Flower care

Scheduling Planting time varies with your climate, the plant type (annual, biennial or perennial), cropping system, and desired harvest time. Keep records of your planting dates, weather, harvest times, and yields. They can be valuable for planning future production. Try to time part of the production so that it is ready for the market before or after it appears in home gardens. Prices are generally higher for the harvest ”shoulder-seasons”. The more you can extend your growing season and have flowers ready for the “off-seasons” the better. It allows you to capture the higher prices and it helps to spread the cash flow. Stagger plantings throughout the spring and early summer to ensure a continuous supply. Keep in mind that the later plantings will have a shorter time to harvest and may also have shorter and thinner flower stems because of the higher temperatures and longer day length. Production may also be lower. Annuals should be planted when there is no longer any frost danger. Seeds can be started 4 to 6 weeks before the expected planting date by sowing them in trays in a greenhouse or cold frame and then planting them outside when frost danger is over. Another option is purchasing plugs instead of seeds; they cost more, but they will be in flower earlier than those crops that are directly seeded in the field, and they avoid the expense of operating a propagation greenhouse. Early plantings can be covered with plastic hoop tunnels to provide frost protection and increase temperatures for an earlier harvest. Don’t hesitate to do some small-scale experimentation. Maybe some of the more hardy annual species can overwinter in your area with minimal protection to allow for an earlier start the following spring. Biennials like sweet william and bells of Ireland should be planted in late summer or early fall. This gives them a good growing period before winter, resulting in more uniform flowering the following spring. If you have access to a cooler, it can be used to extend the flowering season for some perennials. Bare root stocks or plugs can be placed in a cooler with lights for 4 to 6 weeks at 5 to 7oC to achieve the cold period. Keeping the plants in the cooler and staggering the planting dates allows for an extended harvest period.

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.