How To Save Your Potted Mums In November – Why To Avoid Planting Outdoors!

If you’re wondering if you can save your potted mums in November, take a look around your garage or basement before you reach for a shovel!

Once the blooms fade and cold weather settles in, a cool, sheltered spot can give your mums a far better chance of making it to spring than a last-minute planting in the flowerbed.

It’s easy to think a mum is finished when its flowers turn brown and its leaves start to dry. But a mum can look spent above the soil while the crown and roots are still alive. If you have a hardy garden mum, keeping those roots protected through winter can give you a plant to put in the ground next spring. But when the calendar turns to November, outside isn't the place to do it!

How To Save Your Potted Mums In November

Why November Is Usually Too Late To Plant Potted Mums

The best time to plant a garden mum is when it has enough growing weather left to spread its roots into the surrounding soil. Spring gives it a full season to settle in. Even early fall can give it some time to establish while the ground is still warm.

By November in a cold-winter climate, the flowers are often done and the plant is heading into dormancy. The soil is cooling fast, and a mum planted now may go into winter with most of its roots still packed into the original pot-shaped root ball.

Repeated freezing and thawing can heave a newly planted mum upward, exposing those roots to cold and drying.

Leaving the pot on the porch all winter carries its own risk. Cold reaches the roots through the sides and bottom of the container, and a small pot can freeze through much more readily than the ground around an established plant. Once nights are regularly dropping below freezing, it’s time to move the mum somewhere sheltered.

Store Potted Mums In A Cool Garage Or Basement

An unheated garage that stays above freezing or a cool basement is a great spot to overwinter potted mums. Aim for about 35 to 50°F. A dormant mum can spend the winter in a dim spot, so a corner of the garage or an unfinished basement room works well.

In a garage, choose a spot away from the overhead door, where opening it on bitterly cold days can send a blast of air right across the pots. If your garage regularly drops below freezing, use a cool basement instead.

In a basement, look for a spot away from the furnace, heat vents and other sources of steady warmth. Too much warmth can bring on new growth well before it’s time to move the plant outside.

Keep each mum in its pot for winter. Take off any decorative foil or slipcover so water can drain freely, and empty the saucer if water collects underneath. You can snip off the spent flowers and any mushy foliage before moving the plant. Leave the remaining stems in place until spring, when new shoots will show you where the plant is coming back.

Give The Roots Just Enough Water To Get Through Winter

When you go to save your potted mums in November, be sure to check the soil before you put your mums away. If the root ball is dry, water it and let the pot drain. From there, check the soil every week or two, especially during the first month while you’re getting a feel for how quickly the pots dry out in your storage spot.

Push a finger an inch or two into the potting mix. If it still feels slightly damp, leave it alone. If it feels dry at that depth, add enough water to lightly moisten the root ball and let the excess drain. A dormant mum uses very little water, but a root ball that dries out completely can lose the roots you’re trying to save. A pot that stays soggy can rot.

Listen To Our Garden Podcast Below

Skip the fertilizer while the mums are dormant. You can leave them tucked away and simply check the moisture until you see the first signs of growth.

Bring Your Mums Back Outside In Spring

As spring approaches, look for small green shoots at the base of the old stems. Once they appear, move the pot to a brighter, cool spot and start checking the soil more often. Trim away last year’s dry stems as the new growth comes in, taking care around the tender shoots.

On mild days, set the pot outdoors in a sheltered spot for a few hours. Start with bright shade or gentle morning sun, then give it more time outside over the course of a week. Bring it back under cover when frost is expected, especially once it has put on fresh growth.

When the threat of hard frost has passed and the soil is workable, plant your garden mum in a sunny spot with good drainage. Set the crown at the same depth it grew in the pot and water it well after planting.

Summer Cut Back

If you want fuller mums for your fall display, start pinching them back in late spring or early summer. Once the new shoots are about 6 inches tall, use your fingers or clean snips to remove the top inch or so from each stem, just above a set of leaves.

Each pinch encourages the stem to branch, giving the mum a rounder shape and more tips that can produce flowers. When those side shoots have grown another few inches, pinch them back again. This works for mums in pots as well as those growing in your flowerbeds.

A good rule of thumb is to aim for the Fourth of July. That gives the plants time to grow and set buds for fall. Once you see flower buds forming, put the snips away and let those blooms develop.

And if all all else fails, you can also save the seeds from your mums to grow next year too! For that, be sure to check out our article: How To Save Seeds From Your Mums - Grow Your Mums From Seed Next Year, For Free!

Happy Gardening - Jim & Mary.

The Farm @ Old World Garden

Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 16 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.

As always, feel free to email us at thefarm@owgarden.com with comments, questions, or to simply say hello! You can sign up for our free email list in the subscribe now box in the middle of this article. Follow us on Facebook here : OWG Facebook. This article may contain affiliate links.