Flowers> Chrysanthemum> Intercultural Operations

Weed Control :

Weeding and hoeing are yield generally done manually as and when required, normally 8-10 times yearly. Crop suffers heavily if timely weeding is not given. Besides, control of weeds the soil is made loose porous to provide aeration.

Pinching :

Pinching is one of the most important operations in chrysanthemum culture. Pinching refers to the removal of the growing tips of the plant to induce the growth of vegetative laterals. It reduces the plant height, promotes axillary branching, delays flowering and helps in breaking rosetting. Pinching is performed both in suckers and in cuttings. It is normally done with thumb and forefinger. Pinching is most essential for small flowered chrysanthemum. First pinching is done when the plants reach a height of 15-20 cm with 3-4 pairs of leaves. A second pinching may be necessary if the plants make straggly and lean growth. Two types of pinching are performed in chrysanthemum. In soft pinching the
soft tip of the shoot along with 2-3 open leaves is removed while in hard pinching a longer portion upto hard shoot is removed.

In case of standard chrysanthemum only single bloom on a branch is usually allowed to produce. The pinching is not done if only one central bloom is desired on the main branch. Single pinching is done, if two flowers are desired, whereas double pinching is done for four flowers. In spray chrysanthemum numerous small to medium sized flowers are produced, therefore, two pinchings are required to encourage lateral growth. As a general rule rooted cuttings are pinched 2 weeks after planting or approximately 100 days before full bloom.

Disbudding :

This operation is mostly performed for large flowered and decorative type chrysanthemum.

Disbudding method vary according to the type of chrysanthemum grown. Many of the varieties are disbud or standard types, in which the largest terminal bud is retained and all axillary buds are removed. Disbudding of spray varieties is very easy because in this case only the large apical bud is removed and the axillary buds are allowed to develop. There is no specific rule for disbudding of spray varieties; it varies with the type of spray produced. When growers want to develop three blooms per plant or one bloom per plant these operations are most essential. Disbudding operations is an important factor in the maintenance of high-quality product

De- suckering :

During the vegetative growth phase, plants grow upwards. New suckers continue to develop from base of plants. For proper and vigorous growth of plants, suckers are removed from time to time.