Lesson Structure: Cut Flower Production BHT221

There are 10 lessons:

1  Introduction to Cut Flower Production

• Scope and Nature of the Flower Industry
• International Flower Market
• Succeeding in the Trade
• Flower Structure
• Development of a Flower
• Introduction to Hydroponic Culture
• Understanding plant growth, roots, stems, flowers, leaves
• Types of flowers, perennials, bulbs.
• Review of Flower Crops, Alstroemeria, Antirrhinum, Amaryllis, Anigozanthus, Aster Carnation, Chrysanthemum, Dahlia, Freesia, Gerbera, Gladiolus, Iris, Narcissus, Orchids, Rose, Stock and others

2  Soils & Nutrition

• Soil composition
• Soil texture
• Soil structure
• Colloids
• Peds
• Characteristics of clay, sand and loam soils
• Naming the Soil
• Improving Soil Structure
• Improving fertility
• Benefits of adding organic matter to soils
• Soil life, earthworms, mycorrhyzae, nitrogen fixing, etc.
• Soil Water
• Understanding dynamics of water loss
• Improving soil water retention
• Types of soil water (Hygroscopic, Gravitational)
• Soil analysis
• Plant tissue analysis for soil management
• Measuring pH
• Other soil testing (testing salinity, colorimetry, etc)
• Measuring Water availability to plants
• Soil Degradation and rehabilitation (Erosion, Salinity, Acidification, etc)
• Soil Chemical Characteristics
• Nutrient availability and pH
• The nutrient elemernts, major, minor, total salts
• Diagnosing nutritional problems
• Fertilisers (types, application, etc)
• Natural Fertilisers
• Fertiliser Selection
• Composting methods
• Soil mixes and potting media

3  Cultural Practices

• Site selection
• Production
• Cultivation techniques
• Using cover crops
• Green manure cover crops
• Nitrogen Fixation in legumes
• Crop rotation
• Planting procedure
• Staking
• Bare rooted plants
• Time of planting
• Mulching
• Frost protection
• Managing sun
• Managing animal pests, birds, etc.
• Pruning
• Water management and Irrigation
• When to irrigate
• Period of watering, cyclic watering, pulse watering, etc
• Sprinkler irrigation
• Trickle irrigation
• Sprinkler systems, portable, permenant, semi permenant, travelling
• Types of sprinler heads
• Sprinkler spacings
• Selecting surface irrigation methods
• Weed control
• Preventative weed management
• Hand weeding
• Mechanical weeding
• Chemical weed control
• Classification of weedicides
• Natural Weed Control Methods
• Review of common weeds

4  Flower Initiation & Development

• How flowers Age
• Managing flower longevity
• Effects of Carbon Dioxide
• Getting plants to flower out of season
• Types of flower response to temperature
• Ways to cause controlled flowering
• Narcissus flower management
• Managing Azalea flowering
• Seed sources
• Hydroponics for controlled growth

5  Pest & Disease Control

• Integrated Pest Management
• Chemical Methods of Pest Control
• Chemical labels
• Non Chemical methods of pest control
• Pest and Disease Identification and Management on flower crops
• Anthracnose
• Blight
• Canker
• Damping off
• Galls
• Leaf Spot
• Mildew
• Rots
• Rust
• Smut
• Sooty Mould
• Virus
• Wilt
• Caterpillars
• Leafhoppers
• Mealy Bugs
• Millipedes
• Mites
• Nematodes
• Scale
• Slugs or Snails
• Thrip
• Whitefly
• Viruses,
• Others
• Environmental Problems

6  Australian Natives & Related Plants

• Proteaceae Plants (Aulax, Banksia, Dryandra, Grevillea, Hakea, Isopogon, Leucadendron, Leucospermum, Macadamia, Mimetes, Persoonia Protea, Serruria and Telopea.)
• Culture of Proteaceae cut flowers
• Proteaceae propagation
• Anigozanthus
• Other Australian Cut Flowers

7  Greenhouse Culture

• The greenhouse business
• Greenhouse system
• Components of a greenhouse
• What can be grown in a greenhouse
• Siting greenhouses
• Types of greenhouses
• Shadehouses
• Cold frames
• Heated propagators
• Framing and cover materials
• Thermal screens
• Wind breaks
• Benches and beds
• Environmental control; Temperature, moisture, irrigation, shading -both natural and with blinds/curtains, light-including supplemented light if needed, ventilation, levels of CO2, mist/fogging
• Photosynthesis
• Plants that respond to Carbon dioxide
• Day length manipulation
• Lighting and heating equipment
• Horticultural management within the greenhouse

8  Harvest & Post Harvest

• Harvesting
• Flower deterioration
• Post harvest
• Shelf life
• Major factors that affect shelf life
• Post harvest treatments
• Other treatments
• Grading standards
• Conditioning flowers for market
• Harvesting and grading carnations
• Harvest and post harvest of selected orchids; Bud opening, transport, storing flowers
• Cost Efficiency Standards
• Quality Standards
• Quantity Standards
• Judging flowers

9  Developing A Production Plan

• Managing a cut flower farm
• Deciding what to grow
• Production plans
• Decisions that need to be made
• Farm layout
• Design of a store

10 Export Marketing

• International flower marketing system
• Aspects of export
• Flower Exporting case study
• Understanding marketing your produce
• Consider your markets
• Market research
• What to research
• How to sell successfully

Learning Goals: Cut Flower Production BHT221

• To develop a broad perspective on the nature and scope of the cut flower industry
• Determine soil and nutrition requirements for cut flower growing
• Determine the cultural requirements for commercial production of a cut flower crop
• Explain the physiological processes which affect flower development in plants
• Determine the cultural requirements for commercial production of a cut flower crop
• Evaluate the suitability of different plants as cut flower crops
• Determine the cultural requirements for commercial production of a cut flower crop
• Determine harvest and post-harvest management practices for cut flower crop
• Develop a production plan for a cut flower crop
• Determine export market opportunities for cut flowers

Practicals:

• Describe the botanical mechanisms involved in the process of flower initiation for different plant genera.
• Explain the effect of carbon dioxide enrichment on flowering for a specified plant species.
• Determine the factors causing aging of flowers in different genera of commercially grown cut flowers.
• Compare three different treatments to preserve cut flowers after harvest, including:
  • Glycerine
  • Drying
  • Pressing
• Determine procedures to produce cut flowers out of season for different cut flower species.
• Compile a resource file of different sources of information regarding commercial cut flower varieties, including: *Publications *Suppliers of seed and/or planting stock *Industry associations *Relevant government contacts.
• Describe herbaceous perennials suitable to cut flower growing in a specific locality.
• Describe annuals and biennials suitable to flower growing in a specific locality.
• Describe bulbs, corms, rhizomes or tubers suitable for cut flower growing in a specific locality.
• Describe plant varieties commonly used as fillers in the floristry trade.
• Differentiate between twenty different plants

Your learning experience with ADL will not only depend on the quality of the course, but also the quality of the person teaching it. This course is taught by Susan Stephenson and Andy Patterson . Your course fee includes unlimited tutorial support throughout from one of these excellent teachers. Here are their credentials: Susan Stephenson

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Excerpt From The Course

INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a system of managing pests that combines a number of different methods into the one management program.  IPM might take advantage of several of the following:

• sanitation – maintaining good hygiene
• physical control methods (mowing, slashing, burning, flooding, hand removal), physical barriers (netting, fences), etc
• using plant varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases
• biological controls
• chemical controls (artificial and naturally derived)
• soil drenches/dips

If you look carefully at the above six ways of managing pest and diseases (with IPM) you will see that the list starts with the control method that will have the least impact on the environment. Today most countries, adhering to ‘World’s Best Practice’ guidelines will encourage the use of the IPM system. Integrated Pest Management is a means of controlling pests without relying totally on chemical insecticides.

In the past farmers and horticulturists main approach to pest and disease control was to either wait until there was evidence of a problem and then eradicate the pest or disease with the application of chemicals, or implement a pest control program with regular and routine chemical treatments before
there was any sign of damage.

The approach that IPM takes is to look carefully for pests throughout the season and make decisions on what to do based on the results of the monitoring process

Through the implementation of an IPM system pests are more likely to be found when they are still only in low numbers due to the fact that the plants are being checked regularly for signs of infestation or disease. The problem will be dealt with early before the outbreak becomes too big.

There will always be some pests present in a crop or on plants. This does not necessarily mean that a control method needs to be implemented that quickly kills the pest, in IPM the best control method will also take into account control measures already in place ie. biological control and not jeopardise their effectiveness. It must be ascertained just how many pests can be tolerated without damage to the plants or crop In and this is dependant on the location, variety and other crops growing nearby.

Using an IPM strategy farmers and horticulturists need to be able to identify the many different insects including pests and those that are not pests as well as diseases found on their crops or plants, they should know when action is needed by ascertaining whether an infestation is at a level so as to be of concern, and to ascertain the number of beneficial insects present.  They also need to know how many pests can be tolerated before they need to take action; resistance to insecticides is an outcome as a result of chemical overuse in the past. Monitoring crops on a weekly basis will enable you to determine what the pests and beneficial insects are doing and whether the beneficial insects are controlling the pests, intervention should only occur when biological and cultural controls are not sufficient.

Insecticide Use in IPM

If the cultural and biological controls are not performing the job of preventing unacceptable levels of damage, insecticides may be appropriate, but ideally it would be best to use chemicals that kill the pest and do not kill beneficial insects. With the broader application of IPM more selective products are coming onto the market and this is a continuing trend. For example, virus to control heliothis caterpillars is being sold as GemStar, bacteria to control many caterpillar species is sold under many names, including Dipel and XenTari. Chemicals that kill aphids but not most beneficial species include Pirimor and Chess. If pests are seen in numbers that can cause damage, or introduce disease, should insecticides be used? It must be understood that use of insecticides can make some pest problems far worse, although they can solve other pest problems.

Extreme care must be made in the selection, timing and application of any insecticide. The treated crop should be monitored to make sure that the insecticide did what was asked. In addition, the potential losses hopefully saved by insecticide application should be weighed up against other insect or disease problems that can be created by the treatment.

What Does IPM Involve?

Knowledge of the organism’s life cycle, its habits, environmental requirements and natural predators forms the basis of all IPM programs. IPM treatments use a combination of strategies including biological, mechanical, physical and chemical tools as well as other common-sense cultural and managerial practices. Education is central to the overall success of an IPM program

In an IPM program, chemical controls are generally considered a last resort, unless there is a genuine emergency requiring a rapid response. When a chemical control is needed, the hazard associated with that chemical, which includes its toxicity and the potential for human and environmental exposure, must be assessed and the least hazardous chemical control chosen. A range of preventative measures should be used in an integrated system.