CHRYSANTHEMUM

BN: Dendranthema indicum ,

Dendranthema grandiflora
Family : Asteraceae ; Origin: China
•Chrysanthemum - popular flower crop of commercial
importance next to roses due to their wide range of size, shape
and colours
• Chrysanthemum- Chryos means Golden; Anthos means
flower meaning Golden coloured flower
•It is also called as glory of east and ‘mum’ in USA
•It is a national flower of Japan
•It is valued as a potted plant and commercially cultivated cut
flower crop in many countries and widely grown in open
fields in India for their flowers.
Chrysanthemum is regarded as “Symbol of Royalty”
It occupies III rank in the International cut flower trade, next to
Carnation and Rose
In India it occupies III rank after Jasmine and Rose, It occupy
an area of 2945 ha. in Karnataka state
It’s erect and tall growing cultivars are suitable for background
planting or as cut flowers
Dwarf and compact growing ones are suitable for pot culture

Decorative and pluffy bloomed small flowered cultivars are

ideal for garland making and hair decoration.
Extra large bloomed cultivars like Chrysanthemum
cinerareifolium and Chrysanthemum coccineum are cultivated as
sources of Pyrethrum an important insecticide
Ryori Giku is a yellow flowering culinary type which is eaten as
delicacy in Japan after frying.
Botanical description
•Plants are herbaceous, annuals and perennials, bushy,
spreading, and erect in few types
•Stem slender
•Leaves lobed, simple, alternate,
•Flowers arranged on a flattened axis called head, consists of
several individual flowers called florets,
•The outer ray flowers which are unisexual with only female
flowers
•While, the inner ones are called disc florets contain both male
and female parts
Classification
Based on arrangement of ray and disc florets, chrysanthemum
flowers are classified as follows
Incurved: Ray florets curve upwards and towards the centre
of bloom form a globular shape
Reflexed : Ray florets are narrow to broad and bent
backward and downward
Anemone : Ray florets are quilled, Disc florets are prominent
and hemispherical in shape
Korean Single : Ray florets are flat and strap like. Number of
whorl of florets are five or less than five and the disc is open
Pompon : Small flowers, disc is concealed
Korean double : Similar to Korean single but the number of
whorls of ray florets are more than five and the disc is open
•Spiders: Disc flowers are completely concealed. Ray
florets are elongated and form a tubular hook like
structure
•Spoons: Disc florets are visible. Ray florets are tubular
and end with a spatula or spoon
•Decorative: Developed ray floret makes disc invisible.
Resemble simple Korean class
•Quill: Tubular ray flowers, long on the outside and
short near the center, resembling feather quills. Ends of
flowers are open and not flattened
Classification of Varieties depending upon duration

Early Medium Late

90 days to bloom 100-110 days to 110 and more days
from transplanting bloom from to bloom from
transplanting transplanting

Varieties developed at IIHR, Bangalore :Rakhee, Ravikiran,

Chandrakanth, Indira, Chandrika, Kirti, Red Gold, Yellow gold,
Arka ganga, Arka pink star, Arka Ravi,Arka swarna, Nilima,
Pankaj,Usha kiran, Yellow star.
TNAU released varieties: Co-1 and Co-2
NBRI, LUCKNOW : Apsara, Birbal sahani, Haldighati

Punjab anuradh: becoming popular var. now a days, high

yielding cultivar with very long shelf life. It is used both as cut
and loose flowers.
Exotic cultivars:
1. Spray cultivars
i) White : Ex: Arctic white spider
ii) Yellow : Celebrate
iii) Pink : Blue marble
2. Standard cultivars:
i) White : Giant India Napolis white
ii) Yellow : Bright Golden Anne
iii) Pink : Cessandra
3. Pot cultivars
i) White : Mountain snow
ii) Yellow : Golden crystal
iii) Pink : Always pink
Indian cultivars:
1. Large flowered cultivars
i) white : snow ball, Beauty
ii) yellow : Chandrama, Super Giant
2. Small flowered cultivars for pot culture
i) white : Mercury
ii) yellow : Aparajitha
3. Small flowered cultivars for cut flowers
i) white : Birbal Sahani
ii) yellow : Sujatha
iii) mauve : Apsara, Neelima
4. Small flowered cultivars for garland
i) white : Sharad shobha
ii) yellow : Freedom
Climate
The best temperature for chrysanthemum ranges from 20-
280C for day and 16-200C for night
The chrysanthemum requires a moderate humid conditions

Based on temperature requirements -chrysanthemum

flowers are classified as follows
Thermo zero cultivar: plants requires 10-27oC day
temperature with minimum of 16oC night temperature
for bud initiation
Thermo positive cultivars: A minimum of 16 oC
required for bud initiation
Thermo negative cultivars: Bud initiation occur at low
or high temperature
Soil : Optimum pH 6-7, grown in all types of soil
having good drainage facility.
Propagation:
a) Suckers: Optimum time for separation of
suckers is, when 5-6 green leaves appear.
Basal leaves and long roots should be cut
before planting.
b) Terminal cuttings: Cuttings of 5-7cm length
are taken from healthy, disease free stock plants.
Basal portion should be dipped in a solution
containing 2500ppm IBA. This improves rooting.
Cuttings are placed in sand beds and watered at
regular intervals till suitable for planting in the
main field.
Cultivation practices of Chrysanthemum under open condition
Inputs :Cuttings or suckers: 1, 45,200/ha, FYM: 20 tons,
NPK: 120:150:100 kg/ha
Land preparation and planting:
• Thoroughly plough the land 3-4 times & incorporate
recommended FYM.
•Prepare beds at 30 cm distance. 50% N and full dose of P and
K should be given at the time of planting.
•Planting should be done at spacing 20×30 cm. Best seasons for
planting is during May-June.
•After 4 weeks of planting when the plants are 15-20cm height,
pinching has to be done and 20% of the remaining nitrogen has
to be applied.
•Remaining nitrogen can be given after second pinching.
Irrigation: Water requirement of plant reduces as it
approaches to flowering stage. In field conditions,
generally twice a week irrigation is done. Proper
drainage must be maintained to avoid water
stagnation.
Pinching:
♦ After planting, the growth is mostly upward with
very little branching.
♦ To arrest such tall growth, a simple procedure called
‘pinching’ is used. It is also called ‘stopping’.
♦ Only soft vegetative shoot tips 1.5 to 3 cm long are
removed.
♦ Pinching is one of most important operations in
chrysanthemum culture.
Pinching is most essential for small flowered
chrysanthemum.
Pinching increases the number of flowering stems in
each plant,
First pinching is done at 4th week after planting. it can
indirectly control flowering date and bloom quality;
and the number of stems per plant.
•The second pinching is done at 7th week after planting
by removing the first crown bud at the end of each
lateral growth or by pinching the primaries before the
crown bud has appeared.
•In spray chrysanthemum regular pinching is done to
produce maximum number of flowers per stem.
Disbudding and Disshooting
♦ These operations performed for large flowering an decorative
type chrysanthemums.
♦ The standard type varieties are disbudded in which the
largest terminal bud is reserved and all auxiliary buds are
removed.
♦ Disbudding of spray varieties is very easy because, only the
large apical bud is removed and the auxiliary buds are allowed
to develop
♦ For taking three blooms per plant, three lateral strong shoots
are allowed to grow and others are removed.
♦ For taking one bloom per plant no pinching is done. Only the
main stem is allowed to grow.
♦ Removal of undesirable lateral buds and shoots are done.
♦ Disshooting is practiced to reduce the number of branches for
improving the size and form of the flower.
De-suckering
♦ During the vegetative growth phase, plants grow
upward.
♦ New suckers continue to develop from base of plants.
♦ For proper and vigorous growth of plants, suckers are
removed from time to time.
♦ It is practiced to allow single stem to develop up to a
certain height.
♦ Without de-suckering the main plant will loose vigor
and becomes weak.
Gap filling:
Immediately after the establishment of rooted cuttings
in the main field, observe for the casualties. Replace the
same with healthy fresh rooted cuttings.
Mulching: Mulch the inter spaces with any locally
available mulching material like paddy husk,
groundnut shells and saw dust and dry leaves to a
thickness of 2.5 cm to check weed growth, to conserve
soil moisture and to moderate soil temperature.
Earthing up: As soon as the plants are about 10 to 15
cm height, earthing up the soil around the base of plant
is to be done to provide support to growing plant.
Staking :
♦ Staking is necessary to keep plants erect and to
maintain proper shape of plants and bloom.
♦ Stakes are prepared mostly from bamboo sticks.
♦ Staking of plants is required for vertical support of
the plants.
Harvesting:
Depends on cultivar, purpose etc. harvest the flowers
from 3rd month onwards at 4 days intervals. Flowers
should be harvested when 3/4th of petal are opened or
when fully opened.

Yield: 10-15 tons/ha can be obtained

Green house cultivation of Chrysanthemum
Great demand of cut flowers throughout the
year
It is not possible to produce quality cut flowers
all the year round under open field conditions
Therefore chrysanthemum is extensively
grown in green house for year round
production of cut flowers
Varieties : Ajay, Sonali, Swarna, Ravi Kiran,
Akash, Yellow Start, Chandrakanth, Red Gold,
Indira and Rakhee -some of the popular
varieties.
Light : Lighting in green house is done for normal
growth during the period of inadequate natural light
and also to prevent premature flower bud formation
due to the effect of long dark period. A 10 foot candle
light is provided with 60w bulb with reflectors spaced
1.0m apart and 0.6-0.9m above the plant.
Growth Weeks from planting Photoperiod
phase
Up to 4-5 weeks from Long day: 13 hrs
Vegetative planting till the plant light & 11 hrs dark
phase attains 50 to 60 cm
height
5 -6 weeks after planting Short day: 10 hrs
Flowering till harvest light & 14 hrs dark
Temperature : Similar as open condition depends
on cultivars
Carbon dioxide enrichment : In green house
carbon dioxide level should be raised from 0.03 to
0.1% by burning propane in burners
Growing media: Media consists of soil, organic
matter and sand in the ratio of 1:1:1.
The beds are formed with 1 m width, 0.3m height
and at convenient length.
The soil pH must be 6.5 with 1 to 1.5 EC
(Electrical Conductivity).
Propagation and planting: Rooted cuttings - 20
cm between rows and 15 cm between plants,
accommodating 30 plants/m2
Irrigation : About 8 – 9 lit of water/sq.mt is
required/day
Fertilizer management : NPK @ 20:20:10 g/m2
is applied through fertigation at weekly
intervals
Growth regulators: The plant starts flowering
from 3rd months onwards. G.A 50 ppm can be
sprayed 30, 45 and 60 days after planting to
increase the yield.
Cultural requirements are similar to open cultivation :
Pinching, Disbudding & Dis-shooting, De-suckering, Gap filling,
Mulching, Earthing up, Staking etc.

Disorder : Blindness
• It occurs when the night temperature is too low and
the days are short at the time when flower buds are
forming
• A rosette type of growth is indicative of this difficulty
• Center petals that fail to develop, chlorosis, or
yellowing of the upper foliage, is also associated with
over watering, excessive fertilizer in the soil, or insects
or diseases attacking the root system.
Harvesting
Harvesting- early morning hours
Flowers normally harvested when they are fully open or
nearly so
Standard types are harvested when fully open before central
disc begin to elongate
Spray types are harvested when fully open but before
shedding of pollens
Pompons are harvested when centre of the oldest flower is
fully open
Harvested stems should be placed immediately in water
containing acidifying solution to keep them turgid
Stem should be cut atleast 10cm above the soil line to avoid
woody plant tissues.
Leaves should be removed from the lower portion of the
stem.
Yield :
The yield ranges about 15-20 standard types/plant
Spray types 1,00,000-1,20,000 from 1ha
Post harvest technology
After harvest, the stem have to be cut at equal length
(90 cm is the standard), bunched in five, putting a
rubber band at the base and sliding them into a plastic
sleeve and putting the bunches in plastic buckets filled
with water. Early morning on the day of shipment (or
night before), the bunches can be packed in boxes.
Pulsing Sucrose 4 % for 24 hr
(Vase life: 18 days : Control: 8.5 days)
Wrapping Poly sleeves with holes (50 gauge thickness)
material (Shelf life: 9.25 days; Control: 6.5 days)
DISEASES :
1. Wilt: Thiram at 1.5g/l water spray or soil drenching
with Carbendazim is effective against this disease.
2. Leaf spot: Spray Bordeaux mixture / Bavistin 0.05%
or Mancozeb 0.2% along with sticker 0.1% at 10
days interval from June to October.
PESTS :
1. Aphids: Spray Malathion 0.2% or Dimethoate 0.3 or
Neem oil 1%
2. Hairy caterpillars : manual collection and
destruction and spray methyl parathion 1ml/l
3. Red spider mite : Spray Dicofal 0.05%.
4. Thrips : Spray Acephate at 0.05% 2 or 3 times at 15
days interval.
Colours and varieties preferred at Dutch
market [ CUT FLOWERS]
Colour Preference Varieties
White 35% White Reagan, Cassa
Cream, Polaries
Yellow 25% Sunshine, Yellow
Spider
Pink 25% Reagan, Money maker
Red 10% Dark Flamence
Other 5% -
Export standards for Chrysanthemum
Parameter Standard Spray Dwarf
Stem Length 88-100cm 75-88cm 25-38cm
Weight 30g/stem of 30g/stem of 15g/stem of
90cm 85cm 30cm
No. of Only 1 10 flowers 10-12
flowers flower with with 5-8 buds flowers
5 buds
Diameter 60-80mm 35 mm 45 mm for
for half full bloom
bloom 30 mm