Question
Hi.    I have about 10 chrysanthemum plants in my garden and would like to know when is the best time to trim them back and how offten to keep them from getting to tall or leggie and spindly ?                Carl  

Answer
Pinching and debudding.... Soon after planting, pinch central growing tips of the mum to encortage lateral displays. When stems are 3 inches long, reduce to 4 per stem and pinch again. Another pinch may be made in long growing seasons, but allow 6 weeks from the last pinch to flowering. For small, even-sized flower heads, pinch the terminal bud to encourage side shoots.
For debuds, once the side buds  around each terminal bud have tiny stalks, pinch them out so that only the central bud develops. Reduce  laterals to four to six well- spaced shoots. To produce one flower per lateral, snip off all the side shots and remove the side bud. This will produce a much larger, single flower on each stem.
One month after the final pinch, apply a balanced fertilizer. Repeat this one month later. Then give weekly liquid feed, until the buds show color.

bakerplanter