Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Extending your mum life and what to do with plastic pots
Mums are THE fall plant and we want to keep them as long as we can.
The best place to buy your mum is at your local nursery. However, some nurseries also deliver to local grocery stores too. Look for deep green, non-droopy leaves and a lot of buds, not blooms. Those will come.
Remove your mum from that black pot, rough up the roots and repot in a larger container or, perhaps along with a bigger display! Or, plant right in the ground depending on your display.
Mums love sun, give ‘em 6 hours or more for best results. Water! If you see the leaves droop, you need to water immediately. If you’re second knuckle is dry when in the soil, water! Deadheading is tedious but will benefit your mum.
Now for those black plastic pots that your mums or other plants come in.
I save a few from year to year, depending on size, using them to scoop potted soil, scrunching them out to place in large pots for drainage and to take up space using less soil.
They make great liners for your pretty pots that have no drainage. It also makes watering easier as you can lift the whole plant out and water in the sink!
This time of year you can use them for a quick frost cover on smaller plants. Just lift them off the plant in the morning.
And this is cool for those who like to transition their gardens seasonally. Plant a large container in a space in your garden to have a beautiful annual spring plant, then lift and remove to make way for summer and then fall too!
