FLORICULTURE

- Its parts ornament horticulture that deals with cultivation of ornamentals and flowers plants.
- Ornamental horticulture deals with cultivation and use of plants to beatify or improve the
environment.
- It also involves those activities concerned with growing arranging marketing, management
and maintain of flowers, grasses, shrubs and even trees.

Role of floriculture in Kenya economy

i. Cut flowers and ornamentals have been used for a long time for decoration in occasions like
weddings, funerals and also to express emotions.
ii. Floriculture industry has been fast growing subsector in Agriculture which has led to strong
contribution of food and foreign exchange. In 2002 Kenya was the leading flower exporter
to European Union with 26% of all the sales a head of Colombia with 17% and Israel with
16%.
- The best are the roses which are mainly exported to Netherlands, Holland and United
Kingdom.
- Since 1990, horticulture has been the most important foreign earner. In 2004 kenya exported
more than 60, thousand tons of cut-flower.
- Currently there are several local Kenyan investors that are involved in flower production e.g
Oserian, Sain roses, Home grown, Savanna etc.
iii. It helps to provide market for processed products form industry e.g chemicals, polythene
bags, fertilizers e.t.c.
iv. Has led to development of infrastructure in the areas involved e.g good roads, electricity,
social amenities, hospitals. Etc.
v. Has increasing family income which has led to higher standards of living.
vi. Floriculture industries offers employment opportunity to the florists in planning, growers,
designers, auctioneers in the Dutch auction. E.t.c.

Factors to Consider when Establishing a Floriculture Enterprise

1. The choice of flower variety – an investor should choose the most appropriate flower variety
to grow since different varieties performs differently with respect to yield quality and
adaptability.
A good variety should be:
 High yielding
 Adaptable to the region that one want raise the industry.
 Flower variety chosen is also influenced by Market demand.
2. Climate – different varieties do require different environmental factors with respect to soil,
temperature and rainfall requirement.
- Environment factors will therefore influence the choice of varieties and the technology to
employ inorder to offer a remedy for any short coming and this is especially so on outdoor
flowers i.e not growing in green house.
3. Water availability – quantity of water available for irrigation should be considered.
- Most horticulture enterprises are not rain-fed hence they rely on irrigation therefore the
quantity and quality of irrigation water has a direct influence on the level of quantity and
quality of the flowers so produced.
4. Market availability – one should consider the market outlets for their produce since flowers
are highly perishable and they should be sold away immediately after harvesting.
- The market should be reliable and should offer competitive prices.
- The market demand dictates the type and quantity of flowers to be produced.
5. Infrastructure – there should be good roads to facilitate transportation of the flowers so
produced.
- Electricity supply should also be available since some production activities and post-harvest
activities require electricity for them to be mechanized.
6. Labour – floriculture is labour intensive and there should be a good source of labour
especially the causal labour force for the various activities in the farm ranging from
production, post-harvest activities as well as marketing.
7. Technical knowhow/skills – floriculture do require technical skill for different production
areas. These skills includes:
 Land preparation
 Flower establishment
 Management of flowers during growing
 Post-harvest handling activities of those cut flowers
8. Capital availability – floriculture enterprise is an expensive undertaking for good quality and
flower production, one require structure like:
 Green houses
 Pack houses
 Expensive mechanization machines
 Expensive inputs.

Factors that favour cut-flower production in Kenya

1. High fuel cost

- High fuel cost leading to high cost of maintaining of greenhouses in temperate countries
making them import flowers in Kenya during winter since Kenya can produce flowers
throughout the year.
- The best period of flower production coincides with winter i.e September to April during
which the Western countries the production is very low and very expensive.
2. Favourable Climate in Kenya
- Most flowers will do well in Kenya due to a wide range of altitude of 1000-3000m a.s.l.
- There is also adequate rainfall, good soils, and good sunshine for most of the year without
the need for heating.
3. It easy to access European market through direct flight to Europe.
4. The cost of flower production is easily met due to tropical climates hence no need of heating.
5. In Kenya there is availability of cheap labour.
6. Warm tropical climate will offer high quality flowers
7. Flowers grown in Kenya are resistant to diseases
8. Availability of planting materials – currently there are a number of flower breeders in Kenya
that do provide planting materials and those that are not available in Kenya can easily be
accessible abroad.
9. Ability to meet international quality standards – through sensitization the flower producers
can produce that are of high quality that meet the international standards of quality through
EURE-GAP.

Factors limiting expansion of cut flowers in Kenya

1. Lack of cut flower production skill among the rural small scale farmers.
2. High priorities given to phytosanitary requirements by importing countries and this leads to
some of the flowers being rejected in the markets.
3. EURE GAP regulators, sets the standards that the produce should meet
4. Lack of air space and unreliable local air lines which may lead to wastage due to fast
deteriorating of flowers hence low quality flowers offered in market sale.
5. Limited local market for the cut flowers
6. High pest and disease incidences in the tropics due to the warm climates and cost of
pesticides and fungicides increases the cost of flower production infected flowers not only
lower yield but also lower the quality of the flowers produced.

CONSTRAINTS OF CUT-FLOWER PRODUCTION

1. Lack of planting materials

- Flower growers lacks high quality and pure planting materials and if they are available they
are small to medium size flowers.
2. Inadequate land suitable for flower production
- The little land available is mainly used for other crop production especially the food crop.
3. Lack of information on diseases and pests managements
- New flower varieties with better production qualities are lacking
- There is also lack of flower preservative hence getting to the market with low quality.
4. Lack of market
- Especially in rural small scale farmers who may not afford to export their small quantity
flower produce.
5. Poor and inadequate infrastructure
- This affects transportation since most of the roads leaving the flower farms are not accessible.
6. European Union strict regulations. This is especially in chemical residue level and zero
tolerance to notifiable insect pest presents.
7. High cost of air flight during transportation of flowers to the European markets.
8. There is labour health hazard in the green house.

Pre-harvest factors that affect the cut-flower quality and shelf life.

1. The use of good quality disease free planting materials

2. The current growing temperatures and light intensity – each flower variety requires the
maximum and minimum temperature for optimum growth.
- They also do well in a given range of light intensity. Anything outside these to range will
influence the post-harvest quality of flowers so produced.
3. Proper fertilizer application
- fertilizer are applied at different growth stages and the quantity and quality or fertilizer so
applied influences the post-harvest quality or flowers produced.
4. Water supply
- The quantity and quality of water applied will influence the post harvest quality of flowers
so produced.

FLORICULTURE CASE STUDIES

MATER FLOWERS GROWN IN KENYA

1. Rose (Rosa hybrida)

2.
Family – Rosa ceae
Origin – china
- Most of the varieties produced in Kenya are hybrid and are delivered from crosses between
rose gigantae and is closed with Rosa chinensis.
- Commercial rose grown in Kenya started in mid 80s and most of them are grown in
greenhouses with exception of few verities which are grown in open fields.
- The area Rose production is increasing every year.
- The main markets for Kenya roses is – Europe. The masority of cut flowers are sold to the
dutch auctions from where they are exported all over Europe.

Botany of Rose Flower

- Roses are woody perennial plants with either Upright habits or Climbing habits
- They have thorny stem and compound leaves consisting of 3,5, of 7 leaf lets depending on
their ages.
- Flowers are formed at the tips of the shoots
- Flower colour vary depending on the variety and colour in each variety may include; Red,
Orange, Pink, White or Mixture
- These flowers may be born solitary as in standards or in multiples as in spray type of flowers.
- These flowers when fertilized they form known as hips which are very rich in vitamin C and
they produce these flower 2-3 months after planting.

Types of Roses and their uses:

- Rose can broadly categorised into 2:

a. Climbing roses
- Bushy roses
- These have a climbing growth habit
- They can be trille/coil on a building, post or along the fences.
- They produce large cluster of flowers
- Have a vigorous growth habit and produce bright green leaves
- Are mainly used for land scaping

b. Bushy Roses
- These were developed for land scaping as well as for cut flower production. Examples : Rosa
rugosa, Rosa lucida
- Those were development for cut flower production includes:
 Sweet heart varieties
 Hybrid tea varieties
 Floribunda rose varieties

Hybrid Tea Roses and Sweet heart Roses

- They are the standard type i.e they form one terminal flower and if they form more than
one flower, they should be dis-budded.
- They are thus produced with only cut flower per stem.
- These sweet heart varieties, produces short stem and small to medium sized flower heads.
- Hybrid tea varieties produces long stem and big flower heads.
- Sweet heart varieties includes:
 Golden times - coco
 Souvent - champagne
 Kiss - gendo
 Jaguar - Rosetta
 Europa - Florence
 Frisco - Disco
 Vicky - brown
 Merlland

Hybrid tea varieties

 Aismeer gold - Firtled
 Astra - Vivaldi
 Darling - Tineka
 Dollas - Medalon
 Islanol - Jacaranda

Floribunda Rose varieties

- These are the spray types and they produce medium steam length with four or more flowers
or more.
- Flowers are small in size
- They produce more cut flower stem per plant as compared to the standard types and they are
less popular in the market compared to the standard type.

Examples
- Porcelina - Joy - White dream
- Rumba - Mini Rose - Redace

NB- The choice of the variety for cultivar to be grown is determined by the market demand,
production skills and to some extent availability of planting material.

Root stock variety

1. Rosa canina
2. Rosa manetti
3. Rosa indica

NB. The most suitable and most common root stock variety in Kenya is Rosa Indica.

Suitable growing areas of Roses in Kenya

- Most areas in Kenya are within altitude of between 1500-2500m asl and they are suitable for
growing roses.
- Access to labour, suitable irrigation water and markets are the key limiting factor.
- Currently production is mainly located in Naivasha, Athi River, Kiambu, Karen, Nyeri,
Embu, Kericho, Nanyuki, Eldoret etc.

Ecological Requirement of Roses

1. Soils
- In Kenya most roses whether in a greenhouse/or open field will grow up. They are planted
directly to the soil hence soil properties for the side chosen are critical.
- A free draining soil. High in organic matter, are most suitable for commercial rose
production.
- Roses are usually planted on raised beds to improve on drainage.
- A thorough soil analysis should be encouraged to establish a commercial rose unit
- Any area with either high soil PH of a high electrical conductivity should be avoided.
- The ideal PH should be 5.8 – 6.5
- Since roses will remain for 6-8 years, it’s important to loosen the soil before planting to
ensure good drainage.
- Deep soils are preferred to shallow soils because they hold water for long.
2. Temperature
- Bud sprouting, shoots growth after pruning and flower production are greatly influenced by
temperatures.
- The best production of cut flowers is achieved in areas of 20-35◦C
- Bud sprouting occurs better when the temperatures are maintained at the rate of 15 - 28◦C.
- With better sprouting experienced at even higher temperatures e.g research as shown at 25◦C
buds sprouting occurs in 3 days but at 10◦C it occurs in 21 days.
- The day and night temperatures also influences teh growth rate, shoot length and flower
formation.
- In general an increase in diurnal temperature it causes reduction in quality. E.g A variation
of about 15◦C has been shown to cause the petal of red roses to darken. It has been shown
that night temperatures should be 2-3 ◦C lower than the day temperatures for optimum
growth.
- Flower formation and development in roses is strongly influenced by temperatures with
optimum level being between 19-22◦C.
- Under very high temperatures, flowers are small in size, pale in colour and they tend to have
fewer petals.
- Lower temperatures below 15◦C on the other hand will reduce growth (slow down) it will
also lead to increase in physiological disorders.

3. Light
- Growth and development in Roses is directly affected by light intensity. Flowering is
optimum under high light quality conditions.
- An enlongated dark period, during growing period causes a brake down in translocation of a
assimilate to the shoot tips leading to abnormal shoot development.
- Generally Rose growth and quality increases with increasing light up to 1200m/mole-1 active
radiation.
- It must be however be noted that higher light intensities are usually accompanied by higher
temperatures hence.
- During period of very high intensities its necessary to cover Rose crop with shading
materials.
- Day length has low length effect of growth and production or roses and therefore they can
be grown either under short or long day period.
4. Relative humidity
- Excessive relative humidity of more than 90% for periods longer than 8 hrs, can lead to
severe disease outbreak.
- Rose flowers therefore requires good ventilation to allow free air movement.
- Areas –C relative constant relative humidity or high rainfall are less suitable than relatively
dry areas.
- Ideally, relative humidity should be at fairy constant range of between 65-80%, however at
times, the relative humidity fall considerably e.g during the hottest parts of the day.
- In this case humidity has increased by artificial means e.g sprinkling water using propagaters
or musts.
5. Rainfall
- A good irrigation system is required under unreliable rainfall receiving areas.

CULTURAL PRACTICES

i. Propagation
- Rose flowers can be propagated by use seeds, vegetative propagation through use of stem
cuttings, budding, grafting or micro-propagation i.e. seeds, vegetative, micro-propagation.

a. seed propagation
- Mainly used by rose breeders for develop of new cultivars or for improvement of the
extesting cultivars.
- Rose seeds have in impervious seed coast it requires a period of ripening before germination.
- These seeds should be obtained from mature fruits (hips)
- Extracted seeds are sown in seed boxes contain a good rooting media e.g shredded slagnum
moss is preferred.
- These seeds should be kept under 4◦C for at least 3-4 weeks or until 5% of the seed have
shown the germination.
- The seed boxes then are transferred to a temperature of 18-21◦C where final germination
takes place which takes 2-3 weeks.
- These seedlings are later transplanted to a good growing media either in green house or field
for growth until bloom the flower develops.

b. Stem cuttings
- This can be done at anytime of the year and they should be obtained from shoot that have
flowered so that you can be sure that they are true to type/variety type.
- The shoot should have mature foliage so as to act a source of photosynthetic for the cutting
roots.
- Cuttings with 1-3 buds/eyes should be preferred such that in case one eye dies then other
remains.
- The base of cutting is slightly dusted with a rooting media preferably seradix.
- After treatments cuttings should be stuck in a rooting media with good water holding
capacity e.g coarse sand mixed with manure.
- These stem cutting are stuck into a depth of 5cm into the media at a spacing of
15cm x 75cm.
- Temperatures should then be maintained at 18-21◦C where it last for 4-8 weeks for the roots
to form.
- During tooting these cuttings, moisting should be applied to reduce water loss from the
cuttings.
- This moisting should decrease frequently when fruiting are observed so as to harden the
plants before planting then out door.

c. Grafting
- Its rearly used in commercial flower production because grafting requires alot of greenhouse
space and time factor.
- Incase wher grafting is to be used, the most common root stock used varieties are
 Rosa Indica
 Rosa Manetti
 Rosa Canin
- First select a suitable scion for given cultivar. The length of scion should be atlest one bud
long.
- The scion is then placed on rootstock where the grft is tied with a budding tape to hold the
union tighltly and prevent water entry.
- Temperature of 24◦C should be maintained misting/moisting should be maintained and once
the graft has healed the budding tape should be removed.

Land Preparation

- Before beds preparation, the land is deeply ploughed to a depth of atleast 6cm.
- Materials such as coarse sand, rice husks, pumice are then but separated by a path of 50-
70cm width.
- These beds should be raised to about 15cm above soil level to facilitate drainage.
- Follow recommendations after soil analyse a base fertilizer should be used and well
decomposed manure is added.
- Before planting the beds should be thoroughly soaked with water to ensure that ther is enough
moisture throughout the whole profile of bed.
- This can be achieved by drip irrigation.

Spacing

- Recommended spacing should be 20cm by 40cm, 30cm by 40cm or 30cm by 30cm.

- The highest spacing is normally used for cultivars that produce high yields or big in size.
- When using the grafted varieties, ensure that the graft union is above the soil line.

Fertilizer Application

- Roses need a lot of fertilizers during their production cycle.

- There is need for regular soil and leaf analysis so as to determine the current rate of fertilizer
application for both major and minor element.
- The soil analysis should be done once every month.
- Incorporate well rotten manure in beds every 2years so as to improve soil structure and
human content.
- Foliar feeds with bay folan/green lit twice a week is recommended.

BENDING OF ROSES

- Bending is a form of training the bush type roses to facilitate higher flower production and
it involves the following procedure.
- The newly planted shoots are left to grow until the buds starts to flower. Once the flower
buds shows colours the flowers are removed and stems are left to grow for 2 days before
bending.
- Bending is done in such a way that the grafting point becomes the highest point of the plant.
- That breaking of the flower bud breaks the apical dominance allowing the auxins to
accumulate at the grafting point.
- That in terms facilitates production of strong lateral shoots or bottom shoots and those bottom
shoots originating from grafting point will give rise to long and thick stems.
- A newly and several thin shoots from the base of stem.
- The basal shoots gives rise to small side shoots since they attract high concentration of plant
resources like water and nutrients from the soil.
- The basal shoots are therefore more productive and should be encouraged to grow.
- This bending is also done to maintain vegetative growth which supplies photosynthates to
the plants.
- When good quality stems are harvested, then an exportable stems are bent in stems. This
maintains vegetative growth due to photosynthesis.
- Availability of vegetation also maintains good soil cover there by reducing the rate of
evaporation from the soil.
- However, bent stems are difficult to maintain clearness and this makes them highly
susceptible to diseases there by increasing the cost disease control.
- Some rose varieties are brittle and they easily break during the process of bending. To avoid
breakages, before bending the stems are normally twisted and then bent.

Methods of pinching in cut roses:

i. Roll out pinching

ii. Soft pinching
iii. Hard pinching

i. Roll out pinching

- This involves the removal of tip of the shoot in newly planted cut roses when the shoot is
approximately 15cm.
- It’s normally done just above the 2nd, 3rd or 5th leaflet when the leaves are opening.
- This pinching increase the diameter or thickness or shoots.
- It will also delay the flowering.

ii. Soft pinching

- It’s done above 5th leaflets when the flowers are visible and it’s less than the pea size.
- This increases the length of flowering shoots and delays flowering to marketing time.

iii. Hard pinching

- It’s done when flower bud develops to pea size or larger.
- It’s done to increase the thickness of shoots and also delay flowering.

PRUNNING OF ROSES

- Pruning in Roses is cutting done to control various kinds of plant growth.

- The main objective is to achieve production of stem and flowers that will fetch high prices.
- After planting, the main branch is cut and it’s shorted so as to have 4-6 buds.
- The weaker ones are removed; the shoots are then allowed to grow until the young flower
buds are 5mm long. These are then nipped off and 3 weeks later the plants should be
producing basal shoots and these are again allowed to grow until the apical bud is 10mm
long.
- The shoots are then nipped back to the level below the 2nd full leaflets from the top. These
shoots are expected to flower 3-4 months after.
- The second flash of basal shoots are pinched back to form a table of maintenance leaves at a
height of approximately 50cm.
- In some varieties which produce side shoots in axil of the leaves these shoots are pruned
when they reach a height of 2cm.
- Hand pruning is done to allow a return to production when the crops seem to be dormant.

Propagations of tuberoses

- Tuberoses are mainly propagated vegetatively by means of bulbs.

- Seeds can also be used for propagation though they are rarely used for commercial
production.
- The bulbs should be carefully lifted from the soil to avoid injuries hence no access to
pathogens.
- Selection of good quality bulbs should be carried out to enhance high quality flower
production.
- Bulbs that have 1.5cm diameter and above should be selected.
- These bulbs so selected should be then sorted out according to their sizes.
- The damage and rotting bulbs should then be discord.
- The bulbs so selected should be dried and placed in a cool semi-ventilated storage for one
month before planting.
- After drying the selected bulbs, dip them in a fungicide for 2 days before planting and place
in a rack to dry.
- Treated bulbs should be placed upright 6cm deep and covered with soil. These bulbs will
sprout after 15 days.

MANAGEMNT PRACTICES OF CARNATIONS

1. Pinching in Carnations
- It’s a standard practices in carnations which involves removal of stem tip in order to promote
lateral shoot development. It’s done when plants are 4-6 weeks old.
- The stems are pinched at the 4th or 5th node.
- It promotes lateral shoot development.
- It delays flowering
- It increases flowering and yields.
- It also encourages uniform flower formation in a farm.

2. Disbudding
- It’s a management practice in carnations, where terminal flower head is removed before it
opens.
- It’s done down to about 6 nodes below the terminal flower bud.
- It’s normally done before flower buds open and when they are the size of pea.
- Buds should be twisted to avoid damaging the plant.
 It promotes uniform growth for lower flower buds and subsequent flowering.

PACK HOUSE OPERATIONS IN CARNATIONS

- The following management practices should take place in pack house.

1. Sorting
- Harvested flowers are placed on a grading table in a cold room
- Those flowers that are malformed, diseased and short stemmed are removed.
- The rubber band is place around the calyx/sepals to avoid splitting.
2. Cleaning
- The lower leaves which are normally dirty are removed so as to ease the bunching.
3. Pre-treatment
- The cut flowers are placed in a solution containing STS and 10% sucrose overnight in a
cooler area to extend the vase life/shelf life.
- Chemical preservatives that are containing Florissant are used to reduce ethylene production
e.g.
 Aluminum sulphate (AL2(SO4)3
 Sugar
 Bactericide
4. Grading
- It’s done according to stem straightness, stem length and bloom diameter and freedom from
defects.
- Grades includes
 Class one – have longer stems
 Class two – are flowers with shorter stems and incidences of head splitting.
5. Bunching
- Flowers are bunched into tens, twenties and wrapped in plastic sleeves.
- Room temperatures for bunching is 7-8◦C and stems are placed in buckets with preservatives
and placed in cold room set at 2-3◦C and relative humidity of 90-95%.
6. Packing
- The flowers are placed corrugated fibre boards cartons, 24 bunches per box of 14 kgs.
- The packing should minimise damages.
7. Pre-cooling
- Flowers are then taken to pre-cooling unit set at temperatures of 1-2◦C and relative humidity
of 90-95% and proper ventilation.

Pack house operations for chrysanthemums

1. Sorting
- It’s done on a grading table in order to remove short, diseased or malformed or those with
long or split petals.
- The damaged flowers are also sorted and removed.
2. Cleaning
- Involved manual removal of lower dry, excess and dirty leaves.
- The lower end of stem that may be with soil is chopped off in order to avoid dirty
contamination during grading.
3. Grading And Bunching
- Stems are graded by average weight of stem in the box.
- They go in steps from minimum of 25g to maximum of 100g in steps of 5g.
- All stems must not be less than average weight of bunch.
- Flowers are bunched in 10s, 12s, or 20s depending on the markets.
- Each bunch is wrapped in corrugated cardboard paper or plastic sleeves.
- The wrapped bunches are placed in the box.
4. Pre-cooling
- Bunched stems are put in a clean water containing preservative solution and are stored in a
cold room set at 2-4◦C.
5. Packing
- A total of 150 stems are packed in a carton weighing 13kgs.
6. Storage
- The packed flowers can be stored for 3-4 weeks at 5◦C awaiting transportation.
- These flowers are transported during the cool hours of the day. i.e either early in the morning
or late in the evening.

Pack house operations for Alstroemeria

1. Sorting
- Flowers are sorted
- Flowers placed on a grading table where diseased, deformed short long, damaged flowers
are discarded.
2. Cleaning
- Lower leaves are removed, stems trimmed to remove solid/soil particles.
3. Grading
- Flowers are graded according to stem length, symmetrical flower heads of 7-10 florets.
- Graded flowers are bunched into 10s or 20s.
- Bunched flowers are rapped with a paper or plastic sleeves.
- The rapped flowers are placed in a bucket with water and chemical preservatives to prevent
the yellowing.
- Flower bunches remain in the preservatives for one hour after packing.
4. Packing
- Sleeved flower branches are packed in ventilated carton boxes
- The numbers of stems depends on their length and also market requirements.
- Flowers are parked firmly in the boxes so as to minimize damage during transportation.
5. Storage
- Forced air cooling of flowers at temperatures of 2-4◦C and this is aimed at removing the field
heat.
- Flowers are then kept in cold rooms set at temperatures of 2-4◦C and relative humidity of
90-95%.
6. Transportation
- These flowers are transported to the airports in refrigerated or insulated tracks.
- In airports they are stored in cold rooms awaiting air flight.

Ways by which vase life of flowers can be prolonged.

1. Hydration
- This makes water to move up the stems and if this water is made to have a PH of 3-3.5
improves the water flow.
- This is achieved by making water slightly acidic.
2. Holding solution
- This contains sugars that feed the flowers to continue opening.
3. Pulsing
- This involves putting the flower in a solution of glucose and bactericide so as to inhibit
bacterial growth.
- Ethylene is also removed by specially formulated products.
4. Control draughts
- Avoid exposing your flowers to excess wind which may dehydrate the flowers.

Factors that influence the keeping quality/shelf life cut flowers

a. Handling
- Cut flowers should be handled gently to avoid physical damage from bruises, floral and stem
destructions as this could allow entry of micro-organisms leading to reduced shelf life and
ethylene production.
b. Hydration
- Cut flowers should be quickly placed in water after harvesting since air moves rapidly into
xylem tissues and plugs the cells which prevents uptake of water hence reducing the shelf
life of flowers.
c. Pulsing
- Commercial floral preservatives increase the life of cut flowers and should always be used.
- A preservative is a mixture sucrose, acidified which inhibits micro0organism activities and
it’s also a respiratory inhibitor hence increasing the shelf life of a flower.
d. Cleaning of flowers
- The flower vase should always be clean so as to slow down the growth of micro-organism
and also extend the life of cut flowers.
- All the leaves on the stem of cut flower below the water surface should be removed as soon
as they rot away since they reduce the shelf life of flowers.
e. Proper storage
- Place the cut flower in a cool location in a house for an hour or two since cut flowers placed
in cool temperature loose less water.
f. Maintain the level of water
- The water level of vase should be checked diary add water plus a preservative when heeded
to prevent wilting and provide nourishment to the cells.
g. Ventilation
- The cut flower should be left to get good amount of ventilation since this will drive away
heat and gases such as ethylene build-up is prevented hence increasing shelf life of cut
flowers.
h. Control draughts
- The cut flower should be kept away from cold air draughts and hot spots such as radiators,
direct heat on top of television sets etc. Since these heat increases rate of respiration hence
reducing the shelf life of cut flowers.
i. Avoid mixed storage
- Never store fruits and cut flowers together
- Fruits produce ethylene gas which enhances scene or aging in cut flowers which in turn
reduces the shelf life of cut flowers.

Causes of deterioration in cut flowers

1. Normal respiration
- Stored foods in cut flowers particularly carbohydrates are depleted through normal
respiration hence the vase life of the cut flower is determined by utilization of these food
reserves during storage.
- Refrigerated storage of flowers retards respirations thus preserving the food supplies.
2. Post-harvest diseases.
- Attack by post-harvest diseases reduces the shelf life of cut flowers.
- Proper handling treatment and storage is important after cutting flowers in order to avoid
attack by disease causing micro-organism like fungi.
3. Maturation and aging
- Normal maturation and aging may limit storage and vase life of cut flower.
- The age of maturing at times of cutting is very critical.
4. Excessive moisture loss
- Wilting due to excessive moisture loss may also limit storage and vase life of cut flowers
since it leads to loss of condition of flowers.
5. Mechanical damage/bruising
- Bruising of cut flowers will shorten the vase life of the cut flower and also reduce their
marketability.
- Blooms should therefore be handled carefully to reduce bruising them.
- Bruised blooms/damaged by careless handling leads to increased respiration which in terms
reduces the vase life of flowers.
6. Elevated temperatures
- Elevated temperatures leads to wilting and colour changes such as:
 Fading of carnations
 Bluing of roses
- This leads to reduced marketability
- Refrigeration or cold storage is desirable for preserving the flower colour and maintaining
their fresh colour.
7. Ethylene gas
- Ethylene gas accumulation in storage room will accelerate the rate of development and aging
of cut flowers.
- This in some cases may cause abscission florets
- The cut flowers produce ethylene gas as they continue to mature after harvest.
- Mix storage of cut flowers and fruits is detrimental to their storage
8. chilling injuries
- Storing flowers at temperature of below 3◦C may cause chilling injuries in some flowers.
- Some flowers may fail to open after removal from storage therefore flowers should be stored
at desired temperature.
9. Poor ventilation
- Poor air circulations leads to accumulation of carbon(iv)oxide and reduced oxygen levels
hence lowering the shelf life flowers.

General pack house operations for cut flowers

1. Keep pack house environment clean and various equipment used:

e.g grading knives
 Thorning knives
 Cold room
2. Room temperature of 6-8◦C and relative humidity of 80-95%.
- For rapid cooling and removing of field heat.
3. Sorting
- Remove weak, malformed, diseased flowers on the sorting table.
4. Cleaning of flowers
- Clean leaves and rethorn the flower if necessary
5. Grading
- Grade the flowers according to straightness, flower maturity, forage quality, flower
openness, stem length.
6. Bunching
- Bunch the flowers in 10s,12s, 20s according to market demand
7. Flower preservation
- Bunching flowers should be placed in preservative e.g aluminium sulphate.
8. Storing
- Store in a cool room temperatures of 0-2◦C overnight
9. Packing
- Pack the flowers into standard boxes as per the market demand.
10. Storage after packing
- Store the flowers after packing at temperatures of 2-4◦C before taking them to airport.
11. Transportation to airport
- Transport the packed flowers in insulated/refrigerated tracks and in the airport store them in
a cold room as they await the air flight.

Flower preservative ingredients

1. Silver nitrate
2. Citric acid
3. Silver thiosulphate
4. Hormones e.g cytokinins, gibberellins, auxins
5. Sugars/sucrose
6. 8-hydroxy-quinoline sulplate
7. Alminium sulphate
8. Amphyl
9. 8-hydroxy quinoline citrate

EUROPEAN UNION REQUIREMENT ON FRESH PRODUCE FOR EXPORT.

1. Traceability
- All long the production chain, it’s necessary to trace the source of the products from the
grower to the exportation.
- This is an important aspect of marketing, fresh horticultural produce and it’s a legal
requirement within a European Union countries.
- Super markets and other importers regularly visit their suppliers to confirm this aspect.
2. Controls
- This are measures to regulate each stem of production.
- The control covers the input acquisition, cleanness of the field cleanness of irrigation water,
of tools and equipment used in production, application of pesticides, harvesting, packaging
and transportation.
- Records of all these steps are kept to prove reasonable precautions were exercised.
3. Training and commitments
- All persons involved in production process must be aware of required standards in production
of fresh horticultural produce.
- They should be involved in meeting the responsibilities and achieve this.
- They should also aim achieving environmental safety e.g avoid pollution of environment.
- The production should also take care of workers welfare
- Observe cooperate social responsibility.

EURE GAP guidelines in production and marketing of Horticultural produce.

1. Risk assessment
- Risk assessment for safe and health working, surveys should be carried out and action plan
developed so as to promote safe and healthy working conditions.
2. Training
- Formal training should be given to all workers and record of training kept.
- These workers have to be trained on first aid and accident procedure should be displayed.
3. Facilities and equipment
- First aid boxes must be provided and hazards clearly identified by warning signs.
4. Pesticides handling
- Workers undertaking pesticides applicators in the farmers should have annual health checks
to ascertain that their health is not at risk.
5. Hygiene
- Workers must be given the basic hygiene training
- Premises should have adequate provisions for waste disposal
- The premise should be clear of wastes.
6. Welfare
- Employment conditions should comply with local and national regulations with regard to
wages, working age, working hours, working conditions, job security, pensions, trade unions
and all other legal and health requirements.
- On site living quarters should be habitable with all basic services and facilities.