A brief overlook into Roses! Includes basic introduction to roses, varieties, cultural practices, evolution, major pests and diseases, harvest, post-harvest and transplantation! Compiled by: Amrit Sharma (Nepal), 2020 Email: sharma1amrit@gmail.com

1. - Amrit Sharma

2. Flower
 “The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an
example of the eternal seductiveness of life.”
- Jean Giraudoux
• From birth to death, man is surrounded by the flowers
• Mark of civilization
• Ancient Egyptians: First civilization to start
flower arrangement and decoration
• Wall carvings dating back to 2,500 BCE show
depictions of artfully placed cut flowers in vases

3. Flower
• Father of floriculture: Mario
• World scenario: US$ 43.2 Billion (2018 valuation)
• Netherlands: 44% of global flower supply
• Nepali floriculture: 0.05% of total GDP (FAN, 2016)

4. Flower:
• Reproductive structure
• Biological function: assist in pollination by attraction
• Evolved during late Cretaceous Period, about 125-
100 million years ago.
• Flowering plants co- evolved with pollinating
insects like honey bee

5. Flowers as the source of creativity..
 “I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o'er
vales and hills, when all at once I saw a crowd, a host,
of golden daffodils; beside the lake beneath the trees,
fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”
- William Wordsworth

6. Rose
 Long history
 Symbols of love, beauty, purity, friendship
 35 million years old (Fossil evidence)
 Feb. 7, Rose day marks the beginning of Valentine
week

7. Rose
 Woody perennial shrub
 Majority of the species native to Asia
 Class: Magnoliopsida,
 Order: Rosales,
 Genus: Rosa L.
 Genus Rosa : 150 species

8. Why does red rose symbolize love?
 Greek mythology
 Aphrodite (goddess)
 Adonis (Hunter)
 Zeus (King)

9. Story of red rose..

10. Introduction:
 Grows well in mild temperature (15 - 27 °C)
 Plenty of sunlight
 Medium loamy soil rich in organic matter
 Well drained
 pH: 5.5-6.5.
 Demand in Nepal: 7000 – 9000 sticks per day,
increasing
 Area of Rose cultivation: 109 Ropani (FAN, 2014-15)
 Popular colors: Red, Yellow, Pink and White

11. Greenhouse for commercial
production:
 UV protected plastic sheets
 Well ventilated
 Drip system, cooling fan, heating pipeline, insect net
 Sanitation measures at entry to avoid microbes
 Maintain temp, light intensity and humidity
 Temp: 20-21°C on cloudy days and 24-28°C on sunny
days
 Humidity: 50 – 60%

12. Bed preparation:
 Ploughing
 Weeding
 Planting bed: 1 m wide
 Bed raised: 30 m
 Adding organic matter
 1% formalin fumigation
 Cover surface with plastic (24 hrs.)
 Remove plastic and let formalin escape (10 hrs.)
 Properly set up drip irrigation

13. Planting:
 Choose healthy planting material
 Plant material with 3 – 4 buds are good (1 yr old)
 Use insecticide and fungicide
 30 cm * 40 cm (6 plants/sq. m)
 Ideal planting season (Nepal) : Sept – Oct

14. Irrigation
 Drip irrigation is best for greenhouse (commercial)
 Water immediately after plantation
 Desired pH of water: 7 (neutral)
 Desired EC : 0.2 or 0.7 dS m per second
 Fertigration is preferred
 Mulching reduces evaporation loss

15. Pruning
 Most imp cultural activity in Rose
 Generally done in late winter
 In commercial scale more often
 First pruning: 3 weeks from plantation (floral bud
observed)
 Top 10 cm of lead shoot removed (others too)
 Retain: 6-8 canes (young) & 2-4 canes (old)
 Disinfect secateurs / pruning tool with alcohol / spirit
 Also stem bending is practiced (to reduce loss)

16. Nutrition Management
 Major: N, P, K, Ca, Mg
 Minor: Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn
 Fertigration: 200-250 ppm N & 150- 160 ppm K
 Micronutrients as per the requirement
 Under open field: 6-8 Kg well rotten manure/ bush
 N: P : K = 120: 60: 40 (i.e. 60 gm/ plant)
 10 gm NPK mixture/ plant every 6 weeks

17. Other cultural activities
 Stacking with strings if the stems are tall
 Removal of buds, sprout (on weekly basis)
 Weeding (daily basis)

18. Propagation:
 T- budding
- Incision: horizontal- 2 cm & Vertical- 2.5 cm
- T-shaped
- Fresh bud fitted with cambium of stem
- Use budding tape
- 2-3 weeks: bud sprouting
 Cutting, Grafting, Patch budding, Layering
 Propagation by seeds, tissue culture

19. Important pests:
 Mites : Tetranachyus species, tiny, use hand lens
: Most eco loss in Nepal
: Stipple (dots)/ bleach, dry, leaf fall
: underside of leaves mostly
: Middle and top part
: Prefer dry & dusty condition

20. Pests
 Aphids: Genus Macrosiphum rosae (in Nepal)
: soft tissues, buds, growing shoots
: infest middle & top part of plant
: active -> Mar-May / Aug-Sept
 Thrips: Attacks rose flower (makes brown)
: Tiny black, yellow thrips
: Thrips madronii (Genus)
: active during dry months

21. Aphids and Thrips

22. Important diseases
 Powdery mildew: Caused by Sphaerotheca pannosa
var. rosea
: grayish-white powdery substance on the surface of
young leaves, shoots and buds
: Infected leaves distorted, fall, bud fail to open
: Occur at mild temp (day- low humidity, night- high
humidity)

23. Powdery mildew

24. Diseases:
 Downy mildew: caused by Preonospora sparsa
: appears on parts above ground
: Leaves & canes blight
: Purple/ Brown leaf spots
: Yellowing of leaves
: square leaves, leaf shading (leafless)
: Early symptoms are similar to nutrient deficiency

25. Downy mildew

26. Diseases
 Botrytis: caused by Botrytis cinerea (grey mold)
: Grey, brown fuzzy growth on flowers and bud
: Bud fails to open
: Severe when temp is mild and RH is high
: Canes have sunken, discolored areas
: Light colored spots in petals expand as irregular
patches

27. Botrytis

28. Diseases:
 Black spot: caused by Diplocarpon rosae
: Seen usually in spring and summer (high temp)
: Circular black spots in leaves surrounded by yellow
area (Leaf fall)
: Infected canes have red blotches
: Stunted growth and low quality flowers

29. Black spot

30. Solution to Pests and diseases:
 Protective, Curative and Eradicative approach for pests
 Surveillance on weekly basis
 Insect net
 Top ventilation
 Mites: sufficient overhead irrigation, insecticidal oils
and neem oils
 Aphids: systemic pesticides, bio control (natural
enemies - lady bird beetle), restricting movements
with sticky barriers

31. Solutions:
 Thrips: remove infested flowers, weeding to avoid
host plants, use insecticide before it enters buds
 Powdery Mildew: Resistant varieties, day- high
humidity & Night – Low humidity, destroy and dispose
infected parts, Fungicide
 Downey mildew: Good ventilation, maintain RH,
sanitation, fungicides (last option)
 Botrytis: Good ventilation, do not wet leaves during
irrigation (only the soil zone), systemic fungicides

32. Solutions:
 Black Spot
:Use resistant varieties
: Keep the rose greenhouse very clean
: Remove and destroy diseased canes
: Keep the leaves dry
: Fungicide spray (last line of defense)

33. Meaning of colors:

34. Remaining topics (next session):
 Varieties of Roses
 Evolution of modern roses
 Other pest/ diseases and solutions
 Harvest
 Post- Harvest
 Transport
 Products of rose (Applications/ uses)
 Leftovers!

35. Types of roses:
 Wild roses
 Gardern roses
 Modern roses

36. Varieties of roses:
 Floribundas and Polyanthas
: Many blooms per stem, shrub rose
 Hybrid tea
: Most popular, long stem with single flower
 Grandifloras
: Cross between hybrid tea and floribunda
: Masses of large flowers

37. Varieties of roses:
Floribunda Hybrid tea Floribunda
Floribundas: polyantha * hybrid tea
Grandiflora: floribunda * hybrid tea

38. Varieties:
Climbing floribunda Polyantha

39. Varieties:
 Shrub roses
: Catch all class of cultivars not belonging to old
garden roses or modern roses.
 Miniature roses
: Small size, excellent for containers

40. Varieties:
Shrub roses Miniature roses

41. Evolution of modern roses
 Number of Chromosomes : n=7
 Ploidy level= 2n to 8n
 H.T. Rose: First variety- “La France” (Guillot, 1867)
R. chinensis * R. gigentea = Tea rose
R. chinensis * R. centifolia/ gallica = Hybrid Perpetuals
Then,
Tea rose * Hybrid Perpetuals = Hybrid Tea rose

42. Evolution..
 Floribundas: First- “Rodhatte” by Poulsen (1912)
: Hybrid tea * Dwarf polyantha = Floribundas
 Climbing roses
: R. wichuriana * R. multiflora
 Grandiflora:
: Floribundas * Hybrid tea roses

43. Inner beauty of roses:

44. Story of scent in modern roses:
 Phenolic methyl ether 3,5-dimethoxytoluene
(DMT): major scent compound of many modern
rose varieties (characteristic “tea scent”)
 Among wild roses, phenolic methyl ether (PME)
biosynthesis is restricted to Chinese rose species
 Progenitors of modern roses included both
European and Chinese species, so this trait was
transmitted to their hybrid progeny.

45. Scent..
 The last steps of the biosynthetic pathways
leading to DMT involve two methylation reactions
catalyzed by: orcinol O- methyltransferases
(OOMT) 1 and 2
 Chinese roses (only) possess both the OOMT2 and
the OOMT1 genes, among wild roses
 Chinese-rose-specific OOMT1 genes most
probably evolved from an OOMT2-like gene that
has homologues in the genomes of all extant roses

46. Scent..
 Proposed: Emergence of the OOMT1 gene may have
been a critical step in the evolution of scent
production in Chinese roses

47. Other pests of roses:
 Cane borers
 Spider Mites
 Leaf cutter bees

48. Other diseases:
 Crown gall
: Agrobacterium
tumefaciens
: infection through wounds
 Rose mosaic virus
: Through infected stocks
: No solution

49. Other problems:
 Nitrogen deficiency – old leaves yellow first, spindly
growth, small and few flowers
 • Magnesium deficiency – Edges of old leaves turn
yellow, apply magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) to rose
bushes
 If soil salinity is too high, excess salts cause leaf
injury and dieback (Remedy- leaching)

50. Problems:
N. Deficiency High Salinity

51. Harvest/ Post-harvest:
 Morning time
 Clean secateurs
 Red and pink cultivars : harvested when first two petals of
flowers start to unfold
 Yellow types: harvested slightly earlier
 White rose : slightly later than red and pink

52. Harvest/ Post-harvest..
 Harvested stems are kept in bucket with cut stem
dipped in water
 Roses are graded on the basis of the stem length
 Bunched in a group of 10 or 20 bunches are made, it is
wrapped with plastic sleeve

53. Post-harvest
 Re-cut at the base of the stem
 Keep in bucket containing rose preservatives
 Re-cut at wholesale center in water containing anti-
microbial agent
 Glucose 5 % : Extending vase life
 In some countries 200 ppm of Aluminum sulphate or
Citric acid and stored in cold storage

54. Post harvest:
 Also, Calcium hypochlorite can be used before storage
 GLCA (Gluconic acid ) 10% found effective for longer
vase life
 Glucose, Isothiazolinonic Germicide, Citric acid and
Aluminum sulphate was also effective in opening
rose buds harvested at much early stage
 Storage: 2-4°C (cold), 60 - 70% Relative Humidity

55. Packaging and Transport:
 Bunches wrapped with sleeves
 Additional band around the flower head
 Card board boxes 12”X20”X60” (two 3” holes on each
side)
 Orientation: Cut-stems at the center and flower head
at the sides
 A sheet of butter paper placed above which another
layer of rose bunches are laid (until the box is filled)

56. Packaging and transport
 Box is sealed with a tape
 Details written on the box (destination,
consignee/buyer, name of product, quantity
 Transport : Through Refrigerated Truck

57. Products and uses of rose:
 Rose water from petals (perfumes, medicines,
confectionary); property of cooling the body (eye
lotions, eye drops, soothing qualities)
 Also used in drinking water and sprinkled on the
guests at weddings, feasts and other social
functions
 Rose oil from petals (Ayurvedic purpose, perfuming
soaps, cosmetics)
 Gulkand (preserved for direct consumption),
prepared by pounding equal proportions of petals and
white sugar; considered both as tonic and laxative

58. Applications..
 Pankhuri (dried rose petals): used for preparing
sweetened cold drinks
 Gul-roghan (rose hair oil): prepared from rose petals
and wet sesamum (Til) seeds
 Source of Vitamins: Rose hips are very good sources
of ascorbic acid, every 100 g of rose hip syrup contains
150 mg of ascorbic acid (compared with only 50mg
present in fresh orange juice, 20 mg in tomatoes and 5
mg in apples)
 Other functions: perfume, petal wines, jam, jellies etc.

59. Transplanting the existing roses
 Best time to transplant healthy roses is during
dormancy (Dec. – Mar.)
 Cut canopy one third to one half back
 Move as much of the root ball as possible

60. THANK YOU!!
 #Stay safe
 #Stay productive