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Honesdale, Pennsylvania

Has anyone had any luck saving mums and getting them to grow if you plant them. It seems a shame to keep tossing them out. I am in the Northeast so not sure if other climates have better luck. If anyone has any tips or tricks please share.

[Last edit: 10/25/24 2:50:07 PM]

10/25/2024 11:55:50 AM

Syracuse, NY

saving MUMS
https://www.bing.com/search?q=saving+MUMS&pc=GD03&form=GDAVG1&ptag=7601
I also 'Bing'ed British mums for some reason;
I think I may be in trouble, lol!
eg

[Last edit: 10/25/24 11:08:21 PM]

10/25/2024 11:04:41 PM

Bethlehem CT

I have an unheated high tunnel that I plant them in over the winter. THat has worked for me every year since I started doing it. I keep the soil very dry in the winter. I think the dry soil is what makes the difference because the high tunnel is only giving me about five degrees warmer over the outside air. For a lot of plants that are considered marginally hardy and are known to winterkill in our climate, it is crucial to have dry well drained soil in the winter months. Plants like lavendar, heaths or heathers, they will not tolerate high moisture in the winter soil.

[Last edit: 10/26/24 8:18:35 AM]

10/26/2024 8:08:23 AM

Bethlehem CT

Making sure the mums are not going to make it through the winter is crucial to mum sales. It is pretty genius marketing really. It is a type built in obsolescence to keep the customer on a short leash and coming back next year, sort of like they do with apple Iphones. They also do the same thing with hybrid tea roses, they graft most hybrid tea and grandiflora roses onto a cane from a rootstock. A rose cane will only live for so long before death takes it out, usually with in 5 years. A rose on its own roots can live for a very long long time.

[Last edit: 10/26/24 8:16:06 AM]

10/26/2024 8:15:35 AM

Gourd Zone, WA

@ bigmoon
I am guessing the moisture is a vector for diseases that these plants cant tolerate?? I bet you're right, that for some plants the winter moisture is more deadly than the winter cold.

10/26/2024 7:33:18 PM

Gourd Zone, WA

@ bigmoon
When you buy plants at the store, they have likely been propped up artificially, with very specific fertilizers, pesticides, and growing conditions. When these run out, the plant collapses. Its almost like watching an hourglass empty.

The inverse is, you can sometimes get plants that looks like crap for free, and salvage them with good results. Stressed plants may appreciate a new home, while pampered plants invariably do not.

10/26/2024 7:44:51 PM