Commercial Flower Production Methodology
WB Miller, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
This article is a revision of the previous edition article by W.B. Miller, volume 2, pp. 942–948, Ó 2003, Elsevier Ltd.
Within agriculture, the production of greenhouse and
flower (‘floriculture’) crops is one of the most intensive
management of plants possible. Due to the use of a regulated
environment (a greenhouse), nearly complete control of
plant growth and development is possible. Thus, it becomes
biologically possible to grow any plant at any time of the
year anywhere in the world . even out of this world, as
seen by NASA’s interest in developing superintensive plant
growth systems for long-term space flight. The key words in
the above statement are ‘biologically possible,’ as the
commercial flower industry must pay close attention to the
cost and profitability of any procedures they use to grow
their crops.
In this article, the major physiological phenomena affecting
commercial flower production will be presented. Readers inter-
ested in pursuing topics in more detail are referred to appro-
priate articles in the Encyclopedia and to the reference list
accompanying this article.
Overview and Objectives of Commercial Flower
Production
The basic objective in commercial flower production is to
produce high-quality products for consumption by the flower-
and plant-loving public. This very often involves manipulation
of floral induction, initiation, and development, as in ‘out-of-
season’ production of flowers such as chrysanthemums (Den-
dranthema
grandiflora), poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima),
Easter lily (Lilium longiflorum), or other bulbous crops such as
tulip or hyacinth. Central to this objective is distinguishing
between plant growth (essentially dry weight gain) and plant
development (processes leading to alterations in the vegetative
body of the plant and manipulation of floral development).
Very simplistically, the life of a commercial flower crop may
be divided into four phases: (1) propagation, (2) vegetative
development, leading to a plant with sufficient vegetative struc-
ture and ‘machinery’ to support floral development, (3) floral
induction, initiation, and development to anthesis (or
marketing), and (4) the postharvest phase that encompasses
packaging, transportation, marketing, and use by the final
consumer.
Products under consideration include cut flowers and
foliage that are used in floral arrangements, flowering or
nonflowering pot plants as used for indoor decoration, and
‘bedding plants’ that are mainly destined for use in gardens
and for outdoor decoration in the warmer months. A key
concept in commercial flower production is that greenhouses
are expensive to operate (e.g., winter heating); thus the area
a crop occupies and time it takes to grow are both crucially
important to the greenhouse producer, regardless of crop
(flower, vegetable, fruit). Thus, adoption of techniques based
on plant physiology must be economically feasible, for
example, by
Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences, 2nd edition, Volume 3 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-394807-6.00023-X
l reducing time to grow the flower or plant to maturity
l reducing labor by improving uniformity and allowing
adoption of automation
l improving quality and thereby allowing a higher price (and
hopefully profit) to be earned
Propagation
The plants grown by commercial floriculturists are started from
seed or through vegetative propagation techniques (cuttings,
division, layering, tissue culture, etc.). The ornamental plant
breeding and seed production industries are highly developed,
sophisticated, and worldwide in scope. Breeding objectives vary
enormously by crop, but characteristics such as flower color,
plant form and size, productivity (in the case of perennial or
semiperennial crops such as roses), earliness to bloom,
fragrance, disease resistance, minimized plant-to-plant varia-
tion (seed propagated crops that do not arise from crossing
inbred lines), seed production potential, and enhanced post-
harvest performance (delayed leaf or flower senescence) are
all crucial. In the case of vegetatively propagated crops, ease
of propagation and perhaps amenability to in vitro culture are
important.
Physiological techniques used by the seed industry are many.
At the outset, seed must germinate to a high percentage, have
uniform timing of germination, and produce vigorous seedlings.
After this, technologies such as pre- and partially germinated
seed offer the potential for even more rapidly germinating and
uniformly growing seedlings. The seedling industry has devel-
oped to the extent that seedlings are produced in small cells
(‘plugs’) that may have soil volumes of less than 1 ml per plant.
With such an intensity of production, highly sophisticated
robots are now used for seed sowing, rouging (removal of
weak or defective seedlings and replacement with healthy
ones), and transplanting into a final container for further
growth. Efficient use of such machinery is predicated on high-
quality seed and seedlings and also a skillful blending of horti-
culture and plant physiology to obtain uniform plant growth.
Temperature, Light, Nutrition, and Gases Are the
Major Environmental Factors Affecting Growth and
Development
The basic factors of temperature, light, water, nutrition, and
gases are crucial for optimum growth (dry weight gain).
Many commercial flower producers have the ability to accel-
erate dry weight gain by increasing photosynthesis through
the use of assimilation lights (high-pressure sodium (HPS),
metal halide, light-emitting diode (LED), etc.). Coupled with
increases in dry weight, forcers are also interested in the coordi-
nated morphological development of the crop, usually culmi-
nating in a flower. Thus, the environmental factors leading to
203
204 Weeds and Competition j Commercial Flower Production Methodology
floral induction, primordial initiation, and flower development
are also important to understand, as well as the concept that
each phase generally has its own optimum environmental
parameters.
Temperature
Temperature is a crucial environmental factor for floriculture
production. Temperature plays a central role in determining
crop growth rate (metabolism and respiration), leaf production
and unfolding, plant size, response to other environmental
cues (e.g., photoperiod), and, ultimately, the ‘quality’ of the
final plant or flower.
Horticultural Considerations
Professional growers are keenly aware of temperatures within
their greenhouses. Temperature effects vary with crop. Some
are ‘cool crops,’ that grow well and have best quality when grown
under ‘low’ temperatures (e.g., 10–15 C night temperature).
Examples are Primula, Calceolaria, Cineraria, Viola, and many
spring bulb crops. Others fall into the ‘warm crop’
category and are best grown with night temperatures typically
between 18 and 20  C and above (poinsettia, many foliage
plants). The majority are ‘moderate’ temperature requiring and
grow well at temperatures between these extremes (often at
16–18  C night temperatures). Note that the absolute range of
temperatures of these categories only spans about 10  C.
Furthermore, it is important to understand the tempera-
ture limits defining these categories are fluid, and crops in
reality have rather complex temperature needs that vary
throughout their life cycle. Many crops are ‘started warm’
and ‘finished cool.’ For example, poinsettia is often grown
in its early stages at temperatures of 23–25  C to promote
rapid root growth and vegetative development prior to decap-
itation (‘pinching’) to promote lateral branching. At the end
of the crop, temperatures may be reduced to 15–16  C to
‘harden’ plants and intensify bract color prior to sale. Similar
temperature manipulations exist for nearly all floriculture
crops. These manipulations are taken to an extreme with
crops such as Easter lily (L. longiflorum) where plant develop-
ment is nearly fully controlled by temperature, and the sales
window is exclusively for the Easter holiday. In such cases,
growers are constantly adjusting temperatures up or down
by a few degrees, trying to ‘time’ the crop so that it becomes
salable at the right moment.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Went et al. conducted extensive
investigations on effects of temperature on plant growth.
Their work led to the conclusion that most plants ‘grow
better’ (i.e., taller, more robust) when night temperatures
are somewhat cooler than day temperatures. As this is the
normal situation in nature, this comes as no surprise. In
a greenhouse, however, it is possible to reverse this situation
and literally grow plants with night temperatures higher than
the day temperature. Such a condition is known in the
industry as ‘negative DIF’ (considering the mathematical
difference of day temperature and night temperature) and
has become important for those greenhouse growers inter-
ested in keeping plants shorter than normal, without the
use of chemical growth regulators. Because warmer night
temperatures increase respiration and needlessly waste
carbohydrates, other temperature ‘shock’ techniques such as
a cold temperature pulse at sunrise have been developed
and are nearly as effective as negative DIF.
Dormancy
In many flower crops, dormancy development and remission
are important. Controlled flowering of woody stems (lilac,
buddleia, hydrangea) and forcing of bulbous crops (such as
tulip, daffodil, hyacinth, and iris) require detailed knowledge
of dormancy development and, more importantly, removal
of dormancy at a specified point in time to allow forcing for
the specified market. Generally, prolonged cold periods (espe-
cially for bulbs) and possibly long days are suitable for
dormancy breaking in these crops. The tulip can be used as
an example of the difference in a biologically relevant
dormancy-breaking treatment and a horticulturally suitable
one. Many tulips flower adequately with normal flowers if
given 10–12 weeks of cold. Horticulturally, however, most
tulips grown as cut flowers need much more cold than this
(16–18 weeks) to promote greater stem elongation leading to
a better quality flower.
Light
Quantity
Above c.35  N latitude, short photoperiods, low solar angle,
and cloudy weather combine to cause low light levels in the
winter months. Since this period is important for flower
production, many greenhouse producers use supplemental
assimilation lighting to increase photosynthetic irradiance
and dry weight gain. To date, the most commonly used source
has been HPS lamps which offer a mix of efficiency and spectral
characteristics that are amenable to supplementation of natural
sunlight. Research has indicated that on many crops, it is
possible to deliver this supplemental lighting in a variety of
ways (lower flux for a longer time vs higher flux for a shorter
time, etc.). General experience indicates large increases in
both quantity and quality of production. The greenhouse
lighting industry makes use of computer programs to optimize
placement of assimilation lamps for best efficiency, uniformity,
and crop performance.
Duration (Photoperiod)
Light duration and control of the ‘photoperiod’ is a crucial
application of plant physiology in greenhouse crop produc-
tion. Within c.10–12 years of Garner and Allard’s original
work on photoperiodism (i.e., by the early 1930s), the industry
had adopted (with great assistance from university advisors
and researchers) photoperiod control as a means of regulating
the flowering of photoperiodic crops especially of chrysan-
themum (a short day plant). In the industry, long nights (short
days) are provided by manual or mechanical deployment of
black cloth that excludes sufficient sunlight that plants perceive
it as being ‘dark.’ Typically, growers deploy black cloth in the
very late afternoon to minimize heat buildup under the cloth.
Such heat can lead to ‘heat delay’ whereby plants are much
slower to flower under the supraoptimal temperature. Often,
growers will remove the black cloth after natural nightfall,
allow the heat to escape, then redeploy if necessary before
sunrise. The exact duration of the ‘night’ depends on the
 Weeds and Competition j Commercial Flower Production Methodology
crop-specific critical photoperiod. In practice, black clothing to
provide a dark period of c.14–16 h is common.
Long days are provided by illuminating fluorescent or, more
commonly, incandescent lamps. The minimum irradiance used
is typically 10 ft candles (c.0.1–0.2 mmol m2 s1) applied for
4 h from 10 PM to 2AM. These times are very flexible, however,
and in large installations crops may be lit for a few minutes
each half-hour in a ‘rolling’ fashion (‘cyclic lighting’) to allow
a greater area of plants to be lit for the same size of electrical
service.
Light Quality and Photomorphogenesis
An emerging technology in floriculture is the development
of photoselective films for use as greenhouse coverings. Exper-
imental films have been developed that alter the ratio of trans-
mitted red to far-red light. Specifically, films transmitting light
enriched in red compared to far-red wavelengths cause
shorter, more compact growth mimicking plants treated
with growth retardants. While still in the research phase, pho-
toselective films hold promise for growers of potted and
bedding crops.
A related concept is to exclude the far-red light that naturally
occurs at sunset each day. A good example is with Easter lily,
where a significant degree of height reduction (desirable) can
be obtained by covering the plants with black cloth about
30–45 min prior to sunset. Since this procedure eliminates
the end-of-day far-red pulse, plants stay significantly shorter
and compact as compared to plants that are exposed to the
normal twilight.
Since the first version of this Encyclopedia, rapid progress
has been made in LED lighting for plant production. One of
the main drivers has been Philips in the Netherlands. The
company has installed LED systems in greenhouses worldwide
for assimilation lighting and also photoperiod manipulation. A
key advantage of LEDs is the cool lamp (diode) surface which
allows very close placement within a canopy. LEDs are also
amenable in stacked or shelf production in wholly enclosed
spaces (‘plant factories’) or in tiers within conventional green-
houses where the lamps supplement natural sunlight. LEDs
are still more expensive than HPS although prices continue to
fall.
Nutrition
Nutritional physiology and the roles of plant nutrients per se
are not appreciably different for flower crops grown in green-
houses. What is unique is that many flower crops are grown
in soilless substrates that are based on peat moss, coir (a
coconut hull fiber), or composted and partially degraded tree
bark combined with materials such as vermiculite (expanded
mica), perlite (an expanded volcanic rock), sand, and others.
When used in relatively shallow containers (pots, trays), these
substrates provide the physical properties (large pores) leading
to sufficient air-filled porosity upon draining to ‘container
capacity’ after watering. On the other hand, these materials
suffer in their ability to retain nutrients, as they tend to have
a fairly low cation exchange capacity on a volume basis.
To compensate for substrates that provide adequate
drainage and air-filled porosity but suboptimal chemical prop-
erties, flower crops are often grown under near luxury fertility
205
levels. Floriculture crops are usually grown with liquid fertilizer
applied at each irrigation, often multiple times per day.
Commonly, fertilizer in a ratio of 3:1:3 or 2:1:2 (N:P:K) is
applied, with concentrations of 5–20 mM N and K. Typically,
a trace element preparation containing all the minor elements
is included. In floriculture crop systems, most Ca is supplied by
preplant liming, or perhaps during growth with Ca(NO3)2.
Implicit in the production of a plant in a container (for
example, pots or trays) is the ability to rapidly change the nutri-
tional status of the root zone. Flower producers have the ability
to monitor substrate and foliar nutrient levels, and if they fall
above or below norms established for the crop, then corrective
steps may be taken. An estimate of the gross nutrient level in
substrate may be obtained by determining the electrical
conductivity (EC) of a specified mixture of the substrate and
distilled water. If nutrients have accumulated, the EC increases,
as the nutrients themselves are ions and therefore conduct elec-
tricity. Low substrate nutrient status is indicated by a low EC.
Such tests are easy, fast, and economical to perform on-site
for both flower growers and plant physiologists.
In the last 10 years there has been increased interest in
understanding and managing environmental externalities of
the greenhouse industry, and nutrition and growing substrate
are central in this discussion. Advances in more efficient
nutrient and water use have improved the ‘environmental foot-
print’ of individual companies. Harvesting, packaging, and
transport of peat moss, by far the most important growing
substrate worldwide, releases enormous quantities of green-
house gases (initially, methane as a bog is drained, then CO2
as microbial degradation of the peat begins, and from harvest-
ing, packaging, and transportation processes). As there is great
interest in improving environmental sustainability of all green-
house operations, and peat, along with all substrate inputs,
should be examined for overall life cycle impact.
Gases
In greenhouse production, CO2 and ethylene are the only two
gases of major concern in so far as they are the only ones that
can be economically altered to enhance or control plant growth
and development.
Carbon Dioxide
In greenhouses, carbon dioxide concentrations are often
increased to c.1000 ppm, usually in combination with supple-
mental assimilation lighting (see above) to increase photosyn-
thesis, net dry weight gain, and total productivity. Depending
on the crop, dramatic increases in productivity may be ob-
tained with assimilation lighting and supplemental CO2. The
CO2 is usually generated via specialized combustion units or
diluted from tanks of pure liquid CO2. There are many practical
considerations in the use of CO2 including cost of the
equipment and the additional management concerns. For
example, adding CO2 to the greenhouse atmosphere is point-
less during warm, high-light times of the year, when ventilation
fans are running to keep the greenhouse from overheating. In
such a case, any supplemental CO2 is wasted. It is worth point-
ing out that the term ‘greenhouse gas’ as applied to global
warming is a misnomer and that greenhouses per se have no
effect whatsoever on global climate.
206 Weeds and Competition j Commercial Flower Production Methodology

Ethylene Gibberellin
Ethylene is almost always a problem in flower production
Gibberellins find use in a wide range of crops, and differ-
(but, see section Plant Growth Substances). Its presence in
ences exist between uses for gibberellic acid (GA3) and other
a commercial greenhouse is generally through one of the
gibberellins such as GA4þ7. In commercial flower produc-
following sources:
tion, gibberellic acid is used to substitute for cold in
l as a combustion contaminant (trucks, machinery, mal- dormancy breaking in plants such as azalea, camellia, and
functioning gas-fired greenhouse heaters) hydrangea, to improve flowering uniformity in cyclamen
l fungal activity on decaying plant material (although much of this use has now been superseded by
l the presence of ripening fruits, vegetables, or senescing more uniformly flowering cultivars), for production of stan-
flowers emanating ethylene dards (tree forms) of plants such as fuchsia, to accelerate and
increase flowering (Spathiphyllum, statice), altering inflores-
Of these, ethylene contamination from malfunctioning gas
cence form (chrysanthemum), and reduction of chlorophyll
heaters is commonly seen. The only solution is to identify the
breakdown (maintaining higher-quality foliage) in certain
problem and make corrective repairs. While there are no prac-
liliaceous crops such as Alstroemeria.
tical ways to scrub the greenhouse atmosphere of ethylene, it is
Other gibberellins, notably GA4þ7, have recently become
easily removed by ventilation.
registered for use in North America, with the major application
Detrimental ethylene effects on floriculture crops are many
being maintenance of chlorophyll and increased flower life in
and include flower and leaf abscission, epinasty, flower and
Lilium. Research has indicated that GA4þ7 is much more effec-
bud abortion, and senescence.
tive than GA3 in this regard, and since 2000, GA4þ7 has become
a major tool for North American greenhouse producers to
produce higher-quality potted lily crops for the flower-
Plant Growth Substances
consuming public. GA4þ7 is also used worldwide to maintain
and improve quality of cut Lilium and cut Alstroemeria (GA3).
Basic investigations in plant physiology continue to have
a significant impact on the greenhouse industry, and the range
of commercial plant growth substances available to the green-
Anti-gibberellins (Growth Retardants)
house industry is unique in horticulture. Within the United
States, there are legally available and registered products in Because of the inherently difficult task of growing plants in
four major classes of growth substances: gibberellin, auxin, overall proportion to their pot, anti-GA growth retardants
cytokinin, and ethylene. Another important group is the anti- play an important role in flower crop production, and, surpris-
gibberellins, products that are crucial in many crops grown in ingly, in nearly all stages of many crops. The major growth
pots (containers). A listing of the main products available in retardants (the term ‘growth regulator’ is also applied to these
North America is given in Table 1. chemicals) are given in Table 1. The generalized mode of action
of these materials is to block endogenous gibberellin synthesis,
leading to reduced internode length with, typically, no effect on
Table 1 The major growth substances used in commercial flower the number of nodes. Plants treated with growth retardants are
production often darker green and may show increased drought and cold
resistance. The choice of which product to use is dictated by
Chemical and form Commercial product a legal considerations, effectiveness on the crop of interest, the
choice of application method (as a foliar spray, a direct
Gibberellins
Gibberellin A3 ProGibb
substrate (‘drench’) application, or as a preplant soak or dip),
Gibberellin A4þ7 Fascination (1:1 ratio of GA4þ7 and and, of course, cost.
benzyladenine) Since anti-gibberellin growth retardants act by inhibiting
Anti-gibberellins gibberellin biosynthesis, the main effect is a reduction in cell
Ancymidol A-Rest length, but no major effect on cell division. Thus, it is crucial
Chlormequat chloride Cycocel to understand that use of these products must precede the
Daminozide B-Nine grand phase of growth, thus the decision to treat a plant with
Paclobutrazol Bonzi a growth retardant must be made before the plant is ‘too tall.’
Uniconazole Sumagic A range of predictive tools, including plant growth models,
Flurprimidol Topflor
have been developed to assist growers in making appropriate
Ethylene
Ethephon Florel, Ethrel
management decisions.
Anti-ethylene agents Growth retardants may have significant detrimental effects
1-Methylcyclopropene EthylBloc, SmartFresh on plant growth including severely reducing bract size in poin-
Auxin settia (E. pulcherrima), severely delaying anthesis (in many
IBA, IAA, NAA Various (‘rooting powders’) crops), causing transient leaf chlorosis (e.g., chlormequat chlo-
Cytokinins ride on geraniums), and growth regulatory effects lasting much
Benzyladenine As a component of Fascination (see longer than needed or desired (e.g., failure of summer annuals
above) to grow properly once planted in the garden). These problems
a
Not a comprehensive listing. Note that most of these materials are ‘off patent,’ and
are mainly horticultural in nature and are often related to
numerous generic versions of many of them are available throughout the world. improper use of the growth retardant.
 Weeds and Competition j Commercial Flower Production Methodology
Ethylene and Ethylene-Releasing Chemicals
Because of its close association with senescence, ethylene is
generally considered detrimental in floriculture. There are
many specific instances, however, where it is a useful tool. Ethe-
phon (an ethylene-releasing chemical) is used to great effect to
inhibit excessive stem elongation in bulbous crops such as
daffodil (Narcissus) and hyacinth (Hyacinthus). Since the early
1990s, ethephon products have become increasingly popular
and useful for increasing branching and inhibiting premature
flowering on a wide range of floricultural crops. Ethephon prod-
ucts find use in vegetative cutting production, where mother
plants (‘stock plants’) are sprayed with ethephon to enhance
branching that ultimately yields growing points and cuttings
that can be harvested and rooted.
Ethylene and ethephon are also useful for floral induction
in bromeliads and to increase the flowering percentage and
earliness of certain bulbous crops, notably the Dutch iris (Iris

hollandica).
Antiethylene Chemicals
In the early 1970s it was discovered that the silver ion (Agþ) is
a potent inhibitor of ethylene action. It is, however, more or
less immobile in plants and could not be easily applied to cut
flowers, where ethylene-induced senescence is a central, but nega-
tive feature of flower development. Shortly thereafter, chemical
complexing of silver was introduced, and the complexed mole-
cule, silver thiosulfate (STS), was introduced in the early 1970s.
STS is applied as a foliar spray to many ethylene-sensitive plants,
but more importantly, is ‘pulsed’ into the flower by placing cut
stems into an STS solution and allowing the stem to draw water
into it. Since STS is an inhibitor of ethylene action, it confers
protection against exogenous, contaminating ethylene as might
be found in and around flower handling, distribution, and
marketing locations. Its toxicity (silver is a heavy metal) has
long precluded its widespread use in the industry, although
a number of formulations are legally sold.
The ring hydrocarbon 1-methylcyclopropene (MCP) has
found significant use in floral postharvest handling. 1-MCP is
a gaseous and essentially irreversible inhibitor of ethylene
binding. Research has indicated that 1-MCP often has no effects
in ethylene-free air, but can remarkably reduce senescence as
induced by subsequent ethylene exposure.
While 1-MCP is a gas, the commercial product is currently
formulated as a white powder. When mixed in water, the 1-
MCP gas is released typically into rooms or reasonably airtight
chambers. At the risk of great simplification, exposure to 200–
300 nl l1 1-MCP for 8–10 h at c.20  C is an effective dose for
most flowers. While 1-MCP binding appears to be irreversible,
sensitivity to ethylene often slowly returns, presumably due to
the de novo synthesis of new ethylene receptors in the flower.
The largest use of 1-MCP is probably in cut flower shipping.
Novel ‘sachets’ of 1-MCP powder are placed into cut flower
boxes where the slowly released 1-MCP gas can treat flowers
during the shipping and handling process.
Auxins
There are numerous auxin formulations available to the
commercial flower producer, and their main use is to stimulate
207
root formation in vegetative cuttings. Considering the hundreds
of millions of vegetative cuttings of chrysanthemum and carna-
tion (two major cutting-propagated cut flowers) and the simi-
larly massive use on a wide range of individually lesser pot
plant crops, auxins are probably the most widely used growth
substance in floriculture.
The specific use of auxins during propagation is a highly
refined horticultural art. It may be applied as a powder or
sprayed, dipped, or soaked as a liquid. Major propagation
companies have an excellent proprietary understanding of
the nuances of auxin application as affected by cultivar,
time of year, and undoubtedly other variables.
Cytokinins
The original registered cytokinin in North America was Fascina-
tion, in which benzyladenine is essentially an ‘inert ingredient’
as far as its labeled use for Lilium postharvest quality is con-
cerned. Experimentally, such a product can find use as a branch-
ing stimulant in a range of crops. Since the first edition of this
Encyclopedia, other pure benzyladenine products have been
labeled and are also available.
ABA and ABA Analogs
To the author’s knowledge, there are no commercial uses for
ABA or ABA analogs in floriculture. Potential uses are easily
imagined, however. One possibility would be to force
stomatal closure to reduce water requirement in retail
display where maintenance of the plants is often poor.
Perhaps, transient stomatal closure could be useful to tempo-
rarily reduce growth rate and nutrient demand thereby
reducing calcium deficiency disorders such as blossom-end
rot in tomatoes and ‘leaf scorch’ syndromes in Lilium. Another
might be to impose dormancy on a plant at any time during
the year. Such a technique could greatly expand the locales
where certain dormancy-requiring plants could be grown, as
the environmental clues leading to dormancy (commonly
short days and cooler temperatures) could be replaced by
a hormone application.
Conclusions
Successful commercial flower production is a high synthesis of
plant physiology, horticultural science, personnel and facilities
management, marketing, and economics. The ability to regu-
late growth, development, and flowering are unparalleled in
agriculture and allow sophisticated technologies to be adapted
to flower production. Greenhouse structures, technologies, and
production methodologies are adapted to local environmental
conditions. Whether it is use of assimilation lighting and CO2
supplementation in northern climes or shading and evapora-
tive cooling in high light, dry climates, flowers are grown in
greenhouses around the world to meet the demand of the
consuming public.
See also: Postharvest Biology: Flower Senescence; Leaf
Senescence. Horticulture Production and Quality: Horticultural
Crops, Protected; Nursery Stock and Houseplant Production.
208 Weeds and Competition j Commercial Flower Production Methodology
Regulators of Growth: Cytokinins; Ethylene; Gibberellins;
Juvenility; Photomorphogenesis. Seed Development and
Germination: Germination; Preharvest Sprouting.
Further Reading
Bunt, A.C., 1988. Media and Mixes for Container Grown Plants. Kluwer, Dordrecht.
DeHertogh, A., LeNard, M. (Eds.), 1993. The Physiology of Flower Bulbs. Elsevier,
Amsterdam.
Dole, J.M., Wilkins, H.F., 1999. Floriculture: Principles and Species. Prentice Hall,
Englewood Cliffs.
Hannan, J.J., 1998. Greenhouses: Advanced Technology for Protected Horticulture.
CRC Press, Boca Raton.
Hartmann, H.T., Kester, D., Davies, F., Geneve, R., 2002. Hartmann and Kester’s Plant
Propagation: Principles and Practices. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs.
Koninklijke Philips, N.V., 2014. Website on Horticultural Lighting. http://www.lighting.
philips.com/main/application_areas/horticultural/ (accessed 08.08.14.).
Larson, R.A. (Ed.), 1992. Introduction to Floriculture. Academic Press, New York.
Maki, S.L., Rajapakse, S., Ballard, R.E., Rajapakse, N.C., 2002. Role of gibberellins in
chrysanthemum growth under far red light-deficient greenhouse environments. J.
Am. Soc. Hort. Sci. 127, 639–643.
Mastalerz, J.W., 1977. The Greenhouse Environment. Wiley, New York.
Nelson, P.V., 1991. Greenhouse Operation and Management, sixth ed. Prentice Hall,
Englewood Cliffs.
Ranwala, A.P., Miller, W.B., 2000. Preventive mechanisms of gibberellin4þ7 and light
on dark low temperature-induced leaf senescence in Lilium cv. Stargazer. Post-
harv. Biol. Technol. 19, 85–92.
Rees, A.R., 1992. Ornamental Bulbs, Corms and Tubers. CAB Intl, Wallingford.
Watkins, C.B., Miller, W.B., 2003. A Summary of Physiological Processes or Disorders
in Fruits, Vegetables and Ornamental Products that Are Delayed or Decreased,
Increased or Unaffected by Application of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) (Updated
quarterly).
Relevant Website
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/department/faculty/watkins/ethylene/index.htm – Cornell
University.