Why, How, and When to Disbud Chrysanthemums for Big Blooms
For the largest flowers, summer is the time to disbud chrysanthemums. It is a special technique commonly used when growing mums as cut flowers or to exhibit stunning mega-sized blooms.
Chrysanthemums are a versatile and wide-ranging flower that bloom from late August through September. If you grow chrysanthemums for late-season cut flowers or to show at local flower shows or gardening groups, disbudding is a trick that can make your blooms stand out – and you may find a pair of pruning snips like these at Walmart the perfect tool for the job.
Whether you should disbud chrysanthemums depends on the type you are growing and what you want to achieve with your plants. Mums can be easy to grow and will flower perfectly well without disbudding. If you want showstopping blooms, though, I spoke with two experts about disbudding chrysanthemums.
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Why Disbud Chrysanthemums
(Image credit: Future)
Disbudding chrysanthemums encourages the plant to direct energy into fewer blooms, rather than sharing it across lots. It helps to produce larger individual flowers and stronger stems to support these blooms. These are two crucial factors if you are growing them as cutting garden flowers or looking to get exhibition-ready mums.
‘Each stem naturally sets a cluster of several flower buds rather than just one. If you leave the whole cluster, the plant splits its energy across all of them, so you get lots of small flowers,’ explains Sourav Das from Yardener, a problem-solving website that has answered over 6,000 questions from gardeners.
‘Disbudding removes the competition. By nipping off all but one or two buds per cluster, you force the plant to funnel its energy into the buds that remain, producing fewer but noticeably larger, showier flowers.’
Gardeners commonly disbud chrysanthemums for cutting or showing. The technique can also be used on plants in flower beds or chrysanthemums growing in pots to generate a balanced display of good-sized blooms. It is an optional but beneficial task to add to your summer gardening checklist. You’ll still get a colorful display from your mums without it.
Disbudding is for perennial garden and cut flower chrysanthemums (you can get seeds to grow mixed-color pompon chrysanthemums at Amazon), not for annual chrysanthemums, which are often sold in garden centers or nurseries for quick, seasonal displays.
When to Disbud Chrysanthemums
(Image credit: Alamy Stock Photos / Ernie Janes)
Start disbudding chrysanthemums when the new flower buds are visible, but small. This gives you the best chance of removing them without damaging the main buds that you want to keep.
‘Disbudding is best done as soon as the new flower buds appear,’ adds Lotte Berendsen, an expert from the plant care app PlantIn. ‘The sooner you remove axillary buds, the less energy will be lost on them.’
The buds tend to appear a few weeks before the plant starts flowering. As early-flowering chrysanthemums start flowering in mid-August, late July and early August is the right time to start scouring plants for buds to remove.
Keep checking every few weeks through the summer and disbudding chrysanthemums as required. The precise season for disbudding will depend on your hardiness zone, and it runs a bit later further south than for northern gardeners.
Remember, disbudding chrysanthemums is different from pinching out plants. Pinching is recommended to encourage branching and more blooms, and it is a chrysanthemum mistake not to pinch when the plants are 6-8 inches tall. Some gardeners may pinch chrysanthemums twice, and then disbudding follows later in the growing season.
‘In short: pinch early for a bushy plant, then disbud once buds form if you want fewer, larger, more dramatic blooms,’ advises Sourav Das.
How to Disbud Chrysanthemums
(Image credit: Future)
Disbudding chrysanthemums removes side buds to focus on the central terminal bud. Once the unwanted buds are identified, they can be removed by hand or with sharp pruning tools, such as these pruning snips from Burpee.
‘To disbud your Mums, gently pinch or cut off the buds where they meet the main stem, advises Lotte Berendsen.
She adds: ‘If you use pruners, ensure they are cleaned with rubbing alcohol (available at Amazon) to prevent transmitting bacteria.’
The buds can be pinched or snapped off by hand, but this approach requires extra care to avoid damaging the stem or the terminal bud.
‘As disbudding leaves your Mums with a single, tall flower stalk, they can become vulnerable to wind and even bend under the weight of the flower,’ warns Lotte. ‘Consider staking your bloom after disbudding to protect the main stem against breakage or falling over.’
To keep chrysanthemums blooming throughout the season, water them consistently, especially during dry spells, fertilize them with tomato feed once they start flowering, and deadhead chrysanthemum flowers to encourage new growth.
What to Shop
A pair of straight-bladed pruning snips with 190 mm chromium blades. They are ideal for precise trimming, such as disbudding and deadheading.
Organic Liquid Tomato Food
A fertilizer made from natural and organic ingredients to feed chrysanthemums during the summer and fall to keep them thriving.
Galvanized Steel Watering Can
This strong, attractive blue watering can is made of rustproof galvanized steel and contains up to two gallons of water. It has a removable rosette for delicate watering.
If you have found a chrysanthemum you adore, you can propagate it to get new plants for free. You can either divide plants or propagate chrysanthemums by taking plant cuttings. Both methods should be done in the spring, once the new growth starts showing for dividing or when the shoots are long enough to take softwood cuttings.
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