Cut Chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflora); Asteraceae

Standard types
Bonfire Orange, Bonfire Yellow.
Spray types
Reagan Yellow, Reagan White, Nanako, etc.,

Cut chrysanthemums are grown under polyhouses with the following environmental conditions.
Temperature : 16 – 250C
Relative humidity : 70 – 85 %
Carbon dioxide : 600 – 900 ppm
Photoperiod : Long day conditions with 13 hours light & 11 hours darkness during vegetative stage (upto 4-5 weeks from planting) and short day conditions with 10 hours light & 14 hours darkness during flower bud initiation stage.

Well drained sandy loam soil with good texture and aeration or growing medium made of 1: 1: 2 of soil, compost and cocopeat with pH of 5.5 to 6.5

Terminal cuttings and tissue culture plants are used. Terminal cuttings are widely used for commercial cultivation. Cuttings of 5-7 cm length are taken from healthy stock plants and are induced to root by treating with IBA (1000 ppm).
Beds of 1 m width, 0.3 m height and convenient length are formed. Nets (with cell size depending on the spacing adopted) are placed on the beds and planting is done.
15 x 15 cm (45 plants/m2 ) or 10 x 15 cm (67 plants/m2 )
Drip irrigation with 8-9 litres of water/m2 /day

Basal application of DAP – 50 g/m2
Weekly schedule – From 3rd week after planting
Fertilizer                                                                                     Quantity(g/meter sq.)
                                                                                             Monday                          Wednesday
19-19-19                                                                                        3.0                                            1.0
KNO3                                                                                          3.0                                             1.0
CAN                                                                                             2.0                                             1.0
Ammonium nitrate                                                                   2.0                                              1.0
MgSO4                                                                                       2.0                                              1.0

Pinching
First pinching – 3 weeks after planting; 2nd pinching – 5 weeks after planting.

Disbudding
In spray varieties, only the large apical bud is removed and the lateral buds are retained. In standard varieties, the lateral buds are removed and only apical buds are allowed to develop.

Light regulation
Chrysanthemum is highly influenced by light and hence photoperiod should be regulated. (Photoperiod should be regulated as detailed under ‘climate‘)

Growth regulators
Spray GA3 (50 ppm) at 30, 45 and 60 days after planting to increase flower stem length.

Weed management
Weeding and hoeing are done manually as and when required.

Pests
Leaf miner
Spray imidacloprid @ 0.5 ml/l or acetamiprid @ 0.3 g/l.
Thrips
Spray fipronil @ 1.0 ml/l. Keep yellow sticky trap 10 nos. for 100 sq.m area.
Aphids
Spray methyl demeton @ 2 ml/l
Red spider mite
Spray abamectin 1.9 EC @ 0.5 ml/l or propargite @ 2 ml/l.

White Rust: Spray azoxystrobin @ 1ml/l or trifloxystrobin + tebuconazole @ 0.75 g/l.
Leaf spot: Spray mancozeb @ 2g/l or azoxystrobin @ 2 ml/l or difenoconazole @ 0.5ml/l.
Wilt: Soil drenching with carbendazim @ 1 g/l or trifloxystrobin + tebuconazole @ 0.75 g/l.
Powdery mildew: Spray wettable sulphur @ 2g/l or azoxystrobin @ 1ml/l.

Standard types: Flowers are harvested when 2 – 3 rows of rays florets are perpendicular to the flower stalk.
Spray types: When 50% flowers have shown colour for distant markets; when two flowers have opened and others have shown colour for local markets.

Standard types : 67 flower stems/meter square
Spray types : 260 flower stems/meter square

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