Photo:Iris sibirica
Photo: Cut sunflower.CUTTING TIME
Ian
I have a lot of flowers in my garden that are suitable for cutting. When is the best time of day to harvest them for this purpose? Regards B.H. Newtown.
Reply.
The optimum time to pick flowers is when they have a good reserve of water to get the maximum amount of vase life. Plants start the day with full water stores, which will have been absorbed in the cool of the night. Throughout the day this store is depleted and the hotter it gets the more they lose (transpiration). They are at their most depleted by mid afternoon. With this in mind then the ideal time to pick the flowers will be in the early morning before the sun has dried things out. The next best time is dusk.
Pick the flowers and put the stems straight into a bucket that has a few inches of tepid water in it. Flowers will loose water and droop very quickly in the summer and this will shorten the vase life and flowers such as peonies, roses and irises never fully recover. Most flowers will last longer when cut if you pick them when they are young and not quite open.
Horticultural.
Ian
I have a lot of flowers in my garden that are suitable for cutting. When is the best time of day to harvest them for this purpose? Regards B.H. Newtown.
Reply.
The optimum time to pick flowers is when they have a good reserve of water to get the maximum amount of vase life. Plants start the day with full water stores, which will have been absorbed in the cool of the night. Throughout the day this store is depleted and the hotter it gets the more they lose (transpiration). They are at their most depleted by mid afternoon. With this in mind then the ideal time to pick the flowers will be in the early morning before the sun has dried things out. The next best time is dusk.
Pick the flowers and put the stems straight into a bucket that has a few inches of tepid water in it. Flowers will loose water and droop very quickly in the summer and this will shorten the vase life and flowers such as peonies, roses and irises never fully recover. Most flowers will last longer when cut if you pick them when they are young and not quite open.
Horticultural.
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