Commercial Floriculture

Harvesting

• The stage at which flowers should be cut, either for decoration or for cut flower dispatch is the tight bud stage.
• When the bud shows full color but the petals have not yet started unfolding.
• Harvesting at this stage will help the flower to last longer in vases or during transportation for better retention of colour and freshness.
• The optimum stage may varying slightly depending on cultivar and one has to experience to judge the right stage for cutting.
• Because a flower bud of a red cultivar when cut at a little early stage may fail to open later.
• Most pink and red cultivars should be allowed to develop a stage where one of the two outer petals begins to unfurl at the upper point.
• Loose flowers used for preparing perfumes and various other products also for worshipping are harvested only when they are fully opened.