Growing Commercial Flower Gardens

A Flower Garden 2 A wide range of flower colors and forms are available to cater for the fashion trend of the days. This makes a flower suitable for commercial growing. Thus the need for growing commercial flower gardens arises. A great deal is known about the cultivation needs of these crops and growers can adapt this information to suit their situation and market needs.

Flowers for decoration have been used in Europe and Asia for centuries and can be seen preserved in works of art. The development of selected varieties and named cultivars has been going on since at least 300-400 AD.

There has been a considerable increase in the cut flower industry in the recent years. Growers started the flower production commercially in view of the demand for the cut flowers. There are many factors to be put in mind before starting a commercial business like cut flower production on a large scale. Annuals, herbaceous perennials, woody plants and bulbs can be used as cut flowers/foliage.

The outlets for cut flowers include wholesale florists, farmers markets, retail florists, roadside stands. The other possible market stores for the cut flower industry include grocery stores, restaurants, craft fairs, corporations and hotels/motels.

There are many areas where careful decision making is required. A commercial grower must have in mind the growth period, climatic condition, pest formations, of the crop to be raised. As Annuals complete their life cycle in one growing season, Herbaceous perennials and bulbs die back at the end of the growing season and resume growth in the spring. Hardy, woody plants survive the winter season in the dormant stage but do not die back. Production management, harvest, pest and disease control are all different for each of these categories.

Factors needed for the Growing Commercial flower Garden

A flower garden needs an adequate supply of water, sunlight, and fertile soil.
Lack of these basic necessities will affect the health of oncoming plants.
Water the flower garden more frequently during dry periods.
Planting depth of the bulbs should be made correctly.
Do not heap the soil or mulch around the stem, as water drains off making the stem to rot, when planting shrubs and perennials.
Mixing a few perennials with annuals ensures the blooms coming on.
Deadhead the plants after flowering.
Garden insects like Butterflies, beetles and bees are known pollinators. They fertilize plants through transfer of pollen from one plant to another.
80% of flowering plants rely on insects for survival.
Sowbugs and dung beetles together with fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms helps in the decomposition of dead plant material.
Some insects like lacewings and dragonflies help the growers by killing the insects that do the real damage, like aphis.
Application of liquid fertilizer when plants flower will keep them in bloom for longer periods.

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Essentials for the Growing flowers Commercially:-

Knowledge about the market: A first hand information about the product market should be known.

Selection of the crop: Keeping in mind the climatic conditions, selection of the crop to be grown on a large scale must be made. The raised crop should possess resistance to diseases and pests. The selected plants should ideally produce inflorescences on long stems, particularly if the target market is a retail florist. The minimum standard length of a flower stem is of 18 inches. There are some other characteristics of an ideal crop:

high production per square foot
ease of harvest
post harvest and vase life of 7-10 days or longer
a long production period with repetitive harvests

Culture of the crop: The methods for the proper cultivation of the crop must be known. The best method of cultivation should be given due importance.

Labor management: A commercial grower should also keep in mind the expenditure on labor during the flower harvest.

Information about Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, Hardy woody flowering plants for the Commercial grower

Annuals: Annuals typically have a longer blooming season than perennials. Annuals provide growers with the advantage of growing crops that are currently most popular with the consumer. As new crops are grown each season, there is a lesser chance of disease and pest problems. One dis-advantage of annuals, is the higher cost associated with planting each growing season. Direct seeding would be more cost effective than starting seeds early and transplanting out into the field.

Perennials: One advantage of growing perennials is they do not need to be planted each year. Soil preparation is often more critical. Because of their more permanent status, they develop disease and insect problems. Some herbaceous perennials are divided and replanted for every two years. So this division, results in more plants propagated from the old ones, which lowers the costs associated with purchasing new plants. One disadvantage of growing perennials is they have a shorter blooming season.

Bulbs: Bulbous crops include plants growing from underground parts such as bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes. Bulbous plants can be closely set as they do not branch. That leads to a higher yield per square foot of planting. When used as cut flowers, bulbs are typically treated as an annual and planted new each year. But in a garden situation where they would be treated as perennials and left in one spot for more than a year. Advantages of growing bulbous plants is the ease of harvest, and leafless stems, closer planting leading to a higher yield of flowers per square foot. Bulbs forms and a current strong market. Disadvantages of bulbs is to plant each season, a higher cost in purchasing bulbs compared to seed, and having to completely remove plant parts from the field to avoid weed problems the following season.

Woody plants: One advantage that woody plants have over annuals, herbaceous perennials and herbs is the different stages that can be harvested and used. In the winter bare branches with attractive bark or buds could be harvested; spring and summer yield flowering branches; fall provides autumn colors of foliage as well as berries which can be used either fresh or preserved. Woody plants live for many years without division. Ther is less maintanance of disease and pest management. New seedlings, take two years or more to begin yielding a marketable product.

More knowledge of growth habit is required by the grower for the success of the flower gardens. Woody plants carry some disadvantages as well. One should know that the particular species blooms on current wood or one-year-old wood. Branching habit will also be affected by the type of pruning done. Grower should know post-harvest care. Grower should find techniques to contribute to a longer vase life of the product.

Economics of the flowers

The most important, the economics of commercially growing flowers need to be considered. The economics are related to a range of factors, including:

No. of blooms:- number of blooms produced per unit area per year;
Cost of production :- Flower farm infrastructure cost, costs of fertilisers, irrigation, pest and disease management, pruning, picking, grading, weed control, and postharvest handling and transport;
Net price received per bloom or per bunch.

Caring a flower garden

Water:Watering is essential to flowers than the plants. Some flowers need to be dry so, water such plants with drip irrigation systems that leak water directly into the soil.
Fertilizer:There are two basic approaches to fertilizing flower gardens. The first approach is to analyse garden soil. The second approach is usage of a balanced plant food. Both the approaches are satisfactory, and the approach you select depends on the need.
Controlling weeds:Make sure the flower garden is devoid of weeds, by using mulches, and preventive weed controls.
Supporting and grooming flowers:Some flowers are large and they droop down by their weight. So such plants need to be supported. Old and spent flowers should be deadheaded. The grooming techniques make the flowers more attractive.

The great variety of plants that can be grown as cut flowers allows growers to choose those which are well-adapted to the farm site and grown without large inputs. This variety also makes diversity in both production and marketing possible. Whether a commercial grower is a beginner or experienced at growing flowers, he should have considerable knowledge from flower gardening site, garden plan and design to planting and ongoing flower garden care.