Updated at: 13-10-2022 - By: Sienna Lewis

What influences the flowering of mums will help you keep them from blooming too early. Premature budding is more common in mums and chrysanthemums than in other types of flowers, resulting in a shorter lifespan and the initiation of flower buds before the reproductive stage has even begun. For gardeners, a lack of production and poor plant performance can be distressing.

In a greenhouse, the ideal circumstances for growing mums can be easily met, as they are quite easy to cultivate. Hardiness zones 5 to 9 make them one of the most difficult flowers to grow. It is best to keep an eye on their flowering variables and prevent them from blooming too early in the fall if you want the best results.

Learn How To Keep Mums From Blooming Too Early

Temperature, day length, and care are the primary factors that contribute to early blooming or premature budding of mums. When it comes to controlling elements like this, a greenhouse is the best option. Flowers are grown in indoor greenhouses for the same purpose.

Temperature

Mums can blossom early if they are subjected to conditions like as high temperatures, heavy rain, or low relative humidity. As a result, growing these flowers indoors can keep them safe from environmental stressors while still meeting their optimum nutritional needs. If you plant or even transplant chrysanthemums too early, the chilly temperatures outside will produce early blossoming, which is why it’s better not to do so.

During the vegetative period, the plants will be too short. Premature budding in mums is a result of both severe rain and low relative humidity damaging the roots. What are the ideal circumstances for moms in a greenhouse?

The ideal temperature for moms is between 65 and 70°F, and the relative humidity should be between 70 and 90%. But when is the best time to move mums outside without causing them to bloom too early? This will vary by location, but in general, keep an eye out for mothers who have been exposed to inclement weather.

Day period

Another approach to prevent mums from blooming too early is to manipulate the day period. A 4-hour nighttime break will keep the plants in their vegetative phase, for example, Keep your cuttings in propagation year-round if you’re in the South.

How To Keep Mums From Blooming Too Early - Krostrade

Depending on your variety, Florel can also help postpone flowering. Apply it a week after transplanting or when the mums are completely rooted in their new homes. Because Florel has a number of limitations, gardeners advocate using lighting and temperature to minimize early budding.

Maintenance

Mums bloom at different times depending on the weather and the amount of light they are exposed to. Premature budding can also be a result of poor care. Misting the plants can help alleviate the effects of heat and hard weather, preventing stress and root damage.

Early flowering can be prevented by keeping mothers adequately hydrated until they reach 60% of their full size. Low fertility will also limit the vegetative growth of your plants, causing them to reproduce before they reach their appropriate size. Premature budding can be prevented by feeding the mother plants properly after transplanting.

If you’ve recently transplanted chrysanthemums, phosphorus-rich fertilizer is recommended by experts. As a result, they will be more likely to root and generate lateral breaks rather than reproduce. Plant growth is slowed and stressed when using control-release fertilizers, therefore exercise caution while using these.

Pinch flower buds and fertilize if your mums do really begin flowering prematurely. If you do it early enough, there shouldn’t be much of a delay in their development.

Why Is It A Problem When Mums Bloom Too Early?

Prematurely blossoming mums give gardeners fits, so why do we have to prevent them? Let’s pretend you’re a commercial grower of mums. The earlier they bloomed, the further ahead you’ll be in terms of sales.

When you’re trying to keep to a timetable, it might be aggravating if certain moms bloom earlier than others. You’ll get dead flowers and lower quality if the plants stop growing earlier than necessary. A smaller plant with fewer stems and no leaves even if they don’t die.

The gorgeous round growth of mothers is well-known, yet early budding will result in an uneven appearance instead. As long as you’ve got a decent handle on how to care for mums, you can keep them from flowering too early.

Preventing Premature Budding in Mums

When it comes to moms, premature budding is a typical issue that many mum growers encounter. In certain cases, a full crop may come into flower early, while in other cases, it may be distributed throughout the crop. The budding process can be uneven and premature in some plants. Sales will be affected if mums bloom too early or are inconsistently flowering. Is there any way to prevent premature budding?

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Concerns with Premature Budding

Premature budding can occur in any one of three ways. It is possible for the entire mum crop to bloom prematurely, causing you to miss your planned selling date. As a second point, a small number of moms will experience premature budding, and this problem can be more prevalent with certain cultivars than others. This means that some mothers will be ready too early, while others will be on time for their due dates. Premature budding only occurs in a small percentage of a plant’s leaves, stems, and flowers.

There is an issue, however, because stems or sections of the plant that bud up early will cease growing and begin flowering before the remainder of the plant does. This causes holes in the plant’s floral canopy, where short branches with dead flowers protrude before the remainder of the plant has bloomed. This, as expected, has a negative impact on the plant’s quality.

An early bud emergence in a mother who was subjected to extremely low temperatures throughout the night time.

It has previously been stated that early budding on a mom or part of a mum affects stem growth and plant size. Because they no longer produce leaves or nodes, stems can no longer grow to their full potential. An unbalanced mom with some of its stems prematurely budding will have an unattractive round habit, while a whole crop that blooms prematurely will not have enough time to expand to its full potential.

In addition to lowering branching and growth rate, water stress can limit plant size by reducing branching and slowing down growth. As a natural plant growth regulator, this phenomenon is frequently observed in greenhouse crops where water is withheld. Don’t allow mums wither while they’re growing in order to get the most out of your plants!

Premature Budding in Cuttings

Whether the cuttings are rooted or not, premature budding can occur at any point of mum crop production. If cuttings are received with flower buds, rooting them into the growing medium and pinching them should have no effect on flowering time. In order to prevent flower buds from forming on the side branches, it is necessary to maintain a steady supply of water and nutrients.

Get the growing medium wet before inserting cuttings to avoid water stress and wilting, which can lead to plant death. To avoid stress and early blossoming, fix any nutritional shortages in mum cuttings as soon as possible.

Causes of Premature Budding – Lack of Water and Fertilizer

When the days begin to shorten in the late summer/early fall, mums begin to spontaneously initiate buds. When the days are longer, early season mums begin to bloom, and when the days are shorter, late season mums begin to bloom. Premature budding can be caused by a lack of hydration or fertilizer, both of which can be controlled by the grower.

Premature budding can occur if a mum wilts in its first 4-5 weeks after planting, thus it’s better to avoid this. Periodic tissue testing and monitoring of fertilizer salt levels in the growing medium will help identify any nutritional shortages or pH issues that may arise. The main purpose of nitrogen is to promote vegetative development, so it’s critical that no element, including nitrogen, is lacking. You should be aware that slow-release fertilizers will ultimately run out of nutrients, especially if you use them over prolonged periods of time while it is extremely hot outside.

Premature budding can occur in young mothers who have been underfertilized or who are nutritionally deficient. Predominant Technology (PT)

Causes of Premature Budding – Cold Temperatures

Several cool evenings below 50°F can override the day length and have a significant impact on floral bud initiation. Temporarily increasing water soluble fertilizer application rates to 300-400 ppm nitrogen during and shortly after these cold nights is one somewhat successful option. The plant will remain in the vegetative stage if you do this. If the controlled release fertilizer you’re using doesn’t already have high nitrogen levels, you might be able to get by with adding an extra 100 ppm of nitrogen.

There is no way to stop the initiation of flowers once they have begun. A plant or other plant that has not yet begun flowering will not if nighttime temperatures do not fall below 60 degrees.. Pinch the buds off of individual moms if they begin to form. Because these stems may not generate buds at the same time as other plant parts, holes may appear in the plant’s flowering canopy.

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Premature budding can delay flowering by up to two weeks, depending on the period of the crop cycle in which it occurs. High temperatures (over 90°F during the day and/or 75°F at night) may also delay flowering, so keep this in mind while planning your garden.

Other Causes of Premature Budding

Premature blossoming can be caused by excessive fertilizer application or a controlled release fertilizer that releases too much fertilizer on hot days. Premature flowering can also be caused by any disease that affects plants. Root-bound cuttings, overcrowding, or incorrect plant spacing are all potential causes of slight premature budding. Premature budding can be reduced by lowering plant stress, which includes, but is not limited to, lack of water, inadequate fertilizer, and cold nights.

Conclusion

Preventing premature budding is essential if you want to produce high-quality, healthy, and well-rounded mothers. When you know the three things that influence the budding of mums, it’s easy to prevent them from blooming too early. temperature, daytime and adequate maintenance are all factors to consider.

In the greenhouse, all of these concerns may be easily controlled. Premature budding can be caused by a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, low humidity, illumination, and even a lack of water and fertilizer. You can keep the moms stress-free in the greenhouse by keeping the temperature and humidity at their ideal levels.

If they are well-watered and fed, they will also continue to grow, rather than quickly entering the reproductive part of their life cycle.