A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Chrysanthemums

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum. I live in Cedar Rapids, IA. I have a question that I hope someone can answer. I just received a plant (chrysanthemums, hence the subject line..lol) and I've heard you're supposed to "pinch" them at certain times. What exactly does that mean?

You shouldn't need to do any pinching now since it's fall and you want them to flower in fall.

If it's a perennial mum and it comes back next year you'll have to pinch(or just pull off the buds before they set), because the mum will bloom in the summer if you don't. Some people don't mind that, but most prefer to keep them not in bloom until Fall.

I had tons of them one year and I'd just go out and keep pinching off top parts of them every now and then. When it got closer to the end of summer I'd let it go so it could flower.

The usual rule of thumb is to stop pinching back by July 15.

Thank you Alan.....I wasn't sure exactly what date they say you should stop pinching back.

Thanks Alan. I think I pinched back until to late this year. I've got buds but no flowers yet and I'm getting impatient because I don't have anything other than the zinnia and portulacas blooming.

I also was told by my MIL that I could cut back (just a few inches) my mums until the first part of July. I liked to do this to my tallest mums---FYI: My burnt orange mums were much taller than my orchid ones, and if I cut them back a bit they tended to not fall over so.