Flower spacing and harvest timing is critical factors for a person who grows flower for cutting. Many people believe that planting more seeds will result in more flowers, but planting more seeds can lead to overcrowd. Overcrowding occur when plants are placed too close together, and overcrowding causes plants to compete for sunlight and nutrient.
When plants compete for sunlight and nutrients, the plants will produce weak stem and short stems instead of the long, sturdy stems that is required for professional bouquets. Therefore, you must provide adequate space for each plant so that each plant can grow upright and strong. Different types of flowers requires different amount of space because different flowers have different growth patterns.
How to Space and Harvest Flowers
For example, a rose requires a larger footprint then a sweet pea, and a sunflower requires more space than a small flower because a sunflower has heavy head. If you do not provide enough space for heavy headed flowers, the heavy-headed flowers may flop over because the heavy-headed flowers lack the structural support provided by wide spacing. You can use a grid system to manage your flower spacing.
A dense six-inch grid is appropriate for small flowers like tulips, but a wider eighteen-inch grid is necessary for large plants like amaranth. Additionally, you must use wide spacing between rows so that you have enough room to walk between the rows. Walking between the rows ensure that you do not crush the flowers while you are harvesting the flowers.
Harvest timing is also a critical factor for a person who grows flower for cutting. You should not wait until a flower is in full bloom before you harvest the flower. If you harvest a flower when the flower is in full bloom, the vase life of the flower will be very short.
A flower with a short vase life will wilt quick once the flower is placed in a vase. Instead, you should harvest the flower when the color is just beginning to appear in the bud. When you harvest a flower during this early stage, the flower have more energy, and the flower will continue to open while the flower is in the vase.
Harvesting the flower early ensures that the flower lasts longer in the vase. Finally, you must use the correct tools and follow the correct procedure after you harvest the flowers. You must use sharp harvest knives or sharp snips because sharp tools create a clean cut on the stem.
If you use dull tools, the dull tools will crush the stem, and a crushed stem will block water uptake and invite disease into the plant. Once you have harvested the flowers, you must place the flowers into cool water immediately. You should allow the flowers to sit in cool water for several hour to condition the flowers.
Conditioning the flowers helps to stabilize the flowers before you place the flowers in a vase or sold at market.