1) Soil
Well drained sandy loam soil with good texture and aeration or growing medium made of 1: 1: 2 of soil, compost and cocopeat with pH of 5.5 to 6.5.

2) Growing media
The growing media consists of soil, compost and coco peat in the ratio of 1:1:2. The beds are formed with 1 m width, 0.3m height and at convenient length. The soil pH must be 6.5 with 1 to 1.5 EC (Electrical Conductivity).

3) Propagation
Terminal cuttings and tissue culture plants are used. Terminal cuttings are widely used for commercial cultivation. Cuttings of 5-7 cm length are taken from healthy stock plants and are induced to root by treating with IBA (1000 ppm).

4) Planting:
Beds of 1m width, 0.3m height and convenient length are formed. Nets (with cell size depending on the spacing adopted) are placed on the beds and planting is done.

5) Spacing:
15x 15 cm (45 plants/m2) or 10 x 15 cm (67 plants/m2).

6) Irrigation
Drip irrigation with 8-9 litres of water/m2/day.

7) Nutrition:
Basal application of DAP - 50 g/m2

Weekly schedule - from 3rd week after planting

Fertilizer	Quantity (g/m2)
	Monday	Wednesday
19-19-19	3.0	1.0
KNO3	3.0	1.0
CAN	2.0	1.0
Ammonium nitrate	2.0	1.0
MgSO4	2.0	1.0

Fertilizer management
NPK @ 20:20:10 g/m2 is applied through fertigation at weekly intervals

Growth regulators
Alar 50 – 150 gm/100 lit water and B 9 at 8 – 25 ml/lit of water is used twice at the growing stage.

Pinching
First pinching - 3 weeks after planting; 2nd pinching - 5 weeks after planting.

Disbudding
In spray varieties, only the large apical bud is removed and the lateral buds are retained. In standard varieties, the lateral buds are removed and only apical buds are allowed to develop.

Blindness
It occurs when the night temperature is too low and the days are short at the time when flower buds are forming. A rosetted type of growth is indicative of this difficulty. Center petals that fail to develop can be due to excessive heat; or in dark weather some varieties apparently lack enough food to open the flower. Chlorosis, or yellowing of the upper foliage, is generally associated with over watering, excessive fertilizer in the soil, or insects or diseases attacking the root system. Continued growth of shoots and failure to form flower buds when short days are started the mean night temperature was too low. Sunscald is prevalent on standards in flower in very warm weather. The petals turn brown and dry up.

Chrysanthemum is very much influenced by light and hence photoperiod should be regulated. (Photoperiod should be regulated as detailed under ‘climate’

Growth phase	Weeks from planting	Photoperiod
Vegetative phase	Up to 4-5 weeks from planting till the plant attains 50 to 60 cm height	Long day : 13 hrs light and 11 hrs dark
Flowering	5 -6 weeks after planting till harvest	Short day : 10 hrs light and 14 hrs dark

Growth regulators:
Spray GA3 (50 ppm) at 30, 45 and 60 days after planting to increase flower stem length.

Weed management:
Weeding and hoeing are done manually as and when required.

Yield
Standard types:67 flower stems/m2

Spray types: 260 flower stems/m2

Pulsing	Sucrose 4 % for 24 hrs (Vase life : 18 days; Control : 8.5 days)
Holding solution	BA 10 ppm + Bavistin 0.1 % + Sucrose 2 % (Vase life : 17 days; Control : 8.5 days)
Wrapping material	Polysleeves with holes (50 gauge thickness) (Shelf life: 9.25 days; Control : 6.5 days)

After harvest, the stem have to be cut at equal length (90 cm is the standard), bunched in five, putting a rubber band at the base and sliding them into a plastic sleeve and putting the bunches in plastic buckets filled with water. Early morning on the day of shipment (or night before), the bunches can be packed in boxes.