Cultivation/Farming of Chrysanthemum, Diseases, Pests, Prevention and Treatment

Name Source:  The Word Chrysanthemum is derived from the Greek word Chrysanthemon.

Chrysanthemon is the combination of two words Chrys & Anthemon. Chrys means golden (because its original flowers are golden in color) and anthemon means flower. This flower is also called Daisy.

Name in Urdu: In Urdu it is called Gull-e-Dawoodi, Evergreen or Star-like flower.

Popularity: After rose flower, this flower is one of the most popular flowers in the world.

Discovery of Chrysanthemum: Chrysanthemum was discovered by a famous Chinese scientist Tao Mingyang in 500 BC. This flower has been cultivated in China ever since.

Chrysanthemum in Japan: This flower arrived in Japan around 900 AD. Its first show was in Tokyo in 926 AD, inaugurated by the Emperor of Japan. It is now the national flower of Japan.

Chrysanthemum in Europe, America, Britain and the subcontinent: This flower reached Europe in the17^th century AD and then introduced to America from there. The flower was introduced to Britain in 1764 AD and then came to the subcontinent. It was very popular in the last period of the Mughal Empire.

Types of Chrysanthemum : There are about 150 varieties of Chrysanthemum .

 Shape of Chrysanthemum: Chrysanthemum is actually a cluster of many flowers. Its flowers bloom in different forms. These flowers can be decorative, ball-like or  button like.

Chrysanthemum Family: Chrysanthemum belongs to the Family Asteraceae (Composity), which is the largest family of flowering plants, including one thousand Genera (a group of animals and plants that have unique characteristics) and about twenty thousand species.

Features of Chrysanthemum: Its flowers are in different shades of all colors except blue.

It is a shrub-like evergreen plant.

It blooms at the beginning of winter.

It thrives in warm humid climates.

It is also used as a cut flower and its age in vase is about 15 days but the condition is that its water should be changed every day.

Suitable climate for Chrysanthemum Cultivation: Chrysanthemum is a tropical flower. It can be grown in any season but it needs sunny weather for best performance and yield. Its seeds are sown in areas where rainfall is less in rainy season.

Cultivation Method: Chrysanthemum is easy to grow. It can be cultivated from seeds, cuttings and suckers. The seedling is usually ready in about one month after the seeds are sown. But sometimes the seeds can be sown directly and when the plants get a little bigger, the extra plants are removed from them. ۔ About three months after planting the seedling, the plants begin to flower and continue to flower for a long time.

Method of Growing from Suckers: At the end of December, when the flowers begin to wither and become ugly, cut the plants leaving a distance of 6 inches from the bottom and pile them on a well-drained canal soil in a shady place. Many suckers will appear on them in the month of February. When the suckers are 3 to 4 inches long, separate them and move them to 10 to 12 inches pots. Plant 8 to 12 suckers in each pot. After a month, transplant these suckers to the beds. Prepare beds for this purpose 45 days in advance.

Ingredients Required For The Preparation Of Beds

Ingredients	Quantity
Canal soil i.e. Bhal	1 part
Garden Soil	12 parts
Dung Manure	1 part
Dried Leaves	1 part
Nitrophos	1 kg per 1 Ft2
sewage drain soil	1 part

    

Mix all these ingredients well and spray it with Timic or some other fungicide. Then continue to do this every week. In the meantime, keep destroying the growing weeds. Make beds of 3 or 3 ½ feet. When planting,  give the distance between each plant 18 inches i.e. 1 ½ ft.

  Suitable Soil for Cultivation: Chrysanthemum plants can be grown in any type of soil.

Varieties: There are many varieties like Corn Daisy, Tricolor Daisy, Crown Daisy, Shasta Daisy etc.

Flowers color: Chrysanthemum flowers come in different colors such as yellow, white, purple and red.

Use of flowers: They are used for making flower bouquets and other decorative purposes.

Plant Care: It is important to water and destroy weeds at regular intervals after the transplantation of seedlings  in the beds. Similarly, weak and withered plants should be removed as the flowers on these plants come late.

Getting More Flowers: In order to get more flowers from Chrysanthemum plants, their shoots should be pinched at intervals of a few weeks. In this way, there will be more branches on the plants and the more flowers will come. This process of breaking shoots is called Toak. Do the first Toak when the plants are 4 to 6 inches tall. Usually the first Toak is done in the month of March. The second Toak should be done when the branches coming out of the first Toak are 4 to 6 inches long. The second Toak  is done in the month of April. Similarly, the third Toak is done in the month of May and then the fourth Toak is done in the month of July. The fifth Toak of the single-flowered daisy is also done in the month of August. If the plants need to be transplanted in pots, do so in July. Remember to spray a fungicidal such as Intra Call or Dithene 45M after each Toak.

Requirement of Fertilizer for Chrysanthemum Plants: It is very important to fertilize the plants but stop applying fertilizer when the buds start appearing on the plants.

If dung manure is not available, dissolve single superphosphate at the rate of 14 grams per gallon i.e. 4.5 liters of water and add it to the plants.

At the beginning of October, dissolve 14 grams of potassium sulphate fertilizer in 4.5 liters of water and apply to the plants.

Use chemical fertilizers in pots when the weather starts to get cold.

Chrysanthemum Diseases, Pests, Prevention and Treatment

 Chrysanthemum needs more sunlight and fertile soil with good drainage.

It needs to be watered regularly as its roots are very shallow in the soil so lack of water adversely affects its growth but excess water is also harmful to it because Excessive watering causes its leaves to turn yellow and then turn black.

Fungal infections of Chrysanthemum

1. Spots on leaves: Different types of fungi cause spots on the leaves of Chrysanthemum. These spots first turn yellowish and then dark brown and black. The leaves wither. Flower petals are affected first. With the help of a convex lens, a large number of fungal spores can be seen on the leaf spots.

 

Prevention and Treatment: Infected leaves should be plucked by hand and destroyed. The garden should be cleaned regularly to prevent spores from growing. If the disease is severe, the following fungicides can be used.

Tiger Brand Daconil Concentrate

Tiger Brand Deconil Focus

The affected plants should be sprayed with water as per the instructions on the label.

Bayer Bio-Advanced vegetable & Garden Insect spray Concentrated & Ready to Use

۔ 2 Foliar Nematodes: Nematodes are long round shape worms that are hard to see without a convex lens.

Symptoms of Plants Infected with Foliar Nematodes: Yellowish brown spots on the stems of plants starting from the lower leaves and gradually moving towards the upper leaves are a symptom of being infected with foliar nematodes. Nematodes in fallen leaves can live up to a year inactive. They float on the plants in a water film (thin layer of water) formed by the spring rains and then enter the leaves through stomata. These yellowish brown spots on the leaves of the plants grow upwards. Growing eventually affects the whole plant. As a result, the plant weakens and falls and dies. In case of severe attack, all the plants in the garden can die.

Prevention and Treatment: Remove the soil around the plants as well as the infected plant material. While watering plants, do not spray water on the leaves.

Spray Neem Oil.

If the color of the plant turns pale and the plant looks weak, add 5 grams of ferrous sulphate per plant

3. Rust Disease: Rust disease is caused by the fungus Puccinia.

Symptoms of the Disease: Orange powdery yellow spots appear on the upper or lower surface of the leaves.

Severely affected plants become very weak and rarely produce flowers.

Prevention and Treatment: Remove infected leaves as soon as possible. Keep new plants away and provide a better ventilated environment. Do not wet the plants while watering. If the attack of the disease is severe, use the following fungicides.

Bonide Mancozeb Flowable with Zinc Concentrate

Bonide Concentrated with Mancozeb Flux Zinc

Use according to the instructions on the label.

   4. Wilt (plant disease):

The disease is caused by the Fungus Fusarium Oxysporum.

Symptoms of the Disease: The first symptom of wilt is yellowing of the leaves and the plants begin to die from the bottom to the top. Affected plants stop growing and they fail to produce flowers. The whole plant can wither. The fungus grows in the soil, enters the plant through the roots and attacks the stem vessels. This stops the water supply to the plant.

 

Prevention and Treatment: The disease is difficult to control in plants growing in infected soil. Remove all affected soil and plant matter completely. The final control depends on the purchase of authentic disease-free plants and the cleanliness of the beds. It is best to cultivate varieties of plants that are resistant to the disease. If fungus Fusarium has been a problem, increase the soil pH from 6.5 to 7.0.

  5. Powdery Mildew

The disease is caused by the fungus Erysiphe Cicoracearu. The leaves of the plant are covered with a whitish gray ash-like powder. Germination of spores and the spread of infection require a very humid environment.

Prevention and Treatment: Remove diseased plant material. Spray one of the following medicines.

1.Monterey Garden Insect Spray

2. Natural Guard Landscape & Garden Insecticide (Ready to Spray)

3. Ortho Insect Killer Tree & Shrub Concentrate

Use according to the instructions on the label.

Viral Diseases of Chrysanthemum : Chrysanthemum plants are susceptible to a large number of viral diseases. For example, Mosaic, Chrysanthemum Smut Virus, Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus, and Aster Yellows etc.

 Symptoms of Virus-Infected Plants: The leaves of  virus-infected plants are of yellow color and have round yellow spots on them. The stems are weak. The flowers of such plants are also small.

Viral diseases are spread by sucking the sap of insects such as aphids and leaf hoppers.

Prevention and Treatment: There is no cure for virus-infected plants. Except removing them completely. Control pests that spread the virus. Wash tools which are used for infected plants.

Insects That Damage Chrysanthemum

1. Aphids: Aphids that damage the chrysanthemum are brown, black, green and pink. Aphids make holes in plant tissues to suck plant sap. In addition, they can spread the virus to plants.

Control: To get the aphids out of the plants, spray vigorously with water after every 2 days, especially on the underside of the leaves.

 Biological Control: As aphids have extraordinarily reproductive capacity/potential so, it is very difficult to control them with pesticides. A new colony could soon form as a result of an aphids surviving. In addition, the use of pesticides kills insects that are natural predators of aphids and usually eat aphids.

 If natural predators are unable to control aphids and serious damage is occurring,  then spray any of the following pesticides.

1. Bayer Bio-Advance Vegetable & Garden Insect Spray Concentrate & Ready to Spray.

2. Ferti-Lome Horticultural Oil Concentrate

3. Bonide All Seasons Spray Oil Concentrate

4. Bonide Insecticidal Soap Concentrate

5.Natural Guard Insecticidal Soap Concentrate

6. Garden Safe Insecticidal Soap Insect Killer Concentrate

2. Two-Spotted Spider Mites: Mites are not insects but are more closely related to spiders. Mites are so small that they can hardly be seen without a magnifying glass. They make holes in plant tissues and suck plant sap. Initially, small yellow spots appear on the leaves and the leaves appear dusty. Later the shape of the leaves deteriorates and the plant withers. In hot and dry weather, their attack is severe.

Control: Destroy severely infected plants or their affected parts as spider mites are difficult to control in these conditions. However, spider mites can be removed by spraying the plants vigorously with water. Keep spraying as long as needed but at least 3 times. Insecticide spray is effective if the disease starts. Spraying should be done after every 5 to 7 days. Spray on the surface of all the leaves. In case of severe attack, spray the following insecticides.

Bayer Advanced 3-in-1 Insect, Disease & Mite Control Concentrate & Ready to Spray.

Termite Infestation: If there is a termite infestation, that is, the leaves begin to turn yellow and fall off, give 2 or 3 drops of Hepta Chlor or Dye Alderine or Tenacol at the time of watering each pot.

Similarly, in case of rust or mildew fungus or black spots on the leaves, spray any fungicide by mixing 2 grams per liter of water.

Compiled By : Ikram Saeed

WhatsApp : +92-348-1633298