Amazing mums

PHOTOS COURTESY OF POPE’S PLANT FARM

Mums are a mighty crop at Pope’s Plant Farm. The Tennessee-based greenhouse grows 170,000 mums each year for their own retail stores and sells them to growers and independent garden centers in the Southeast.

“Our mum crop is what really carries us through after we finish the spring season until it’s time for poinsettia sales,” says head grower Kenny Cloud. “It helps keep us busy the whole year.”

With a sell-through rate of 95% or better, it’s critical that those mums not only get a good start, but finish to near perfection. Cloud and his production crew grow the bulk of that crop (about 130,000) in 8-in mum pans. The rest are produced in 10-inch hanging baskets, as well as 10-, 12- and 14-inch pots. Some of the 10-inch mums are sold with wicker baskets called drop-ins, Cloud says, and mums in the 14-inch pots are grown with red fountain grass in the center.

The Pope’s crew sticks mum cuttings in a 50-cell tray in mid-June, and those are grown outdoors until they’re finished in mid-October. The summer heat and long production season provides plenty of opportunities for disease development. Diseases caused by Pythium and Fusarium are fairly common. Cloud tends to battle Pythium root rot on mums, especially in summer when his crew has to water twice a day to combat the high temperatures.

One summer, Cloud spotted powdery mildew on the mum crop. His BASF sales rep, Mindy Money, recommended spraying Avelyo fungicide, the newest broad-spectrum fungicide from BASF.

“That spray application of Avelyo cured it. And because it worked so well, I added it to the weekly spray program on the mums,” Cloud explains. “It’s been a great product for us, especially for powdery mildew as a preventative and a curative spray.”

Avelyo fungicide, powered by the active ingredient mefentrifluconazole, delivers broad-spectrum disease control and exceptional plant safety. Avelyo can be applied at any stage in the production cycle, including during propagation. It's got proven plant safety which means you don't need to worry about stunting, growth regulation, injury to small plants or damage to blooms. Avelyo also leaves behind no visible residue.

Cloud has used most of the BASF portfolio in his plant health program, including Pageant® Intrinsic® brand fungicide, Orkestra® Intrinsic brand fungicide, Empress® Intrinsic brand fungicide, Ventigra® insecticide and Velifer® fungal contact insecticide/miticide. When it comes to adding a new crop protection solution to his rotation, Cloud says before he tries something new, he checks the label for phytotoxicity warnings and REI times. “It boils down to plant and people safety,” he adds.

Avelyo is in FRAC Group 3, which Cloud finds beneficial for his rotation plan.

Cloud has a dedicated team member that helps him manage scouting. And working in tandem with his scouting program, Cloud has created an excellent rotation program, which includes BASF Intrinsic® brand fungicides. Avelyo can be tank mixed or used in rotation with any of the Intrinsic brand products for improved resistance management.

Cloud drenches the mums every three to four weeks with Avelyo to control root and crown diseases and uses a fungicide rotation to make weekly sprays to control foliar diseases, including bacterial leaf spot. With the success of disease control on mums, Cloud has added Avelyo to his spray program on perennials and as a drench on pansies for Thielaviopsis, he says.

Avelyo also controls anthracnose, black spot of rose, leaf spots, stem blights and rust diseases.