Includes various post harvest management methods and techniques employed from harvest to marketing of commercial flower crops

1. POST HARVEST MANAGEMENT
OF COMMERCIAL FLOWERS

2. INTRODUCTION
• High valued crops
• Higly perishable
• Quality remains best at HARVEST

3. • Cut flowers: Fresh flowers harvested in
clusters/spikes or in single along with their stem
• Loose flowers: Flowers harvested without stalks and
are usually used for gajara, veni, garlands

4. Cut flowers

5. Loose flowers

6. How will you
minimize the
deterioration of
cut flower after
harvest?
How long will
a cut flower
sustain life?

7. It is the respiration rate of a flower that determine
how long a flower will sustain life
The next big question now is how to
reduce respiration rate?

8. FACTORS AFFECTING POST HARVEST LIFE OF
FLOWERS
Harvest
• Stage of harvest
• Time of harvest
• Method of harvest
Pre Harvest
• Genetic or inherent makeup
• Growing conditions
 Light
 Temperature
 Humidity
 Water
 Nutrients
 Pest & diseases
 Toxic gases
Post Harvest Factors
• Temperature
• Light
• Humidity
• Water quality
• Ethylene
• Preservatives
• Ventilation
• Packaging
• Diseases and Pests

9. Post harvest handling
Harvest includes the decision
of when, how and where to cut
and the actual act of cutting
the flower
Handling is everything else
involved in preparing the
flowers for market

10. Post harvest management of flowers
Harvesting
Grading
Pulsing
Packing
Cooling
Storage
Transportation

11. Harvesting
• Process of gathering a ripe crop from the field
• Harvesting includes the decisions of WHEN, HOW
and WHERE to cut, and the actual act of cutting
the flower
"When“- Best time of day for harvesting flowers
• The best time is the coolest part of the day and when there is no surface
water from dew or rain on the plants
• Usually done in the cool of the morning after the dew has dried.

12. Optimum stages of harvesting
Flower Stage of Harvest
Rose 1-2 petals beginning to unfold. At tight bud
stage
Matured, unopened bud stage (loose)
Jasmine Fully opened flowers
Anthurium
Spadix almost fully developed 1/3rd
of flowers on spadix mature
Gladiolus
1-5 florets show colour
Carnation
Paint brush stage when flowers are half open
for standard type
Tuberose
Fully opened with short or no stem

13. General rules for harvesting flowers
1. Harvest in the morning or evening
2. Remove foliage on stems that will be below water
3. Slant cuts will keep stems from lying flat on the bucket bottom and
increase water uptake
4. Never lay flowers on the ground or dirty surface
5. Disinfect cutting tools at least 2 times each day
6. Grade and bunch flowers immediately after harvest
7. Bring flowers into the shade and place in clean buckets of clean warm
water (acidified) and a biocide
8. Avoid over-filing containers with flowers

14. Grading
•Grading is a process of putting flowers in different groups based on their flower,
leaves, and their stem conditions
•Provides a standard way of describing flowers being sold in the real time market

15. Bunching and sleeving
• Bunching is typical for most flower
crops with the exception such as
orchids & anthuriums
• Bunches of 25 are common for roses,
bunches of 10 or 12 are common for
other types of flowers
• Sleeving is basically flowers packaging
in flower bags and flower
papers critically

16. Chemical pulse treatment
A) Precooling means quickly removing the heat from freshly harvested fruits and
vegetables to reduce the loss in quality of produce once it's been picked
• Precooling increases the shelf-life of fresh produce
• Higher quality and longer shelf-life means more profits to produce growers
• Precooling temperature varies from species to species
Eg: Gladiolus: 5-7°C
Bird of paradise: 7-8°C

17. B) Pulsing
• Treating the flowers with high concentration of sucrose and germicide for a
short period of time, in order to improve the shelf life and to promote flower
opening
• Pulsing is beneficial especially for flowers destined for long storage period or
long distance transportation
• Treatments can be for short periods at warm temperatures (e.g. 10 minutes
at 200C) or for long periods at cool temperatures (e.g. 20 hours at 2oC).

18. Packing
Good packing is of great importance to
make sure that the flowers do not arrive
crushed or bruised.
• Protect flower & plants from
temperature extremes that may occur
during shipment or after delivery at the
recipient's location
• To prevent leaks and spills, ship vases or
containers without water and cover soil in
pots and containers

19. Packing material
1. Cellophane paper
2. Butter paper
3. Corrugated Fibre Board papers
4. Aluminium laminated foils
5. Polythene sheets

22. Cooling
• Cooling includes temperature regulation
at all stages
• Starting from precooling to shipment the
optimum temperature should be
maintained
• Cooling increases the longevity of flowers

23. Storage
After pre-cooling and pulsing the flowers can be stored at low temperature
i.e. in cold store to regulate
the flower market or to avoid the glut in the market
Methods used to enhance the post harvest life of flower:
• Controlled atmospheric (CA)
• Modified atmospheric (MA)
• Hypobaric (LP) storage

24. Ideal conditions for flower storage
• Temperature control is one of the main factors to assist with
long-lasting flowers
• Optimum storage temperature for cut flowers: 2°C- 8°C
• Relative Humidity is another factor that affects uptake of
solution
• Suggested relative humidity ranging from 75% to 99%.

25. Transportation
• Any flowers are fragile, and easily bruised, broken or otherwise
damaged during transportation
• So transporting them to a new location can be a challenge

26. Points to be remember while transporting cut
flowers :
• Have a proper sized vehicle with air conditioning
• Transported in corrugated cardboard boxes
• The flowers which are sensitive to ethylene, ethylene scrubbers like KMnO4
should be added to those boxes
• Some of the flowers are like gladiolus and snapdragon are sensitive to
geotropic bending, so these should be transported in upright position
• Some of the flower crops show yellowing during transportation due to lack
of light, therefore there should be a provision of light inside the transporting
vehicle
• Fresh flower preservatives are chemicals added to water to make flowers
last longer. They contain a germicide, a food source, a pH adjuster, water,
and hormones

27. Marketing
As a flower grower, your marketing options include selling directly to
the public or selling to florists, grocery stores and other retail outlets
• Online marketing also helps you to break geographical barriers, and
it allows your clients to view and order your flowers from the comfort
of their home
• Adding value to flowers by arranging them in an eye-pleasing
manner can help to boost sales

28. Advantages of post harvest handling of flowers
• Post-harvest handling keeps the product cool,
avoids moisture loss and slow down
undesirable chemical changes
• Helps to prevent physical damage such as
bruising to delay spoilage
• Proper handling increases the vase life or
longevity of flowers

29. THANK YOU