Repot Your Mum Plants The Right Way With These Simple Tips

It's common to repot store-bought chrysanthemums to try to make them last longer, but even nursery mums sold as hardy perennials benefit from repotting — annually, in fact. Repotting is the simple trick that'll make outdoor mums last all season long. Repotting supports the mums' health because the roots have been growing outward in the current pot and may even be rootbound and consistently dry out quickly. It's better for your mums to have well-distributed roots in a space larger than they've been in. 

Of course, you could plant your potted chrysanthemums in the garden so they come back every year, but many gardeners prefer the flexibility of mums in pots that can be moved around in various groupings or shifted to sunnier spots.

Thus, your first step is to identify a new pot for your mums. You'll want it to exceed the current pot's diameter by 3 to 4 inches. Be sure the pot has adequate holes for drainage, and if not, drill additional holes if you can. Ignore common advice to add material like sand or broken pot shards to the bottom of the pot for drainage; these materials will actually make drainage issues worse.

Next, you'll want to mix some fresh, new soil for your mums. Use a well-drained and aerated potting medium, such as a rich soil with a peat base. Place some of the soil in the new pot, leaving space for the plant's roots. Remove the plant from the original pot by placing your hand over the surface of the soil, grasping the stem with a couple of fingers, flipping the pot over, and gently slipping the plant and soil out of the pot.

Once the plant is out of its pot, examine the mums' fairly shallow roots. Loosen them and spread them out. Place the mum in the new pot, and ensure you're not planting the mums any more deeply than they were in the original pot. Backfill the pot with soil, and pat it gently to firm it. Give your newly repotted mums a good watering until water seeps out the bottom of the pot. Consider checking out more tips for easily repotting your favorite plants, which certainly apply to mums.