How To Care For Mums By Keeping Them Disease Free
One autumn day at Dr. Mumsy's Clinic, a huge number of patients poured in. Mums of all colors from red, pink, yellow and white waited in one area. One mum was browsing through “How To Care For Mums During Winter” leaflets, a group of purple pom pom chrysanthemums were chatting in one corner and a few other mums, sicker than the others, just sat still. Most of them were looking rather spotty, while some had droopy leaves, still others were losing much of their color.
Clara Curtis, a pink daisy flower was the first one inside the room. The doctor checked her leaves and saw that she had developed dark spots on them. Clara Curtis told the doctor that she first saw the spots on her lower leaves, which appeared yellowish and eventually became darker and bigger. She was also complaining that she couldn't seem to get her leaves to stay up.
The doctor examined her leaves carefully and saw that she also had a large mass of spores on the spots, which turned out to be a fungus. “We might need to apply immediate chrysanthemum care on your infected parts. I'm afraid we might have to amputate them.” This shocked and upset the pink mum, but she had no choice. She had to do it if she wanted to stay in the garden. The doctor also gave her doses of fungicide to prevent further infection.
Next in line was Gypsy Wine, a dark red pompom chrysanthemum who was limping a bit because of an obvious brown-black decay on his stem. The red mum complained that his leaves were also wilting and looked a bit scorched.
Dr. Mumsy diagnosed the Gypsy Wine with Bacterial Blight and advised him to clean his spot in the soil by pasteurizing it and to dip himself in an antibiotic solution for four hours before going back to his spot in the garden soil.
As soon as Gypsy Wine went out of the room, Maroon Pride, who's variety is known to be really proud of their deep red color, followed in. He sure appeared pale and sick with his flowerhead looking like it hadn't bloomed properly. His leaves were losing their color and instead of green, orange-colored spots filled them.
Its a good thing Dr. Mumsy knows how to care for mums with this condition. He removed his infected leaves which left him with only a few. He was also told to distance himself from the other mums and treat himself with fungicide.
Sunny Morning used to be a bushy bright-yellow flower, but on that day, she sat on the doctor's table covered in yellowish to brown spots all over, with only a few brittle leaves left and almost dying. The foliar nematodes, which are actually worms, had spread from her lower stems upward and gradually covered her leaves which caused them to wilt and die.
Dr. Mumsy was worried and worked hard to spray her with insecticidal soap. When he was done, he removed the infested parts and mulched the soil. After carefully making sure that Sunny Morning had fully recovered, she was taken back home to live in new soil.
More patients pour in everyday at Dr. Mumsy's clinic complaining of different fungal, bacterial and viral diseases. But since Dr. Mumsy is a genius on the topic of how to care for mums, with only just a few doses of fungicide, insecticide or antibiotics and a few tips here and there, the patients are blooming quite better and parading colorfully in their pots on porches and front lawns.