AgriculturalLink.com integrates agriculture and livestock websites help you find agritourism, poultry, garden, production, farmer, goat, fodder crops, horticultural crop and more.

Archive for August, 2009

How The Floriculture Works

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

The floriculture is a dynamic, fast-growing industry happening on a global scale. Floriculture is one of the major industries in many developing and underdeveloped countries. Floriculture as an industry began in the late 1800s in England, where flowers were grown on a large scale on the vast estates. The countries with the biggest flower-growing industry are The Netherlands, Kenya, Colombia, and Israel, but many other nations such as The Philippines, Malaysia, South Africa, and Ecuador are joining the market and investing in the industry. Although most of them grow the bestselling flowers – roses, tulips, sunflowers, carnations, iris, daisies, orchids, lilacs, and lilies – many are starting to explore hybrids and other indigenous crops.

Essentially, there are three branches that make up the basic structure of the floriculture. The grower is the one who grows the flowers; the wholesaler, who is the middleman between the grower and the seller; and the retailer, which is your local flower shop. Quite often, these three branches are intermingled. Some retail florists such as Island Rose in the Philippines grow their own flowers in greenhouses and sell the product straight to the market. They work as the grower, the wholesaler and retailer. Major flower companies sell flowers in such large quantities that they order directly from the grower, omitting the middleman.

When flowers are ordered from a wholesaler or a grower, they take various routes to the buyer, depending on the flower type, the area where they are grown, and how they will be sold. Some floriculturists cut and pack flowers right at the nurseries and send them directly to the buyer through mail. Some flowers are sent to a packing company that grades them and organizes them into bunches to deliver through mail or to send directly to supermarkets or flower shops. Some growers grade and sleeve the flowers themselves before selling them to wholesale markets. The wholesalers then sell the flowers to florists who prime and arrange the flowers for their customers. If you know where to go, you can buy flowers at wholesalers even if you aren’t a florist.

The floriculture works like a simple value chain: growers grow flowers, suppliers obtain them, then the flowers are sold to retailers or to wholesalers before consumers buy them in bunches or bouquets. There are different kinds of careers open in the floriculture. Among the entry-level occupations are floral shop helpers, who perform various duties in a flower shop; delivery people, who deliver flowers right to the home of the flower shop’s customers; floral designers, who make creative arrangements out of the flowers for events such as weddings, birthdays, or funerals; and salespersons, who sells fresh cut flowers and other flower-related goods at the shop. Mid-level occupations include the assistant manager, who is responsible for coordinating sales, design, delivery, and taking charge of the office.

Important Vegetable Gardening Tips For Beginners

Monday, August 10th, 2009

With the growing prices of vegetables in the market, it is quite practical that you are able to cultivate your own so that you can economize your spending and eat much healthier food. Growing your own vegetables is a rewarding activity. Not only does it give you the joy of working outside with the earth, it provides many nutritious meals for your family. Here are some tips to get you started and to make your vegetable garden both easier and more productive.

As part of your vegetable-gardening tips, you need to think of the size of your garden that you desire to be planted with vegetables. It must be a place of proper drainage, good soil, and appropriate sunlight. And because home vegetable gardening offers tasty food, it is vulnerable to animals such as dogs, deer, rabbit, etc.To prevent that, you make it sure that you are able to put fence around your garden to make it protected. Vegetable-gardening for beginners can be quite laborious, however can be rewarding too. Having fresh vegetable is one thing that almost all desire to have and you are lucky if you are able to cultivate your own despite, perhaps, with limited area. You just need to be creative in order to achieve your goal in gardening.

Another vital thing to consider in home vegetable gardening is the garden arrangement. One strategy to maximize the space is to plant vegetables that only need limited space- those vegetables that do not expand too much. Remember also to put your tall-growing plants at the back side of your garden so that they do not block the sunlight that the small ones need. When you are already prepared for planting, be sure that the kind of vegetables you are to plant is suitable for the specific season. You can consult books of vegetable-gardening for beginners for this. You can make an improvised place for a certain plants and get it transferred to its location when the appropriate season comes.

Vegetable gardening for beginners also include doing weeding and maintaining your garden out of foreign grasses because these can take the soil nutrients away from the vegetables. Grasses are their prime competitors. You can also protect your vegetables from insects by putting some organic chemicals. Vegetable-gardening is one of the favorite pastimes of people. It is because, aside from being able to acquire fresh vegetables, you can also make it as a medium of exercise that is really relaxing. These are only a few tips for having a productive vegetable garden, before you get started with your own, consider acquiring some vegetable gardening tips so that you can achieve the vegetable garden that you desire.