Syngenta Flowers’ Dr. Alicain Carlson joins host Bill Calkins to discuss some key components of successful cut flower mum programs. Dr. Carlson starts by discussing some of the reason cut mums are so popular before highlighting some key varieties in the Syngenta Flowers portfolio. Then she jumps right into cultural and technical tips and tricks for sending high-quality flowers to market.

From the start, you’ll need to follow some best practices when receiving and handling young plants—planting immediately, protecting the crop in hoop houses when planting them in summer, using support netting to reduce losses and more. Once they are in production, lighting and temperature are critical, and understanding the impact of photoperiod is necessary for optimum flower timing. Alicain covers all of this, as well as strategies for pinching and bud removal to enhance branching and create different forms (single bloom vs. a spray of flowers). Then she wraps up with when to harvest and tactics for postharvest care.

RESOURCES:

WATCH THE VIDEO! https://youtu.be/sSURz16OGng

SYNGENTA FLOWERS CUT FLOWER ASSORTMENT & CULTURE GUIDES: https://www.syngentaflowers-us.com/cutflowers

CHRYSANTHEMUM AGRONOMIC PROGRAM: https://www.greencastonline.com/programs/pdf/mumagronomic.pdf

ALL ABOUT SUNFINITY (VIDEO): https://youtu.be/FkNh4yDCTU8

GROWING CUT FLOWER DAHLIAS (VIDEO): https://youtu.be/ddd680snZM8