Caring For Mums Indoors

Mums are spectacular fall plants that can be brought indoors and used for decorating. Caring for mums indoors is easy and with only a few tips you can keep a mum plant healthy for three to four weeks. They are a big bang for your buck as they are less expensive than most bouquets of flowers. Let’s talk about keeping them looking their best!

Now, let’s bring those pretty potted flowers indoors!

It’s best to think of mums as long-lasting cut flowers. They are a fabulous, bushy, lush plant with tons of pretty colorful blooms and can easily stand alone as decor.

Caring for these blooms indoors is easier than you might think!

KEEP MUMS HYDRATED

Mum’s like water. Keeping them hydrated keeps them happy.

The best thing you can do for a mum is to submerge the whole pot in a bigger container of water and let it sit for a half hour. This will totally saturate it and give it a great head start! I like to fill up the utility sink in our garage and submerge the mums in there. You can also use your kitchen sink if it is deep enough. Just watch that dirt does not go down your drain,

Mums will wilt quickly. So check them every day and when the top 1 inch of soil is dry or they look the least bit droopy give them a big drink. Water the soil of the mums and try not to let the water hit the leaves or blooms.

If they are in a container make sure there is no standing water in the container.

HIDE THE PLASTIC CONTAINER

Mums usually come in black plastic containers. You can keep mums right in those containers if they are not too pot bound but please put them into another pretty container!

Hunt for containers in your home that you can slip the whole pot of pretty annuals in. I have a large urn and a couple champagne buckets that I use every year. And I also have a few white containers, one is made to hold ice and bottled drinks. It’s my favorite!

If a mum is pot bound it’s a good idea to repot it.

Use a good quality potting soil and give the roots a little “fluffing” and put the mum in a container bigger than the original pot. This will actually help them live longer.

And a little extra tip… these fall flowers look amazing when grouped with other fall elements like baby boo pumpkins, leaves, and pinecones or planted alongside ornamental cabbage! I often plant indoor mums and add lots of fall elements to them.

LET THE SUN SHINE

Mums love the light! So put them in a spot in your home where they are getting lots of filtered light. Filtered light is a potted mum’s friend! But keep them away from direct sunlight!

If you buy mums in the bud stage you will need to expose them to sunlight for them to bloom. I actually like getting mums in the early stages of flowering because the blooms will last longer. 

COOL NIGHTS

If you have cool nights where you live let your plants have a night outside every now and then. They get fatigued in warm temperatures.

DEADHEAD

As blooms become spent remember to deadhead your mums. This keeps them not only looking pretty but also encourages new buds to bloom.

Snip or pinch off the spent flowers right above the next set of leaves. 

You should also take off dead leaves so they don’t spread any disease to the rest of the plant.

LONG LASTING

With this simple care, the flowers should look nice for about a month. When they are done throw them away. And replace them with a new mum.

You can try to replant your flowers outside but they usually are not very successful transplanted from the indoors. Because they are so economical I look at them as long-lasting cut flowers and feel no guilt saying “thank you for your beauty” and getting rid of them.

CUT MUMS

Since we are talking about mums I’d like to mention cut mums.

They are easy to find in your local grocery store and can be cut from your indoor or outdoor plants.

Cut mums are perfect to be put in a vase this time of year!

They are long-lasting cut flowers and need just a little care to last a long time.

Here are a few important things to do to keep cut mums looking their best…

• strip flowers off each mum stem below the water level in the vase
• change the water every other day
• keep mums in a cool place away from sunlight

I hope you will find a space in your home for these quintessential fall plants now you know about caring for mums indoors!

What is your favorite color mum? Can you tell my favorites?

MORE GREAT POST ABOUT FALL

• 60 FABULOUS FALL DECORATING IDEAS
• ADDING NATURAL FALL DECOR TO YOUR HOME
• PUMPKIN SPICE BUNDT CAKE FROM A CAKE MIX