I’ve just flowered my mums

[Whatwentwrong]

I saw a post from BB that talked about keeping mums in one big pot instead of small ones. So I did, and it was better, no doubt.

 

i then started flowering the noodle in the small drobe but a few days ago I moved the noodle to the flower drobe and I had the tent on veg so I had the big pot in there but it was getting cramped which was why I moved it.

 

i put it in the small drobe and forgot to turn the light back to 18/6 so now my mums are about 3 days into 12/12. I’ve just popped it back as they didn’t really start stretching so they can’t exactly have reveg issues can they.

[lildaveham]

You should be fine if it was only 3 days. You may notice slow growth while they sort em selves out or even som odd growth but they will be fine.

 

[BilgePump]

Ah the old accidental mum flip , it's a bugger that 

 

Definitely sounds like you caught it in time dude , crisis averted 

 

[Whatwentwrong]

16 hours ago, BilgePump said:

it's a bugger that 

Certainly is  

[blackpoolbouncer]

Few days of hormonal confusion and they will right themselves.

 

Have you got your mums usung ring culture set up like mine? Be interested to see how others get on with the tec.

 

Must be over 6 months in with mine now on plain water and nothing but hair cuts.

In hindsight I'm not sure if the ring culture is necessary. Can see them staying happy almost indefinitely but having the pots does give the nice option of easy removal and reset of anything fungal or pathogenic turns up

[BilgePump]

*searches ring culture mums*

 

I'm familiar with ring culture tomato growing , assume it's quite similar..

 

[blackpoolbouncer]

@BilgePump basically the same

 

My mums stay in 0.3l pots but are placed an inch deep into larger beds, without cutting the bottom of the pots off this allows roots to grow though drainage holes and access to a large volume of compost, nutrients and water. 

 

I use large window box type planters. 2 of them means I can fit 20 or 24 mums in a 60x60 space and each plant has access to roughly 70l of soil which is self regulating no till. 

 

All I need to do to look after my mums other than pruning is give them a splash of water every few days.

 

 

Means looking after 20 odd parent plants takes less than 5 mins a week and I don't need to think about feed or worry if I forget to water for a day or 3 

[Al Swearengen]

Now why didn't I think of that 

 

All these these years keeping Bonzai mums and this is the first I heard of this @blackpoolbouncer, thanks a lot man . Makes complete sense . 

[BilgePump]

@blackpoolbouncer nice man , I like that a lot!

 

Reckon it'd work with fab pots? As I got some 1L's a while back and am struggling to find a sensible use for them.

 

[blackpoolbouncer]

@BilgePump for the bed the mums sit in yes bit not for the small pots. 

 

The reasoning for using the small pots rathe than just planting muns straight into large pots is that with a quick tug the plant is free and severs roots with the main bed should you need to remove the mother. It's very convenient without having to dig up and the stress issues that can ensue This root prunes it essentially when you lift it but still leaving an intact rootball, although I can see root pruning becoming a thing of the past tbh. Should I need to remove plants for health reasons or whatever, for example pythium attack. Easy.

 

I've kept multiple bonsai mums in large pots before but this seems to work real well.

 

Gonna have a reset soon and refresh all my parent stock. Mums have been rocking in that system for about 8 months now with no inputs but water and just two hair cuts but somme of the mums were already old when they went in and different sizes.

[BilgePump]

@blackpoolbouncer that's food for thought that.

 

Root pruning , that's my day ahead of me , gotta go through 8 dozen pot bound chrysanthemum chopping their arses off because the powers that be are too tight to buy some 2L pots.

 

Personally I don't like full on root pruning because of the shock , just lifting rooted through pots out of a bed sounds great in comparison , I want to try this!

 

Don't currently have room mind but when I refit the groom later this year I'll factor in a 60cm² mum space for this method! 

 

In the meantime I'll practice with some overwintering capsicum I have at work , see what I can do with them.

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply dude.

 

[Al Swearengen]

Are you just adding the foliage from cutting back the mothers to your window boxs/bed   @blackpoolbouncer.   , and than plain water? 

 

Does that keep the bed with adequate feed for the Bonzai ladies ? 

[blackpoolbouncer]

@Al Swearengen basically yea. I've added a few handfuls of compost just sprinkled on the clippings. Helps keep them damp and keeps the mulch working but that's it. 

 

In a closed loop system which this essentially is the only organic matter I'm removing is my cuttings which amount to a tiny bit removed. 

 

A closed system becomes richer and richer as each cycle of organic matter is turned into humus. 

 

 

Nature has all the answers as always 

[Al Swearengen]

Beautiful, thank you man @blackpoolbouncer. Looks like I'm on a mission over the next while to replace  my existing mothers with new smaller versions , as they are currently in 1L pots and that's probably too big given the efficiency of this method . I think I have 15 Bonzai mums currently so going to aim for 60x60 space like yourself. They are currently in a dr90 on its side . But that tent is on its last legs and want to update . 

 

Do you keep extraction on the mums 24/7?

 

And any issues with mold or stem rot with this method ? 

 

Thanks for the knowledge man 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2022 by Al Swearengen

[mysticriver]

5 hours ago, blackpoolbouncer said:

My mums

I know I keep asking this, but you see on the mother there, there are lots of little new growth tips? (along the branches) Do you let those grow bigger and cut off? (so that can be your clone) And do they grow some more new growth tips again from the same place?

 

 

mystic