plants are grown in pots or in field. Chrysanthemum requires single staking for each flowering shoot of a plant to keep the stem straight which otherwise tend to bend with the weight of blooming flowers.