Processing of Cut Floral Materials

Principles and Elements of Floral Design TEKS C (6) (e) Demonstrate the

technical skills for increasing the preservation of cut flowers and foliage.

Why is it important to handle and care for cut flowers properly?

Why do you place leftover food in a sealed container in the refrigerator?

Today we will…

• Determine the importance of processing cut flowers.

• Identify steps in processing cut flowers.• Create a role play demonstrating the

steps involved in processing flowers.

Why process cut flowers?• As flowers travel through the distribution chain,

they spend long distances without light or water and in closed boxes.

• It is important to follow proper processing procedures in order to restore vigor and usability of cut flowers and foliage after shipping.

Remove Lids• If flowers or foliage are shipped in

boxes, the first thing to do when the boxes arrive is to remove the lids.

• This helps any built up ethylene gas to escape.

• Prevents more injury to the flowers.

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Remove Wrappers• Remove the wrappers from the

bundles as they also trap ethylene. • Wrappers encourage mildew the

longer the product stays enclosed.

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Floral Food• Getting the stems back into

the water is critical.• Mix high quality warm room

temperature water with floral food according to manufactures’ directions.

• Only use clean buckets.• Metal containers should not

be used as it has a chemical reaction with the floral food and makes it useless.

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Remove Lower Leaves

• Remove all leaves and debris from the stem below the water line.

• Remove leaves before cutting the stems.

• If the water gets contaminated with debris it will start to decay very quickly and produce bacteria cells.

• Bacteria can clog the cut end of the stems which will prevent water transfer into the stem.

Cut Stems• The ends of the stems need to be cut off at least

¾”• Stems should be placed into the floral

food/water solution within 90 seconds after cutting.

• Cutting the ends of the stems eliminates the damaged and dried tissue as a result from not being in water.

• If the cell structure dries it cannot transport water.

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Dip in Pretreatment• Dip stems in pretreatment if required. • Pretreatments during processing are a benefit to

many flowers. • An example of one is a high concentration of

citric acid which helps move water up the stem.• Treatments are done right after the stem is cut

and prior to placing it in the floral food/water solution.

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Conditioning • Place the cut stems into the floral food/water

solution for hydrating. • Once the stems are back in water, it needs time

at room temperature to soak up the solution and re-hydrate.

• Flowers should be conditioned for a minimum of an hour to be effective.

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Hardening• Place buckets of hydrating product in cooler. • After flowers have had sufficient time to

condition they should be put into humid cold storage.

• This slows the process of respiration and transpiration.

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Activity• Students will be divided into 8

groups. • Each group will be assigned one of

the following steps in processing cut flowers: remove lids, remove wrappers, floral food, remove lower leaves, cut stems, pretreatment, conditioning, hardening.

• Each group will be responsible for role playing the steps and teaching the class about the importance of their specific topic.

Review

• Why should we process cut flowers?• Why is ethylene gas harmful?• Why is it important to remove leaves and

debris from below the water line?• How long do you have to place the stem

in the floral food/water solution after you cut the stem?

Today we…

• Determined the importance of processing cut flowers.• Identified steps in processing cut

flowers.• Created a role play

demonstrating the steps involved in processing flowers.

Developed by Ashley Hambleton and Kirk Edney,

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education & Communications,

Texas A&M Universityfor the Texas Education Agency

Educational Excellence Project for AFNR©Texas Education Agency, 2014