Soil and Climatic Requirement of

Flower Crops

Dr Prativa Anand
Senior Scientist
Division of Floriculture and Landscaping
ICAR-IARI, New Delhi-110012
 SOIL REQUIREMENT
 Soil is a thin outer covering of the earth, directly developed by
natural forces acting on natural materials.
 It is a basic medium for plant growth, supplies nutrients for growing
plants.
 Soil is the home of the plant root and the reservoir for essential
nutrients and water for its growth and development.

Types of Soil
On the basis of pH, EC and presence of ESP the soil are grouped as
(1) Saline (2) Alkaline (3) Saline-alkali (4) Acidic

On the basis of sand, silt, and clay soils are grouped (classes)
a) Sandy b) Sandy loam c) Loamy d) Loamy sand e) Silt f) Silt loam
g) Sandy clay loam h) Clay loam i) Silty clay loam j) Sandy clay k) Clay
l) silty clay
 Porous, aerated and deep soil should be preferred for flower
cultivation.

 The ideal soil should be at least 1.8 m deep having a uniform

texture, well drained, non-saline and fertile.

 Soils with a poor sub soil stratum should be avoided.

 Plants will not grow well if there is solid rock or permanent water
close to the surface of the soil.

 Sub soil with a hardpan or pebbles within 120 cm of the surface soil
should not be chosen.
 Extreme conditions of top and sub soil namely very heavy (clayey)
and very light (highly sandy) should be avoided.

 Heavy soils are difficult to handle on account of poor drainage while

very light soils are infertile because of leaching of nutrients.

 Medium textured silt loam or fine sandy loam makes good soil.

 Most flowers like slightly acidic to neutral soil reaction (pH 6-7).

 Some flower species can some times tolerate little more acidic or
alkaline medium but too acidic or too alkaline soil should be
avoided.
 Soils with fluctuating water table are not suitable because the water
table moves up and reaches the root zone damaging the root hairs.

 When the water table goes down, the plants with shallow root
system struggle for moisture and nutrients causing reduction in
growth and vigour of plants.
 Climate
 Climate is the principal factor controlling plant growth.

 It refers to the average condition of the atmosphere over a long

period, where as the term weather is used to describe the current
and temporary atmospheric conditions.

 For successful growing of horticultural plants, various components of

climate like temperature, humidity, wind, light, rainfall, hail and frost
should be carefully studied.

 Man can not control these environmental factors. It is not possible to

make any change in it. But the effect of these factors can be altered.

 For these we can take certain steps to increase or decrease its

effects. i.e. effect of high or low temperature can be altered,
additional moisture can be given, high wind velocity can be reduced
by growing wind break.
 Climate of a region is mainly influenced by the factors viz.,
a) latitude
b) altitude
c) topography
d) position related to continents and oceans
e) large scale atmospheric circulation patters
 Almost all components of the climate influence horticultural crops.
All are closely interrelated. The effect of each is modified by others.

 All crops have certain natural threshold limits of the climatic

components beyond which they do not grow normally, but breeding
and selection are gradually extending the threshold for many crops.
Following is a brief account on important climatic components which
are affecting the production of flower crops.

Temperature
• Temperature is one of the most important components of climate. It
plays vital role in the production of horticultural crops.

• The different activities of plant like growth and development,

respiration, photosynthesis, transpiration, uptake of nutrients and
water and reproduction (Such as pollen viability, blossom fertilization
fruit set etc.), carbohydrate and growth regulators balance, rate of
maturation and senescence, and quality, yield and shelf life of the
flowers is well when the temperature is at the optimum range.

• During high temperature plant does not perform proper functions of

growth, where in low temperature physiological activities of the plant
are stopped.
 Plants perform well in optimum temperature range. The activities of the
plant are affected by very high or very low temperature. The
temperature range for plant is
• Minimum 4.5° to 6.5°C (40° - 43° F)
• Optimum 24° to 27°C (75° - 85° F)
• Maximum 29.5° to 45.4°C (85° - 114° F)

Effect of low temperature

The low temperature has adverse influence on plant. There are
many effects of low temperature i.e.
• Desiccation: Imbalance between absorption rate and transpiration
rate.
• Chilling injury: There is a disturbance in metabolic and
physiological process.
• Freezing injury: It is termed as under cooling protoplasm
coagulation.
 Light

The performance of plants is influenced by three aspects

of light
(a) intensity of light
(b) qualiity of light
(c) duration of light
a) Light intensity: Light intensity refers to the number of photons falling
on a given area or to the total amount of light which plants receive;
the intensity of light varies with the day, season, distance of equator,
dust particles and water vapour in atmosphere, slope of the land and
elevation.

 Symptoms associated with low light intensity are decrease in rate

of photosynthesis with normal rates of respiration, decreased supplies
of carbohydrates for growth and yield, leaf tips become discoloured,
leaves and bud drop, leaves and flowers become light in colour.

 Due to high light intensity, the plant wilts and light coloured leaves
may become gray in colour due to reduction in chlorophyll, the rate of
photosynthesis is lowered down while respiration continues. All above
reasons cause low yields.
 b) Quality of light: Refers to the length of the waves. The visible
part of spectrum of electromagnetic radiation ranges from
wavelength 390 to 730 µm (nanometer). It is also called
photosynthetically active radiation.

• In general, red and blue light produce a greater dry weight. Green
light inhibits plant growth. Red light promotes seed germination,
growth and flower bud formation in long day short night plant.
Photosynthesis is more in the red region.
c) Duration of light: Refers to the period for which light is available.
Duration of light required is also known as photoperiod.

The plants are mainly grouped into three categories according to

duration of light required.
1. Long day plant: Those plants which require 16 hours or more of
daily exposure of light and short night 8-10 hours of dark period for
induction of flowering e.g. aster, coneflower, california poppies ,etc.
2. Short day plant: Those plants which require 12 hours or less of
daily exposure of light and long night 10 to 14 hours dark period for
induction of flowering. e.g. chrysanthemum, cosmos, poinsettia etc.
3. Day neutral plants: Day neutral plants are those plants in which
flowering are induced irrespective of duration of light. Such plants
are also known as photo insensitive plants. e.g. carnation, dianthus,
African violet.
Humidity (moisture) and frost
• The atmospheric humidity plays a vital role in deciding the amount
of moisture needed to produce a flower crop.

• In hot, dry weather enormous amount of water is lost through

transpiration. If the atmosphere is humid, even though hot, the
amount is much smaller and thus a site in humid belt needs less
irrigation. High humidity combined with high temperature also
promotes rapid growth, higher yield but increase incidence of pests
and diseases.

• The water requirement of plant also depends on humidity but

generally requirement of water is differed as per different plant
species. e.g. to produce 1 kg dry matter pine tree require 25 liters of
water.
Rainfall
• This is a very important factor for horticultural crops, and if a garden is
to be established in a new area it is essential that the pattern of rainfall
in the region be studied before any decision is taken concerning the
types of crop to be cultivated. Well-distributed and consistent rainfall is
always desirable. Rain at the time of flowering is not suitable.

Wind
• The effect of high wind on crops can be appreciable. Complete physical
destruction may result because little can stand against winds of the
order of 100 km/hour, even large trees become uprooted. Some crops
have quite low damage even due to high wind speed. In many regions
high winds can destroy the flowers, fruits etc. Wind breaks can help
reduce this problem. The wind break trees, like eucalyptus, Inga dulcis
are grown around the site for protection.
• The plant gets water from soil, but there are many factors affecting
it. i.e. (a) amount of water in the soil (b) availability of water also
depends on texture and structure of soil (c) water absorbing area of
the plant.

• The water is lost from the plant through transpiration by leaves.

Transpiration depends on humidity, temperature, wind, light etc. is
necessary to maintain the health of plant by maintaining the balance
between uptake and loss of water.
 Rose
Soil-Sandy-loam, red-loam, silty-loam soil are best
suited for rose cultivation. The soil pH of 6.0 to
7.5 is ideal for rose. Rose is very sensitive to
saline soils as sodium carbonate which is
present in the saline soil is harmful to the
plants. Soils rich in organic matter with good
water holding capacity are ideal for its
cultivation.

Climate- Rose usually dislikes humid climate, but

can tolerate high temperature. At a
temperature below 10°C flowering is affected
and blind shoots and bull heads are
developed. Rose plant should receive 8 hours
exposure to sun rays. Shady area is not at all
suitable for rosary.
 Chrysanthemum

Soil- Well drained, sandy loam soil with

PH of 6.5- 7.0 is ideal. It is highly
sensitive to waterlogged conditions.

Climate- Chrysanthemum is a short day

plant and for vegetative growth it
requires long day conditions with bright
sunlight and high temperatures ranging
from 20 to 27°C. For bud formation and
flowering it requires short day and low
temperatures ranging from 10 to 27°C.
 Gladiolus
Soil- Loamy to sandy loam soil is best
suited for gladiolus cultivation. Water
logging with high salinity areas are to
avoided. Clay soil is also not suitable
for gladiolus cultivation. Adding sand
to make it porous can amend light
clay soil. Soil pH of 6.5-7.0 is ideal.

Climate - The crop performs well under

a temperature range of 27 - 30°C. It
requires full exposure to sunlight and
performs well with long day
conditions of 12 to 14 hour
photoperiod.
 Marigold

Soil- It can be grown in a wide range of soils except

water logged conditions. However, a deep fertile soil
having good water holding capacity, well drained,
sandy loam soil rich in organic matter is best
suitable. Neither too acidic not too alkaline soils with
pH 6.0 to 7.5 are suitable.

Climate - Marigold requires mild climate for luxuriant

growth and flowering. Depending on environmental
condition, planting of marigold is done in 3 three
seasons’ i.e rainy, summer and winter. Planting of
African marigold after 1st week of February and
before 1st week of July greatly affects the quality and
yield of flowers. So staggered planting between 1st
week of July to 1st week of February at monthly
intervals assures supply of flowers to market over an
extended period from October to April, however
maximum yield can be obtained from September
planted crop.
 Tuberose

Soil -The plant can be successfully grown on a wide range

of soils, even in soils affected by acidity or alkalinity to
some extent. The plant is very sensitive to water-
logging which damages the root system and affects the
plant growth. Loam and sandy loam soil having pH
range of 6.5 to 7.5 with proper aeration and drainage
are considered best for tuberose cultivation. The soil
should be rich in organic matter and retain sufficient
moisture for proper growth.
Climate -The commercial cultivation of tuberose is mainly
confined to warm, humid areas with average
temperature ranging between 18 to 32°C. The ideal
temperature for plant growth ranges between 26 and
30°C. The tuberose needs a long growing period in
order to blossom in early to late fall. The spike
production, along with the quality flowers declines to a
great extent during December –January except in
“double varieties” of tuberose.
 Gerbera
• Soil- For successful production of quality
flowers, a well-drained, rich, light, neutral
or slightly alkaline soil is ideal. They prefer
a organic soil with high nitrate content and
tolerate lime in the soil.

• Climate- In tropical and subtropical

climate, gerberas are grown in the open,
but in temperate climate, they are
protected from frost and cultivated in
greenhouse. They like sunny situation in
cool weather but during the summer
months they should be lightly shaded if left
out in beds. Poor light during winter
adversely affects flower production.
 Bougainvillea
• Soil- Bougainvillea grows well in rich, well
drained, acidic (pH 5.5-6.0) soil. It does not
thrive in wet soil. Excess moisture causes
rotting in roots and plants.

• Climate- As a tropical plant, bougainvillea

requires full sun, or a light level of atleast
4000 fc. Low light and shady areas are not
suitable as the plants will drop their bracts.
Plants grow well at a minimum temperature
of 18°C at night and 23-35°C during the day.
It can tolerate hot dry conditions.
 Lilium

• Soil- Lilies prefer a well drained soil.

Water logging particularly in the dormant
period, can be lethal to the plant. Saline
soils are not suitable for growing lilies.

• Climate- Lilies love sunny climate. Lilies

are susceptible to high temperatures
(>30°C) but they tolerate and respond to
high light intensity (2000 umol/m2/s).
Shading in the early vegetative growth
phase helps better growth.
Thank You