Chrysanthemums or mums are shrub-like plants that bloom in the fall. Mums originated in ancient China and Japan. Nowadays, mums are the first choice for gardens because they’re enduring and versatile.
Whether looking for a perennial plant to serve you all year round or for vibrant colors to boost your garden in the fall, mums are your best option. However, mums need fertilizing and pruning to survive cold winters and be able to bloom again.
With the following simple tips and tricks, you’ll learn how to get mums to bloom in the fall. We’ll also show you how to store them in the winter for the next fall bloom.
How Do You Make Your Mums Bloom Again?
After a cold winter, your mums may not look so good. They’re probably full of dead flowers and stems. Before losing all hope of reviving your mums, try the following methods.
Remove Old Flowers
Mums often bloom sometime in late July or early August. The flowers stay colorful and vibrant throughout September and October and begin to wither by November.
Once the temperature starts dropping, flowers begin to die quickly.
Regularly deadheading old flowers is the first thing you need to do to get your mums to bloom. Deadheading flowers is to remove the dead flower and its stem so a new healthy flower can grow.
Remove dead flowers from your mums throughout fall to keep the colorful appearance of the plant, then remove all flowers when they wilt at the beginning of winter.
To deadhead the flowers, you need to pinch or cut the stem off the flower. You only need to remove the dead flower and its stem and leave the healthy part beneath.
Deadhead flowers regularly to ensure healthy blooming mums.
Prune Mums Seasonally
If deadheading your mums didn’t do the trick, pruning them is your answer. Mums need pruning when they’re overgrown and to motivate growth and blooming.
1. Shaping
Mums are shrubs, and they’re supposed to be round, so when you find your mums growing vertically, it means it’s time to trim them into shape.
2. Growth and Blooming
Prune your mums after the fall blooming season. Once the mums stop blooming, you need to grab your garden shears and trim your plant till they’re 6 inches above the ground.
Fertilize Your Mums Before Blooming
Fertilizing your plant is vital to help them survive winter and bloom later in the fall.
Fertilize your mums regularly with fertilizers rich in nitrogen and potassium before the blooming season. Stop fertilizing them once the flower buds start to come in.
How Do You Keep Fall Mums Blooming?
Once it’s fall, you’ll need to follow these easy steps to keep mums blooming all season long.
Give Your Mums Room to Grow
Mums don’t like crowded places, so you should repot the plant in two or more pots when it overgrows its current position. You can also propagate your stems and replant them in your garden.
Mums Love Fall Sun
Mums thrive on short days and long nights. They need either full or partial sunlight to bloom.
Provide Water Regularly
If you prefer potted mums, make sure it drains well. Mums don’t need watering every day, but they need constant observation.
Whenever you feel that the soil is becoming dry, it’s your sign that the plant needs watering. Water every other day, but don’t over water the soil.
How to Store Your Mums During Winter Until Next Fall?
After the blooming season in the fall, mums need to be stored in a place out of the cold and in the sunlight.
The place to store mums is inside, in front of a window where it can get enough sun. You can also cover your mums with a plastic cover allowing sun exposure.
Our Final Thoughts
The answer to how to get mums to bloom is to provide them with plenty of sunlight for a limited time of the day and water every other day. That’s because mums grow in the fall and thrive in fall weather.
You should also deadhead old flowers regularly and prune them before storing mums for winter. In winter, mums should be kept inside or covered. Remember to fertilize mums and put them in indirect sunlight for the entirety of winter, too.
If you observe your mums year round and apply these gardening tips, you’ll get mums to bloom and last a long time.
