Floriculture and Ornamental Plant Production
Domain 4 tests the production of loose flowers, cut flowers and ornamental plants, including cultural operations that change flower number, size and quality. Odisha examples include marigold, chrysanthemum, jasmine, rose, tuberose and gladiolus.
Core rules
- Loose flowers are sold by weight or volume for garlands and decoration; cut flowers are sold by stem with quality grades.
- Know the storage organ: bulb (onion, tulip), corm (gladiolus), rhizome (canna), tuberous root (dahlia) and tuber (tuberose is often treated as a tuberous crop in practice).
- Pinching removes the growing tip to encourage branching and more flowers. Disbudding removes unwanted buds to improve the size of the retained flower.
- Harvest cut flowers at the recommended stage: too early causes poor opening; too late shortens vase life.
- Pulsing and preservative solutions supply carbohydrate and reduce bacterial growth in stems.
- Landscape planning considers height, spread, colour, season and maintenance.
Worked example
A chrysanthemum grower wants more sprays per plant. The plants are tall with a single terminal shoot. Pinching the apex removes apical dominance and stimulates lateral branches. Each branch can carry flowers, so flower number rises, although individual flower size may fall. If the grower instead wants one large bloom for exhibition, disbudding side buds is the appropriate operation. The same plant can be managed either way depending on market target.
Traps that cost marks
Do not use pinching and disbudding interchangeably. Do not harvest tuberose spikes when the lowest florets are already past their best. Do not call a corm a bulb. Do not ignore vase-life differences between species.