Determining the key factors to growing and caring for chrysanthemums requires accuracy and knowledge, particularly when caring for unique types like spray, disbudded, and Santini chrysanthemums. Chrysal, along with Colombian chrysanthemum grower Flores Silvestres has united to provide useful advice to obtain the best results when it comes to these beloved flowers.
What Are the Most Useful Tips When Caring for Mums? Chrysal and Flores Silvestres Have Your Back
Originating in China and Japan, chrysanthemums have become a popular flower throughout the years, arriving in Europe circa 1700 AD. Did you know that the chrysanthemum symbolizes well-being and happiness? It's the ideal gift for any type of occasion when you want to gift positivity and joy to someone. Just as with any other flower, you must learn to take care of mums appropriately if you want them to keep you longer company. But first, let yourself inquire a little more about chrysanthemums and their boastful color options (for spray, disbudded, and Santini mums altogether).
Greek terms chrys (gold) and 'anthemom' (flower) are the source of the name. Chrysanthemums were originally colored gold, but they are now available in a wide variety of colors. Warm yellow gold, bronze, orange, and green are among the options available to customers. There are also delicate whites, pinks, and purples to choose from. The form of this beautiful flower transitions from full double pompon to spider form, where the disk florets are hidden. Now time to get into the tips by Flores Silvestres from Colombia.
Flores Silvestres Shares Their Best Tips for Radiant-Looking Mums
In an interview with Alejandra Montoya, Quality Director at Flores Silvestres, she was able to share very insightful information about chrysanthemum care tips. Take note!
Q: You specialize in growing chrysanthemums, among others. What do you like most about these wonderful flowers?
Alejandra:
"What I like most about the chrysanthemums we grow is their versatility in terms of shapes and colors, this allows us to have a wide range of varieties to offer our customers and leave them happy with all our products."
Q: What countries does your company sell and export flowers to?
Alejandra:
"We currently export flowers to the United States, Canada, Chile, Uruguay, Panama, Mexico, Spain, England, Poland, and Australia, among others."
Q: What are the most crucial care steps when it comes to chrysanthemums?
Alejandra shares that the most important steps in growing chrysanthemums are:
- The 'Genetics' selection of the varieties: This is the first step to guarantee that the varieties meet the quality standards required by customers and production, here the support of hybridization houses plays a fundamental role. It's time to have excellent-quality genetics. Within the quality area, we manage the new product introduction program, it is a very nice program that has been built with work and dedication, we record all the evaluations in an application, which contributes a lot to the development of the product, we select the best prototypes in terms of productive behavior, quality, and commercial demands.
- Biosecurity: it is crucial at the beginning of the plantation and throughout the production cycle, working with a preventive approach helps us minimize the risk of economic losses.
- The propagation of plant material: 50% of the success of the crop will depend on the adequate propagation process; We can obtain healthy, high-quality plants that are resistant to biotic and abiotic stress.
- Crop management: Production is based on the observation of details, the secret is in taking care of them, including the processes of rooting, planting, irrigation, integrated management of pests and diseases, cultural work, and monitoring of environmental conditions, among others.
- Post-harvest care: the quality of life in a vase of a stem will depend 60-70% on the post-harvest care that we give it, at this point, it is mainly key to consider: cutting points, cutting time, hydration solutions, asepsis, air conditioning, temperature, relative humidity, handling, packaging, among others.
Q: What to do and what not to do to get longer-lasting flowers?
Alejandra:
"What we must do to obtain longer-lasting flowers is to take care of each of the steps of the production process until the moment of cutting. In this last point, quality monitoring is strengthened, verifying hydration solutions, temperatures, and processing times. Chrysanthemums are kept in cold basements at 2-3 °C.
What we should not do is skip the standardized steps for caring for chrysants, such as the state of maturity, the quality of the water for hydration, the standardized hydration times of '4 hours', excessive handling of the flowers, interrupting the cold chain, among others. The above will proportionally affect the quality of the flowers in the vase and will only be reflected up to that point."
Q: What Chrysal products do you use as a post-harvest treatment for your flowers? Can you tell us what Chrysal products you use for proper care and handling?
Alejandra:
"For hydration, we use Chrysal Initial Solution and Chrysal RVB. For transportation, we use Ethylene Buster Sheets."
Q: What is your collaboration with Chrysal like?
Alejandra:
"Chrysal is a company with extensive experience in the care and handling of post-harvest flowers; Currently, both companies work hand in hand to improve the quality of post-harvest processes."
Q: How does Chrysal improve/maintain quality during flower transportation?
Alejandra:
"The use of RVB hydration solution for flowers that are going to be transported by sea helps us maintain their quality conditions, as does the use of Ethylene breaker sheet. Chrysal currently accompanies us with the development of audits of the quality processes that we manage internally, constant monitoring drives us to continuous improvement of them."
Chrysal's Tips for Florists to Enjoy Mums for Longer
If you're a florist, make sure to consider these points when taking care of chrysanthemums:
- Use clean containers and tools
- Remove the wrapping, recut stems, and remove foliage which will sit under the water line before placing into a solution of Chrysal Professional 2
- Provide your customers with sufficient sachets of Chrysal flower food for their bouquets
- Chrysanthemums, like all cut flowers, are sensitive to draughts and direct heat, so give consideration to where you display your flowers
Chrysanthemum Care Tips for Consumers
Take care of your chrysanthemums the right way and you'll be able to enjoy your flowers for over 2 weeks.
- Use a clean vase and fresh tap water
- Add the right amount of Chrysal flower food, and carefully read the instructions on the package
- Cut 2–5 cm from the stem using a clean knife
- Make sure there are no leaves in the water
- Chrysanthemums like all cut flowers, are sensitive to drought and direct heat
- Don’t place the flowers next to ripening fruit or vegetables. The ethylene produced by the fruit and vegetables makes the flowers wilt earlier
- Top up the vase with fresh tap water and flower food as required
Lastly, Alejandra Montoya shares a few tips as well for best results:
"Flowers go through several processes before reaching their final destination, the supply chain being one of the most critical because there, the flower stem must use its energy reserves for conservation during transportation, therefore, Alejandra's recommendation for the final consumer is to make a cut of the stems to 1 cm and apply a hydration solution containing amino acids as soon as possible. In addition, it is essential to place the flowers in a cool environment and change the water every two days. This way, you prevent the proliferation of bacteria and help preserve the flower for much longer."
With a full glimpse of how to take care of your flowers the right way, you're equipped to make the best out of them. For more information, visit Chrysal's website.
Photos by @justchrysanthemum.
