Flower care

Cultivation Bed size and Preparation Flower beds should be aligned north to south to maximize the light penetration of the leaf and flower canopy. The average worker has about a 60 centimetre reach, so beds shouldn’t be much wider than one metre. Wider beds can result in missed flowers or damage to the outside of the bed from reaching for flower spikes in the center. Beds shouldn’t be much longer than 30 to 35 metres (100 feet), any longer and they become difficult and awkward to walk around. A final step is to determine the aisle space between the rows. Wide aisles allow for greater flexibility with equipment and an increased ease of harvesting, but they decrease the returns per square metre. Plant height and width must be taken into account, or one crop could end up shading or smothering another. Again, the bottom line is space utilization; the yield per square metre is important, but it is off-set by equipment and cultural requirements. If you plan to sell through a pick-your-own, beds should be narrower and shorter to minimize picking damage. The aisles should be covered in grass or bark to help keep people’s shoes clean while they pick. Consider installing raised beds. They may not always be suitable for a commercial setting, but their better drainage allows for earlier planting and harvesting and a reduced incidence of root rot diseases caused by poor drainage. Beds need to be raised 10 to 15 centimetres. If you choose to go with raised beds, make sure that you leave enough room between them to move your equipment. Good soil preparation is essential for long-term perennials. Sites for beds should be ploughed to a depth of 35 to 45 centimetres to loosen the soil prior to bed formation. The next step is to disc or rotovate to break-up large soil clumps and to produce a more uniform bed. Depending upon your soil test results, any soil amendments should be worked in at this time. Additions of organic matter should be worked in to a depth of 20 centimetres. The soil can be fumigated for weed, disease, and insect control. Be sure to follow label instructions concerning safety, minimum and maximum soil temperatures, time to planting, and potential crop phytotoxicity.