Japanese Style Dwarf Pots

FUKUSUKES

LEO CLARK, 6 Bowenvale Ave., Christchurch 2, New Zealand

October 1982, NZ Chrysanthemum Bulletin No.87

TED RICE, of The Long Island Chrysanthemum Society, wrote in 1989

If this sounds familiar 'I'd like to grow exhibition chrysanthemums

BUT   
I don't have the strength or energy to dig the beds

I can't lift those heavy containers

I don't have the space. My yard (or patio) is small

I don't have enough sunlight

I can't struggle with a shading cloth

It's too difficult to provide protection after the plants show colour"

Then grow some FUKUSUKES!!

He defined a Fukusuke as simply a single large bloom grown on a short stem in a small container. In most cases, the bloom will be at least six inches in diameter, height of the plant from soil line to top of bloom will be no more than 18 inches. and the container will have an inside diameter of no more than 7 inches.

Leo Clark wrote this article in 1982

In an earlier article I wrote of the dwarf chrysanthemums I saw growing in pots everywhere I went in Japan. These 5 inch pots contained only one plant which had one flower of large size consistent with the cultivar. I was most impressed with the beauty of these plants and on returning to New Zealand I set about producing a trial batch which I think gave reasonable results for a first attempt. I did in fact take a dozen or so pots to the National show held in Balclutha in May and a number of growers indicated their interest in the possible future of these plants as special show classes.

It was obvious to all that in producing these small pots for exhibition or pleasure one did not need to have a large garden nor does one have to be very robust to work with them. These are the chrysanthemums for the old, for the young and for the not so energetic.

They are easily transported to a show or exhibition, and can be brought back home and the flower will continue to give pleasure for many weeks. Because of the interest shown by a number of NCS members I shall attempt to describe in simple terms how I grew my plants last year. I hope the following information will encourage chrysanthemum enthusiasts to try for themselves several plants for the coming season. There is still plenty of time as they only take 13-14 weeks to grow.

To produce my plants I used ordinary stock plants growing in the field or the plants I was growing for exhibition in the larger 9-10" pots to supply my cuttings in February. I suggest it is not necessary to grow special mother stock plants to produce the cuttings which should be propagated on or about 1st to 7th of February. If we are growing plants for exhibition at the coming shows we will have stopped and timed our plants so that they will be in full bloom for the late April or early May shows.

These exhibition plants will be very healthy and vigorous and will naturally produce a very large number of breaks which in most instances will be reduced so as to restrict the plant to a limited number of flowering stems. It is these unwanted shoots or breaks we will use for our dwarf plant propagation material early in February. At this time our plants will be making very rapid growth and stems will be about ready to initiate their buds. It is because the plants are at this state of development we are able to take advantage of the advanced maturity of the growing tips and use them for cuttings to produce a dwarf plant which will flower at the same time as the parent plant.

To propagate we simply snap off the growing tip about 6cm long making sure no buds are in evidence. Use a rooting hormone to help speed up rooting and strike cuttings in the propagating bed. If you have a little bottom heat they will root in about 10 days. In the meantime, prepare your potting medium and make sure it is fairly open and porous with plenty of humus so that it is able to retain sufficient water to supply the plants' needs during the hot summer. Remember, these will be small plants so they will not need the same amount of plant food that your bigger plants will require. When the cuttings are well rooted they are planted one to a 12 or 15cm pot and kept in a warm shaded area for a few days until the plants have settled and re-established themselves. Once the plants have commenced to grow they should be gradually hardened off and then stood outside in the open in the sun for the next two or three weeks to help keep the plants stocky and dwarf. The potting medium should be well mixed and have sufficient humus to retain moisture for the plant and yet be free drain­ing. Therefore it may be necessary to water plants most days while they are outside. It will not do any harm to occasionally allow the plants to slightly wilt for need of water for a short period as this can help harden the wood of the stem. A weak liquid feed every week until the buds show colour can help your plants. Potassium Nitrate about one teaspoon per 4 litres or one gallon is helpful. If your plants have been well timed they should commence showing buds about mid March and as soon as ready they should be disbudded, and a thin stake used to support the stem and flower. At all stages the plants must be protected from insects and fungus diseases by regular spraying with an appropriate material to combat any trouble.

It could be an advantage to treat the stock plants two or three days before you take cuttings with a growth retardant such as Alar or B9.This can help keep your plants short and besides it does help rooting. Any treatment with Alar or B9 to keep the necks or the stem from getting too tall can only be used on cultivars which are white or yellow, as bronze, reds and pinks can have the colour bleached if used when the buds are well developed. It is because of this effect I suggest you grow your plants outside in full sun in the early stages of growth for a few weeks before bringing them into the flowering area. If this method is used there will be little need to use a retardant in the later stages of growth.

At all times give the plants plenty of space to allow the light to get at the leaves and free circulation of air. In the final flowering area, when they are all housed, plants will need at least 350 square cm space for each pot, and it is a good idea to keep turning the plants every two or three days to keep the flowers growing in an upright position on the stem.

A well grown plant in full flower must be of a size in proportion to the container. As a general rule I would suggest a flowering plant should be about one and a half times as high as the height of the pot or container, or twice as high as the width of the pot.

The choice of cultivars to use is very extensive but again balance and proportion is essential so we need to use only cultivars which naturally give reasonably large flowers. Not much use growing a small disbudded PomPon with about a 3 or 4cm wide flower if the pot is 12cm wide. As a general rule Large Exhibition types are not suitable for this method of growing as these need a much longer growing season to give a full petalled flower.

I only took three cuttings of any one cultivar to give me sufficient plants. At the time of potting I selected the two best cuttings only and grew two pots of each. By using this method of stock production we use our existing exhibition plants to give us an extra type of flower. I suggest you try other cultivars and see how they perform. In general Incurving and Spider type seem most suited to the dwarf small pot culture. I tried something like 200 cultivars and those listed gave the best results.

Ideal types to try:

Large Fantasies    Decoratives              Anemone

Streamer                    Princess Anne           Prom Queen

Evening Glow             Eye Level                  Beautiful Lady

Miss Atlanta                Poolys                       Daybreak

Vancouver                  John Hughes

Tokyo                         Elizabeth Fairbourn

Bill Ferris                   Corngold

Miss Olympia            Crimson Robe

Silver Sands              Daily Mirror                  Singles

Calypso                     Purple Glow                Woolmans Glory

Nightingale                Las Vegas                   Margueritte

Bon Voyage              Southern Queen

Swan Dance             Woolmans Perfecta

Miss New Jersey       James Hall

Messa                        Goldfoil

Valley Forge

Scarlet O'Hara

Lavendar Dream