You Are a Flower Farmer
You are definitely looking to make the most of your flower growing space this year. Whether you have been flower farming for years or this is your first big push into the locally grown flower movement we have the supplies to help you get the most from your seeds this season.
Growing flowers from seed is by far the most economical way to grow your stock. While similar to vegetable growing in many ways there are a few components of flower farming that make having the right equipment even more important to your ongoing success. Below are some of our flower farming friends' favorite tools.
Here Are Some Product Suggestions
- For all of our larger count cell trays, we recommend using a 1020 deep heavy-duty tray for bottom watering and easy, one-handed carrying. We also have these popular trays in colors, you can find blue, green and pink 1020 deep trays here.
- When planting tiny seeds that take time to germinate and grow to a second set of true leaves like lisianthus or snapdragons using a 200-cell tray gives you the most possible transplants out of a small space.
- For maintaining ideal growing conditions for finicky seeds we recommend using our seed starting kits that come with a 1020 bottom tray, humidity dome and cell tray. We offer these kits in 200-cell, 128-cell, 72-cell and 50-cell count sizes.
- 72-cell trays have become something of an industry standard for many flower farmers. They are versatile and can be used to start everything from celosia to sunflowers. If you will only be buying one size of cell tray this is the one for you.
- For flowers like zinnias that hate having their roots disturbed and show dramatically reduced performance if they become root bound; we recommend using our 32-cell trays with insert pots. The extra space in the 2.5 inch square and 3 inch tall pots give your transplants plenty of space to grow. Being able to pick up and turn individual pots upside down for transplanting keeps root disturbance to an absolute minimum.
- For growers looking for an easy way to keep track of all the different varieties you are trying out this year we highly recommend color coding your starts. Using our 32-cell insert trays with shallow bottom trays and a 240 pack of our fabulous multi-color insert pots, you can set yourself up to keep track of every plant without having to write and move tag after tag.
- Last but certainly not least, for all of those tender stems that are prone to blowing over in the wind and for climbing crops like sweet peas we offer 6” mesh trellis netting in a multiple of widths and lengths.
Pro-tip: A bistro chalk pen works great for labeling any of our pots and trays for the season. It won’t wash off with overhead watering but comes clean easily with a wet sponge when it is time to replant.
If this is your first year getting into flower farming be sure to check out our interview with Shannon from Sky Field Farm who turned her hobby of flower gardening into a profitable cut flower farm business. Watch the video below.
Check Out Our Flower Resources
If you are looking for some great multipurpose crops that can do double duty as cut flowers and food please head over to our resources and check out our Guide on Cultivating Edible Blooms or head over to the Growing Flowers blogs.