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Flowers> Chrysanthemum>
Harvesting
The correct stage of harvesting
depends upon the cultivar, marketing and purposes
etc. The flowers are harvested 3 months from the
date of planting at an interval of 4 days.
For floral decoration and garlands, fully opened
flowers are plucked with or without the peduncle.Flowers
are packed loose in bamboo baskets or gunny bags
and sent to retail markets for sale.
| Types
of Chrysanthemum |
Period
of Harvest |
| Standard
variety |
When 40-50%
of the bloom is fully open. |
| Dwarf variety |
When 80-85%
of the blooms has opened. |
| Spray variety |
When 40-50%
of the bloom has opened. |
| Single |
When the
maximum number of flowers open, but before
the pollen shed from the outer row of the
disc florets. |
| Anemone |
Before the
central cushion in the top most flowering
fully developed. |
Generally harvesting is done
early in the morning. The stems are cut 20 cm
from the ground and are collected in trays or
buckets containing cold water (15-18°C) and
a floral preservative (Silver nitrate 25 ppm).
Alternately, the harvested stems are kept in 1000
ppm Silver nitrate, for 10 seconds-10 minutes
followed by placing in deionized water to prevent
the blockage of xylem by the microorganisms
Yield :
The yield of flowers varies
according to types of cultivars, growing region,
plant density and other management practices.
The average yield of loose flowers varies widely
from 8-15 tonnes/ ha.
In southern states, the crop remains in the field
for about ten months if it is ratooned (six months
for plant crop an four months for ratoon crop).
Ratooning is seldom done now days. Improved varieties
like CO.1 and CO.2 yields upto 1 t/ha in Tamil
Nadu.
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