Introduction

Flowers, as an internal part of human life, hold significance in many aspects. The demand of flowering plants is growing day by day. In the joy of a newly born baby to the agony of someone’s demise, the flowers are equally used. Our religious, cultural and social activities are incomplete without flowers. They are used for decorative purposes, worship purposes and also for the production of certain products. We can grow them in the farm for commercial purposes. The commercial farming of flowers is also known as floriculture.

The importance of flowers in a human life are as follows:

• To create a pleasant and healthy atmosphere around and within the house.
• A key component for carrying out various religious activities.
• For the decoration of the house.
• Creation of a clean, fresh and wonderful environment.
• As an integral ingredient in a variety of cosmetic items such as perfumes and oils.
• Medicinal purposes.

Flower Cultivation System

Growing flowers is an art of growing plants, with a goal of creating a wonderful and beautiful world around. Floriculture is the discipline of horticulture concerned with the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants. It deals with cut flowers, bedding plants, houseplants, flower garden, pot plants, cultivated greens for beauty and herbaceous nursery. Floriculture is an important agro-based, labor intensive and business-oriented enterprise in Nepal. Flower cultivation is generally divided into the following types:

Amenity Gardening: This type of floriculture includes the cultivation of ornamental plants or greenery landscaping of the private housings, business plazas, public parks, and other public places.

Amateur gardening: Amateur gardening is also the section of floriculture. This type of floriculture covers the cultivation of ornamental plants for the enjoyment of individuals as a part of hobby or luxury and not for sales.

Commercial gardening:

Commercial gardening is a type of floriculture that covers ornamental plants produced for sale and includes potted plants, seeds, seeding, cut flowers, and bulbs. A market garden is a business that provides a wide range and steady supply of fresh products through the local growing season.
 

Flower Growing in Pots :

Flowers can be planted in flower pots. Flowers is the essential component for the beautification of the house. Some special advantages of the flower pots are production without cultivating land, desired arrangement, mobility and intensive care. Traditionally, flower pots are made of clay and in these days, it has also been made from plastic, hard waterproof paper, metal or wooden baskets. Nowadays, especially in the city areas, one can see many houses with flowers plants in various kind of vases and the plastic bags.

The important aspects to be considered for floriculture in vases and plastics are enlisted below:

1. Preparation of vase and selection of flower plant.
2. Selection of seed or sapling of the selected flower plant.
3. Proper care of flower.
4. Plucking of flowers and their storage.

Plant propagation:

Plant propagation is both an art and science. It is the deliberate production of new plants that is achieved by two means – either sexual or asexual. Getting basic knowledge of both the types can help growers in selecting the right method according to the plants they grow. It is the process of creating new plants from a variety of sources; seeds, cuttings, bulbs and other plant parts. Plant propagation can also refer to the artificial or natural dispersal of plants. Plants may be multiplied through both genetic and vegetative methods of propagation.

1. Genetic or Sexual Propagation : Sexual propagation involves the contribution of both female & male sexes for the creation of new plants. It is a natural process in which the parent species create offspring that is genetically different from them. The process starts with flowering followed by pollination, fertilization and ultimately seed formation. These seeds when sown, result in the formation of new plants.

Advantages of Genetic or Sexual Propagation

• Simplest, easiest and the most economical process among various types of plant propagation.
• Some plants, trees, vegetables or fruits species can propagate only through sexual propagation. E.g. – marigold, papaya, tomato etc.
• This type of propagation leads to better crop species that are stronger, disease-resistant and have a longer lifespan.
• Easy storage and transportation of seeds.
• Sexual propagation is responsible for the production of a large number of crops and that too with different varieties.

Disadvantages of Genetic or Sexual Propagation

• Plants that do not have seeds can’t be propagated through this process.
• Seeds take a long time to turn into mature plants i.e. time interval between sowing and flowering is longer.
• Some plant species do not produce viable seeds through sexual propagation and hence are unsuitable to propagate for the same.
• Seedlings propagated through sexual propagation are unlikely to have same genetic characteristics as that of parent plants.

 Vegetative or Asexual Propagation :

This process involves the production of species through vegetative parts of the plants such as roots, leaves, stems, bulbs, tubers etc. In this process, no exchange of genetic information takes place as the offspring is formed through the material of a single parent. Thus, the resultant plants formed are identical to the parent plant (also known as clones). Propagation by cuttings, division, layering and grafting/budding are various methods of asexual propagation process.

Advantages of Vegetative or Asexual Propagation :

• Plants grown through vegetative propagation bear fruits early.
• The process is faster than sexual propagation. This helps in rapid generation of crops which in turn balances the loss.
• Injured plants can be recovered or repaired through techniques involved in asexual propagation.
• Asexual propagation allows propagation of crops that do not possess seeds or those which are not possible to grow from seeds. For e.g. jasmine, sugarcane, potato, banana, rose etc.

Disadvantages of Vegetative or Asexual Propagation:

• Asexual propagation is an expensive process that requires special skills for the successful cultivation of crops.
• Crops produced through this process have a shorter lifespan than those grown through sexual process.
• Species involved in this process are less likely to resist pests and diseases.
• New varieties of crops cannot be developed in this type of propagation.
• As many crops are produced with this process, it leads to overcrowding & lack of nutrients.

Production of Young Plants from Seeds

Most plants grow from seeds. From good and healthy seeds, good and healthy plants can be germinated. You need to choose a good variety of seeds from the market that is best suitable for your place. A seed is the first stage in the life cycle of a plant. Protected inside the tough seed coat, is the baby plant, called an embryo. Food, which fuels germination and growth, is either packed around the embryo or stored in special seed leaves, called cotyledons.

Nowadays, you can find the hybrid seeds of flowers. Hybrid plants are genetically modified to best suit for the place. If you choose hybrid seeds, you cannot select your own seeds for the next year. You will have to depend on the market. You can collect seeds from local varieties and store for future plantation.

Water, light, air, and temperature are the most important for the production of plants from seeds. One needs to understand that seeds are in dormant form. When the favorable environment is created, the dormancy of the seed is broken. The breaking of dormancy sometimes becomes difficult. By soaking seeds in the water, you can break dormancy. The fundamental conditions for the germination of the seeds are listed below:

• The proper environmental conditions must be available.
• The embryo must be alive or viable.
• Any dormancy preventing germination must be broken.

Aftercare of Flowers

Flowers have to be cared in the field during different stages of its growth. Timely watering, provided nutrients and weeding has to be carried out.

Weeding: A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, or a plant in the wrong place. The process of removing weeds from the garden is called as weeding. Defined as any undesired or unwanted plants, the gardener does not cultivate them. However, what one gardener calls weeds, another may cultivate them for ornamental or culinary purposes.

Thinning and Pruning : Pruning is a horticultural practice involving the selective removal of parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. Reasons to prune plants include deadwood removal, shaping, improving or maintaining health, reducing risks from falling branches, preparing nursery specimens for transplanting, and both harvesting and increasing the yield or quality of flowers and fruits.

Irrigation: The process of providing water to the plants is called irrigation. It is very important for the growth of the plants and to increase productivity . There are different methods of irrigation systems. Drip irrigation is one of the best methods for irrigation that saves water and fertilizers by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of different plants, either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone, through a network of valves, pipes, tubing, and emitters. If you cannot install drip irrigation, you can choose overhead irrigation with the can. We should irrigate in the morning or in the evening, but not in the hot sun of the day time. The soil structure will be damaged and turned very hard if you touch the soil.

 

Harvesting, Packing and Storage of Flowers

The joy of seeing the flower blossom is simply unparalleled. The different plants has different flowering times and durations. Some of the flowers have great ornamental values. Flowers lose their value when time is delayed.

Harvesting: If the flowers are planted for the commercial purposes, it is important that one plucks the flower. The process of picking of flowers when they are ready is called harvesting. Flowers are normally plucked in the early morning. Plants are harvested when the flowers are matured or when petals start to open. It is advisable to keep plucked flowers in cool and dry places before selling.

Packaging: It is the method of the safe enclosure of flowers harvested for distribution, storage, sale and use. Packaging has to be specially done for storing and transporting delicate flowers. The packaging also refers to the process of designing, evaluating, and producing packages. Packaging contains, protects, preserves, transports, informs, and sells. In many countries, it is fully integrated into government, business, institutional, industrial sectors and personal use.

Storage: The process of keeping and protecting the flowers for future use is called as storage. These days, flowers are grown for business purposes. Harvested flowers can be stored naturally only for a short period of time.

Flower crafts:

From flowers, different types of decorative items can be prepared. The work of giving artistic looks of flowers is regarded as flower craft. During the wedding ceremony, we have seen how the flowers are used. Flowers are used in decorating stages, cars and as bouquets. Some simple techniques of flowers crafts are given below:

Flower bouquet:It is the bunch of same or different types of flowers presented in an artistic way. With fresh flowers, you can prepare a bouquet of your choice at home. A flower bouquet can add beauty to your room and make the room attractive. Flower bouquets are considered as the symbol of best wishes and given as a present in a marriage. The following are the simple steps to make a bouquet of flowers:

Essential materials

1. 30 to 60 stems of a hardy flower like the rose
2. Bucket
3. Paper towels
4. Ribbon (in a complementary color), 1 to 2 inches wide
5. Rubber bands or green waxed floral tape
6. Stem cutter or very sharp knife
7. Stem stripper
8. Straight pins or pearl-tipped corsage pins
9. Scissors

Preparation method

1. Choose flowers, selecting at least one with sturdy stem base, to create the foundation of the bouquet.
2. Remove any extra thorns, flora, or unsightly petals with a secateurs. Also, cut about one or two inches of the stalk or stem off from the end.
3. Take a bucket half–filled with cool water. Place the flowers with cut stems into the bucket until they are used so that flowers can hydrate and maintain full turbidity.
4. To make the bouquet, hold the flowers carefully in your hand to arrange them to shape the bouquet. Use floral tape to maintain the desired order or combination of flowers.
5. Wrap the ribbon 8 to 10 times around the upper part of the floral arrangement until they are securely bound.
6. Use scissors to cut and smooth end at the bottom and continue wrapping the ribbon around to hold the sandwich bag and to keep the moisture inside safe.
7. Keep the bouquet safe by wrapping in a tissue paper and placing in a cool place.

Flower Garlands: A garland is used at the festive occasion which can be hung around a person's neck. Originally, garlands were made of flowers or leaves. Garlands have a significant importance in the religious and social festivals of the country. Hindu marriage is not complete until both bride and groom put garland in each other's neck. Tihar is incomplete without brothers and sisters putting garland in each other’s neck. Garlands are easy to make using a variety of flowers and ornamental foliage.