A detailed guide to growing saffron crocus hydroponically
Hydroponics means placing the saffron crocus directly in water, and it will sprout and bloom, much simpler than planting it in soil. This is all thanks to its powerful roots.
The specific method is to put water in a container made of glass or plastic, then place the saffron crocus roots into it, and with time it will produce beautiful saffron crocus flowers.
1. Hydroponic timing
Generally starts from late September to October.
2. Bulb selection
Choose large bulbs, as they can store more nutrients.
3. How to place the bulbs
The base of the bulb only needs to slightly touch the water. When placing the bulbs, the container used for growing the bulbs should be covered with black cloth or placed in a dark spot, so that it can take root.
4. Changing the water
Change the water in the container about every 7-15 days.
You see, isn't the hydroponic method for saffron crocus simple? Actually, as long as you carefully read the steps above, you will quickly learn how to grow saffron crocus hydroponically. If you grow saffron crocus, besides admiring it, we can also dry it and take it! So how should saffron crocus be taken? Let's learn about it together!
Hydroponics of tulips
People have known about hydroponics for flowers for a long time. Especially for hyacinths and saffron crocus, placing their bulbs on a glass bottle filled with water to encourage them to bloom is using the hydroponic method. Or place the bulbs of tulips and narcissus in a container filled with coarse sand, add water, and cultivate them indoors. Although the planting results are acceptable, professional growers still prefer to use soil, and later switched to substrates for flower production. The search for other materials for cultivation only began later.
The earliest attempt to grow tulips using hydroponics. Attempts to grow tulip cut flowers hydroponically began in the 1970s. At that time, some growers in Denmark and southern Sweden used hydroponics to grow 5°C tulips. To do this, they laid plastic film in the seedbed and added water. The tulip bulbs were fixed onto plastic foam boards and made to float on the water surface. However, after several years of practice, this method was abandoned because these plastic foam boards could not provide enough support for the bulbs.
The motivation for hydroponics in the Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the demand for hydroponics began in 1988. Because in that year, the Dutch government issued a bill on plant protection. In this bill, the use of pesticides and the discharge of their waste liquid into the environment were regulated, namely a 45% reduction by 1995 and a 60% reduction by 2000. That is to say, in order to achieve the above goals, the production of bulb flowers should use a closed system. Since commercial growers were also seeking a technically reliable and more economical growing method to bring them more benefits, they came up with the idea of hydroponics. When growing in substrates within a closed system, growers would encounter problems such as difficulty in obtaining substrates, susceptibility to disease, disease control (especially Pythium), and the disposal of spent growing substrates, which forced research institutions to look for a substrate that could avoid or at least reduce the occurrence of the above problems. Many substrates were developed, but comparatively speaking, the rooting substrate previously used still gave the best growing results. In addition, the results of using water as a substrate for cultivation ranked second! Water is not only very easy to obtain, but also cheap and suitable for recycling. The only problem was how to fix the bulbs. But the people in the bulb flower growing industry solved this problem.
The growers' solution. Bulb flower growers found a way to solve the problem. In the autumn of 1990, Triflor Company began asking Tempex Company to hand-produce a growing tray, which placed the bulbs on a cup filled with water and fixed the bulbs through several toothpick-like objects at the rim of the cup. Later, Curtec Company tested a plastic growing tray with a similar principle for two growing seasons, and then in the 92/93 growing season they began producing their own CurTec growing tray. A year later, this growing tray was introduced to the market and received evaluation from many growers. At the same time, another company called Kenn also launched its own Kenn growing tray, whose bottom is a row of needles, fixing the bulbs in this way.
The problems encountered. Unfortunately, some troubles were encountered during cut flower cultivation. Regardless of which growing tray was used, during the greenhouse cultivation stage, a layer of viscous substance caused by bacteria would form on the plant roots. Research found that this was caused by a lack of oxygen in the water. Another problem was that when using the Kenn tray for growing, the roots of adjacent tulip bulbs would become tangled together, which would cause the movement of other surrounding bulbs during harvest. In short, the growing results were rather disappointing. Many growers stopped using hydroponics to produce tulip cut flowers after testing for one growing season. Nevertheless, some growers who achieved better results persisted with hydroponic production. The Dutch bulb flower research center also continued research work using some inspirations from these growers in actual production.
The solution. Individual growers and research institutions simultaneously found that the above two problems could be solved by delaying the planting time of tulips. "Delayed planting" here means starting to plant tulips only 3 weeks or even 1 week before the growing trays are moved into the greenhouse. By improving the production system in this way, very good growing results were obtained. In the 97/98 growing season, the number of people using hydroponics for tulip growing increased noticeably. At that time, about 0.8% of the total Dutch tulip production was produced through hydroponics, and afterward this proportion gradually rose to 12%, 20%, and 35%. In the 01/02 growing season, this proportion is estimated to reach 40%.
Advantages and disadvantages of hydroponics.For growers, hydroponics of tulips has both advantages and disadvantages. This determines whether a professional grower changes their old growing method to hydroponics.
These advantages and disadvantages are:
Advantages: no need to invest again in transport crates, production lines and other facilities and equipment, and the area of the rooting room (temperature-controlled room) can be reduced; no need to use rooting substrate and sand for covering the bulbs; makes the working environment clean; high degree of mechanization; less energy required during the cold treatment greenhouse stage; no adverse effects such as fungi growing on dead roots when using rooting substrate; speeds up harvesting by 35%; less damage to leaves at harvest; the harvested product is clean; greatly reduces the amount of pesticide used; no residual discharge of pesticides or fertilizers; avoids the problem of disposing of spent substrate.
Disadvantages: requires at least two temperature-controlled cold stores (1 set at 2°C for dry bulb treatment; the other set at 5°C for rooting); need to purchase hydroponic trays; need a system for disinfecting hydroponic trays; planting and harvesting of bulbs sometimes need to be carried out at the same time; for bulbs planted later, product quality declines; the roots of some varieties turn brown; plant leaves are prone to splitting; depending on the variety, the product is generally lighter in weight; the problem of treating wastewater after use. Solutions to the last 4 problems are currently under research. Some measures are now taken to disinfect the growing trays after each growing season to reduce or prevent these problems. In fact, after using the hydroponic method, the Pythium problem was eliminated. Various containers for tulip hydroponics. The container systems used for tulip cultivation can be roughly divided into two categories: flow water systems and still water systems.
Container types used as flow water systems include: De Vries aluminum alloy seedbed, Dutch hydroponic tray, X-type hydroponic tray, and ebb-and-flow hydroponic system.
Still water system containers include: Empire tray, triangular groove tray, Flexi tray, and needle tray.
Advantages of flow water systems include: easy control of oxygen content, conductivity value, pH, and temperature; these containers do not need a water supply system; sometimes can increase product weight.
Disadvantages of flow water systems include: risk of spreading pathogens; need for a continuous purification system.
Advantages of still water systems include: low investment; little modification needed; can use temporary workers; because individual trays are used, the spread of pathogens can be controlled.
Disadvantages of still water systems include: wastewater treatment. These container systems all differ in how they fix the bulbs. One uses a piercing type (needle tray and Dutch hydroponic tray), another is non-contact type (De Vries aluminum alloy seedbed), and another is wrapping type (the other several growing trays). Unlike the piercing-type growing trays, the other two types of growing trays can plant tulip bulbs on the tray in advance, and then water them after a period of cold treatment. However, the problem with these two systems is poor fixing effect, because since the bulbs grow few roots, the plants are prone to falling over later. At present, 95% of production is carried out through the needle tray, namely the Kenn tray we mentioned earlier. Therefore, the content introduced below is based on this system, placing this growing tray into an export box (60 cm x 40 cm) for production.
How to grow saffron crocus. The flower language of saffron crocus
Saffron crocus is a common spice. Do you know about it? Today we will introduce to you the growing method of saffron crocus and knowledge about the flower language of saffron crocus.
How to grow saffron crocus
Saffron crocus prefers a warm and humid environment and fears extreme heat. It likes sufficient sunlight and can also tolerate partial shade. The suitable growing temperature is around 15℃, and the suitable flowering temperature is 16℃ to 20℃. It fears extreme heat, is relatively cold-tolerant, and avoids continuous cropping. It requires loose, fertile, and well-drained sandy loam soil, with a pH of 5.5 to 6.5. It avoids heavy clay soil and long-term waterlogging.
The growth characteristics of saffron crocus are summer dormancy, rooting in autumn, leaf growth, flowering from October to November, and flowers opening by day and closing at night. Under ordinary cultivation conditions it does not set seed, and the entire growth period is about 210 days. Whether spring-flowering or autumn-flowering types, both are autumn-planted bulb flowers. That is, they begin to sprout in autumn, grow and flower through winter and spring, the seed-setting types set seed, and enter dormancy in summer.
The lifespan of a saffron crocus corm is one year. Similar to tulips, the new and old corms alternate and renew once each year.
For home potted saffron crocus, it is best to choose spring-flowering varieties. Generally, a clay pot with a diameter of 15-18 cm can hold 5-7 bulbs, planted from September to October. After planting, water thoroughly and first place outdoors for cultivation. After rooting, move it into a cold room, with the room temperature slightly higher than the outdoor temperature. Give sufficient light and it will flower in due course. Saffron crocus can also be grown by the hydroponic method.
The flower language of saffron crocus
The flower language of saffron crocus is: waiting for you, joyful youth, anxiety, longing, do not speak ill, temperance.
The flower stem of saffron crocus is very short and does not extend above the ground; the flowers are light blue, red-purple, or white; the inner and outer perianth segments are both obovate; the stamens are upright, and the anthers are yellow; the style is orange-red, about 4 cm long; the capsule is elliptical, about 3 cm long; the flowering period is October-November, and the flowers open by day and close at night.