mums is mums ... they all root like weeds ...

whether a given variety is hardy is the only question ... MANY.. and i mean many ... are not z5 hardy.. and are basically sold as annuals ... but i doubt flower type is the defining character for hardiness ...

i doubt you need the hormone... they root freely in water.. or just stick in some damp potting media.. with a baggie for humidity ... [actually.. the only need for the hormone product .. is if you use one with a fungicide.. so they dont rot before they root ...]

if you cant root a mum.. just give up gardening.. lol ...

ken

HAHA maybe I should give up gardening.

I had some in water and no roots. I trimmed them down a bit further. Let's see if they root in water.

I just bought some more new ones. Half the bouquet is going to water, the other half with root hormone in soil.

I think they are not z5 hardy, as you say, so if I can root them, then they'll go to pots so I can overwinter them indoors.

NNNOOOO!!!! dont give up .. lol ...

but hothouse mums.. which is another word for florist mums.. i would bet a nickle.. they wont be hardy in z5 .. well.. my z5 anyway ...

they are so easy .. you should try anyway ...

never forget.. the further you get from a plain old plant .. e.g the typical yellow bulletproof mum ... the further it gets from 'easy' ... and in my book.. spiders are foo foo ... [i learned this with peach colored roses.. just couldnt get them to winter over]

another way of saying that.. is that they have been bred.. in favor of flower.. over hardiness and other attributes ...

but they remain mums.. and should be easy to root ... its the other attributes ... that get tricky ...

good luck

ken

I am not sure if you would be interested in any others besides the green and white one, but I will post this in case anyone else is
Fairbault growers has a great selection of hardy mums, I ordered 20 or so different kinds all wintered fine here in zone three, I think only one didn't make it. I didn't cover them.

I think there is some truth to ken_adrian's thoughts. I think these are specifically bred for blooms, so might not be hardy. I have hardy mums in the yard, and the only problem with those is keeping them under control.

So far, the flowers I put in the soil are not looking so great. The ones in the water look just fine. hell, the bouquet from four weeks ago in water is still fine...quite impressive. I have a feeling these will not root regardless of what I try, and I wouldn't call myself a novice necessarily.

Thanks for the advice. I'll keep everyone posted on how these do.

I think these are specifically bred for blooms, so might not be hardy.

==>> well.. you are getting closer ...

bred not only for the blooms.. but for growing extremely fast .. in the hothouse.. to make a profit ... and for repeated production of the show flower ...

that does not describe your backyard ... so in theory.. they would be annuals for you ...

i have some time.. and am bored.. to i am gunna edjumacate you .. its otherwise called enabling.. lol .. even give you a pic ... you are going to have to intuit some of it.. i am not writing a thesis ...

===>>>

you are in z5.. and so am i ... we are going to replicate some ANNUALS ... ready??

drop dead frost/freeze date 6/1 .. thats my target for getting them in the ground ...

counting back 60 days ... on or about 4/1 you will start shopping the cut flowers racks.. and find some you like ... [do avoid the ones that are injected with color]

you will enjoy them for in a vase.. until the flowers fade ...

you will then cut them into 4 inch pieces.. remove 2 inches of leaf.. and dust the 2 inches with a rooting compound with a fungicide ... [is the fungicide that we want.. since they root freely regardless]

you will then stick them in a rooting chamber such as pic'd below ... and put it in bright indirect sun.. and try to keep them warm [little tricky if the furnace kicks down at night] .. but not hot ... i recommend sterilizing everything.. to avoid molds.. mildews. and gnats ... [10% bleach on hardware .. link for media]

in 30 days.. gently pull on them.. and if they hold.. they are rooted ... i would work those out.. and pot them into cell packs [again.. bleached and sterile media .. and i dotn care what the bag says about such] ... and grow them on in the cell pack.. until time to go outside ...

they will need to be hardened off to real sun.. so do that gently ... so around 5/15 .. they go out to the garage.. for temp hardening.. then after a few days.. open the garage.. for more light.. then a few days later.. at the garage door.. [mind you closing the door every night in case of frost] ... then out to the north side of the house for full sky.. then into morning or evening sun.. then free range.. just a couple days of each.. to get them accustomed to being outside ...

then into the ground..

please take pix of the process.. so that you can entertain me with your success ...

i picture your whole yard filled with one thousand hothouse mums.. and next winter.. the whole house jammed.. lol ...

it can all be done under fluorescent lights if light is a problem in the house... but that is a different thesis ....

ken

jam about 12 or 15 pieces into this thing.. hoping to get a few to take.. remove any that start to wither ...

{{gwi:5067}}

Here is a link that might be useful: on my pic.. i wet the media ... and i put the whole thing in the microwave until steam formed on the baggie.. the day prior ... you can just use a standard potting media .. NOT DIRT ..

uhmm...WOW. thanks for all the info.

My house does get poor lighting, but I'll pull out the mini greenhouse and light i used for my seedlings last year. Warmth will be provided by a heat mat and hardening off will likely occur in my neighbor's greenhouse he built attached to the garage - fully heated, ventilated, and misted! I'd be jealous except that we're growing seeds together for this summer.

I made a potting soil/medium last year from a recipe i found on GardenWeb. Should i use that, or just get a bag of perlite or vermiculite to attempt this?

My thoughts are if they are just not hardy to Z5, then I will pot them and overwinter them indoors to see if they make it. I lose nothing trying, I figure.

Ken, thanks for the great info. I will post pictures to this thread when i start the process.

Rolando