Rose cultivation Agri tech

    Rose cultivation 

This article on rose farming will help you to get complete details on climate, soil, fertilizers, irrigation, propagation, etc. Learning about these important factors will help you to decide and perform better practices to increase rose crop yield.      

    Introduction Of Rose

Rose is a perennial woody flowering plant and there are over 30,000 rose cultivars in the world market. Cultivars can be diverse sizes and shape with flower colour mainly ranging from red, yellow to white. Depending on cultivars they can be miniature roses to climbers that can grow up to 7 metres tall.

Because of their extraordinary fragrance, beauty and medicinal uses roses are cultivated as cut flower crops. Industrialist use rose for preparation of various products such as essential oils, flavouring agents, tea, Gulkand, rose syrup, jam etc. Hence there is always a high demand for roses in the market.

Origin Of Rose

Researchers believes that rose originated in Central Asia. According to fossil evidence it is clear that roses are 35 Million years old. Hence they originated even before the evolution of humans.

Area & Production

Netherlands is the largest exporter of rose in the world. It accounts for about 60% of the rose export in the international market.

Rose Farming guide

Soil Requirements

Rose crop loves to grow on well drained, fertile loamy soil that have good moisture holding capacity. Agriculturist have reported that rose grow better in soils having pH range of 6 to 6.5.

Soil with pH level more than 7.5 is not suitable for farming of rose. As rose crop will be unable to uptake phosphorus, manganese, and iron in soil with higher pH than 7.5

Climate & Temperature

Cultivating rose crop at higher elevation,1500 metres and above is beneficial. However you can also cultivate rose in plains where the climate is relatively cool. Temperature and light have a great impact on growth and development of rose crop.

The ideal temperature range for roses is between 15 to 28 Celsius [between 60 to 70 Fahrenheit] If the day length is less than 12 hours then it can slow down the growth of rose crop. Hence day length of 12 hours or above is suitable for cultivation of roses. But less than that can slow down the growth.

Moreover avoid cultivating rose where there is high relative humidity. Because of high relative humidity your rose crop can become prone to fungal diseases

Rose Cultivars

Agriculturist mainly divides roses into three main categories:

Wild Roses: 

They are also called species roses that have five petals flower and can be available in various colour. They branch rapidly and even keep flowering during early winters. Example: Rosa rugosae, Rosa woodsii, Rosa virginiana, etc.

Old Garden Roses:

These roses are easy to grow and are disease resistant. Old garden roses have alluring scent and beauty and they can also survive winters easily. Example: Moss Rose, Noisette, Centifolia, etc.

Modern Garden Roses: 

They are generally hybrid roses. They are prepared by cross breeding of hybrid tea rose and primrose. Example: Hybrid Tea Roses, Floribunda Roses, Centifolia Roses, etc.

Commercial rose crops

Commercial crop roses are mainly of 4 types:

Floribunda Rose: 

These roses have shorter branches and small sized flowers. But yield of floribunda roses is generally higher than other type of roses. They are result of cross between Hybrid tea and Polyanthus roses.

Hybrid Tea Rose: 

Generally branches of hybrid rose are longer and flowers are big. If you want to get higher yield they hybrid tea roses can be a good choice.

Grandiflora Rose: 

These type of rose are developed from cross between hybrid tea and floribunda roses. Flower size of grandiflora rose is larger than floribunda roses.

Polyanthus Rose: 

This group of rose is famous for producing clusters of small flowers. They are excellent rose for edging, pots, and bedding.

Propagation Methods

You can propagate rose plant,

01. By seeds

02. Vegetative methods

budding, grafting, layering and cutting, or micro-propagation

From Seeds;

Breeders generally adopt this method to develop new cultivars or hybrids. However, do not prefer this method for commercial propagation of roses as seed setting is poor in roses. Rose seed needs stratification for germination.

From Budding & Grafting;

Budding is the most popular method of propagation. Generally Shield or T-budding is used to propagate rose from budding. Budding is generally practiced 5 to 7 cm above the ground under ideal temperature range of 10 to 28 Celsius.

From Cuttings;

The best time to grow rose from cuttings is spring season. In Mid January to March is the best time to propagate rose plant. Some of the rose varieties will grow successfully by propagating through cutting. You can also grow rose from cuttings in winter season but the chance of success reduces.

In summer it becomes very difficult to grow rose from cuttings. why avoid propagating your rose plant in summer season. 

Selection Of Branch

If rose has grown bushy and healthy in your home garden, locality or nursery then you can take cuttings from the rose plant. From the experience and work study of various plant growers that have worked on rose it have been found that cutting should not be taken from bottom or middle portion of the rose plant.

It should also not be from the very top regions where the stem is still weak and very young. For a successful cutting you can select a branch that is not very green but little hard and woody.

Process

You can select a stem that has buds but I will suggest you to select the stem that has flowered recently. Take cutting of at least 6 inch length from the selected stem with the help of a garden scissor at 45 degree angle just below the lower leaf nodes.

After taking out the cuttings with the help of the gardening scissor remove the leaves from the bottom and middle region of the cuttings. You should leave 4 to 5 leaves at the top portion of the cutting.

The bottom portion is with 45 degree angle cut, this portion will go inside the soil later on and the top portion with few leaves will remain outside.

Using Rooting Hormone

You can select and purchase rooting hormone powder from the market. These rooting hormones will help to grow roots in the plant successfully. Dip the bottom region of the cutting in rooting hormone for 2 to 3 seconds and take it out, gently shake your cuttings to remove excess rooting hormones.

If you don’t have rooting hormone then also cuttings can grow roots, rooting hormone just increases the chance of success. You can also select various organic rooting hormones for this purpose. you can simply poke the cut end of the stem in a potato, and then plant the potato and stem as instructed above. The potato will provide moisture and nutrients that will help the stem root as well as aloe vera for the cutting, it help prevent fungal diseases

Pot, Soil, And Planting

You can select small sized pots with at least 3 to 4 drainage holes at the bottom, you can also grow cuttings directly in the ground soil, but in case of heavy rain the chance of failure can increase.

So I will suggest you to select any small pot with good drainage facility. Add normal garden soil in the pot, do not add any fertilizer in the pot, if the soil in your region is too much clayey then you can add 5 to 10% sand.

Water your pot thoroughly before placing cuttings in the pot. Now with the help of a pencil or your fingers make holes of 2 inches deep and place the bottom end of cuttings in the soil and press around the base of the cuttings to fix it properly.

Moisture & Rooting

If possible then cover your pot with transparent polythene sheet or a plastic or glass jar. Place the complete setup in an area where it can receive lots of indirect sunlight. Do not place the setup in direct

sunlight if the temperature is too high. That’s why placing the setup in indirect sunlight is considered better.

You not need to add water in the pot daily but keep checking the dryness of the top layer of the soil in the pot. If the top layer of the soil seems dry then only add water gently. Do not ever apply excess of water in your pot as it can damage your cuttings

Transplantation

After near about 30 to 50 days, you will notice new leaves developing from your cuttings. When the newly grown leaves seems well developed then they are ready to be transplanted in the main growing pot.

Field Preparation;

Ploughing the soil is necessary to bring the soil to a fine tilth. Practice ploughing and hoeing operation 4 to 5 times to make the soil ready for plantation.

Prepare raised beds of dimensions 30 centimetres height and 100 centimetres length. Keep the width of path around 30 to 40 centimetres. Row planting with spacing of 30×15 centimetres is preferred.

Keep the field exposed under sunrays for at least 15 days before plantation of roses.For plantation of rose, prepare pits of adequate sizes of 45 to 60 centimetres depth. Add 2 tonnes of well decomposed Farm Yard Manure, Bone meal, Leaf Manure, 25 Kilograms of Urea, and 2 Kilograms of superphosphate in these pits after mixing them.

In one acre of land you can plant up to 7000 rose plants. You can plant one year old budded rose plants in July to August. Practice planting of rose during evening time for best results.

Irrigation

Irrigate immediately after plantation of roses. Keep irrigating daily till the establishment of rose crop. Once they get established then you can irrigate once in a week during summer season. However during winters depending on moisture of soil you can irrigate once in every two weeks.

Rose plants require approximately 1 litre of water per plant.

Drip irrigation is the most preferred method of irrigation for cultivation rose. Install a single drip line between two row plants for irrigating rose crop.

Do not adopt sprinkler irrigation for raising rose crop as it can cause fungal infections in rose plants. But during hot summers you can use sprinklers to decrease the temperature under controlled conditions

Fertilizers

If you are using drip irrigation system then you can adopt fertigation for adequate application of fertilizers. However I will suggest to get your soil tested for knowing accurate dozes of fertilizers required for your rose farm.

Once after every 3 months or after pruning apply 10 Kilograms of Farm Yard Manure & NPK in the ratio of 8:8:16 for each rose plant. Along with this you can also add jeevamrut to increase growth of the plant. You should also spray 250ppm of GA3 (30 days after pruning) to promote flowering in rose plants.

At the time of plantation, apply 2 Kilograms each of Azospirillum and Phospho bacteria per hectare. Micronutrients are essential for getting healthy leaves & bright coloured flowers. Therefore, spray 0.2% micronutrient mixture containing 20 grams of MnSO4 + 15 grams of MgSO4 + 10 grams of FeSO4 + 5 grams of Boron after every 30 days.

To increase flowering in the plant, spray 1% NPK (0:0:50) solution during active flowering season after every 20 days.

Pests & Diseases Of Rose

Rose crop can get affected from various pests and diseases that can reduce flower quality and plant growth. Controlling them well in time is a necessary step. 

Controlling Diseases of Rose Plant

1. Die Back; Remove infected portion, apply Bordeaux paste on cut ends and spray Copper oxychloride (3 grams per litre of water).
2. Black Spot; Spray Carbendazim (1 gram per litre of water) at fortnightly intervals.
3. Powdery Mildew; Remove infected portion and practice dusting with 80% Sulphur
4. Stem Blight; Regular spray with Captaf 2000ppm
5. Rust; Spray with Zineb 2000ppm at 15 days interval.
6. Alternaria Leaf Spot; Spray Captaf or Zineb 2000ppm at 7 days interval
7. Rose Wilt; Control Aphids that transmit the diseases

Controlling Pests of Rose Plant

1. Aphids Spray 0.1% Malathion
2. Thrips Spray 0.1% Rogor
3. Red Scale Spray 0.25% Parathion
4. Chafer Beetles Spray Monocrotophos (1m in 1 litre water)
5. White Grub Spray Phosalone 35 EC (2 ml in 1 litre water)

Harvesting

Harvest the shoots at the tight bud stage when one or two petals start unfolding. Bent-neck can occur if you harvest roses too early. Start harvesting only during peak demand in the market to avoid post harvest losses.

Stage of harvest can vary depending on variety, market distance and customer satisfaction. Practice harvesting during early morning when temperature remains relatively cooler.

Yield

Yield of rose vary among cultivars. Hybrid tea roses can yield about 80 stems per plant per year, while Floribundas can yield around 90 stems per plant per year.

Post Harvest Management Of Rose

Following post harvest technologies is very important to maintain market desired quality. You should follow these points to avoid rose crop loss after harvesting.

Pre Cooling: After harvesting, keep the rose stems portion in the bucket filled with water as soon as possible. Then only you should store cut flower of rose in cold storage rooms at 3 to 5 Celsius.

Pulsing In Rose: It helps in improving shelf life, colour, & size of the flower. Chemical solutions containing sugar and germicides are applied on stems to get absorbed at 20 to 25 Celsius and light intensity of 2000 lux. You can use 3% sucrose for 18 hours at 20 Celsius to improve post harvest quality of rose.

Grading

Grading of cut flower of rose is important for better marketing. You should look upon these parameters for good quality cut roses.

Stem should be strong enough to hold flowers upright.

You should not mix flower with different stem length.

Size of the flower should match with the ideal size of the variety.

It should be free from any kind of injury, diseases, or pests.

If you are looking for exporting, then maintain stem size of 90 to 120 centimetres.