08/24/2026
๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฆ๐ง!!!
๐ผ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ ๐๐บ๐ ๐๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ & ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ณ๐๐น! ๐ผ
We often hear the usual comment, โIโm sure Iโll kill it in a week!โ or, โI never can keep a mum alive!โ The honest truth, keeping a mum alive is easier than you think. The biggest thing to remember is that a large, mature mum can drink a LOT of water โ especially during those warm, sunny days we often still have in September.
Here are a few tips to help keep your mums looking great well into the fall! ๐
๐ง ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ.
Mums are very heavy drinkers. They need watered every day at a minimum. Weโve grown the mums since they were babies and now the pots are a giant healthy root ball that can get dried out easily.
Don't wait until the plant is badly wilted to water it. Repeatedly allowing a mum to completely dry out can stress the plant and eventually kill it. At the same time, mums don't want to sit in standing water either. They like moist soil with good drainage, not constantly soggy soil.
๐ชด ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ถ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐บ.
By the time our mums are ready to sell, they have developed a LOT of roots. If you'd like, you can transplant your mum into a slightly larger decorative planter with some good-quality potting soil around the existing root ball. The extra soil gives the roots more room and, just as importantly, helps hold additional moisture between waterings. If you leave your mum in its original pot, that's perfectly fine too โ you'll just want to pay closer attention to watering.
๐ฟ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐.
Here is Mikeโs easy way to think about moisture.. If you have a kitchen sponge that is slightly damp, it will easily soak up water and retain it well. If you have a kitchen sponge that is hard as a brick, it takes a while under running water to start absorbing the water. The potting mix is the same way!
Sometimes a very dry, root-bound mum can be watered and the water will run right down the sides of the pot and out the drainage holes. It may LOOK like you watered it well, while the center of the root ball is still dry!
If a mum has gotten extremely dry, set the pot in a shallow container or bucket of water and allow it to soak from the bottom for a while. Once the soil has absorbed plenty of moisture, remove it and allow the excess water to drain.
๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐บ๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ.
As flowers turn brown and finish blooming, pinch or snip them off. This is called deadheading. Besides making the plant look much nicer, removing those old blooms helps expose the smaller flowers and buds underneath so your mum can continue putting on a beautiful show.
๐ ๐ข๐ป๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด...
Don't panic if your mum gets a little thirsty and wilts! If you catch it quickly and give it a good, thorough watering, you'll often be amazed at how fast it perks back up.
We want the mums you take home from Friendly Farms to look just as beautiful on your porch or patio as they did when you picked them out. ๐ผ๐
