Edible Rose Varieties, Market, Seedling Prices and Cultivation Techniques Explained
The edible rose is native to China and is a deciduous upright shrub. At present, it is not only widely cultivated in China, but also extensively cultivated in Korea and in various countries in Europe and America. What edible rose varieties are currently available? What are the market prices? How much do seedlings cost? What are the cultivation techniques? From a rose planting base in Yunnan we learned that at present, current-year seedlings with nutrient cups and a height of 30cm are priced at around 2.5-3.5 yuan; the price varies with the height of the seedling, the age, and the packaging method.
What edible rose varieties are currently available?
1. Double-petaled rose (Rosa rugosa): the traditional rose. The plant form is upright and open, about 2 m tall; flowers are solitary or several clustered together, with a rich, strong fragrance, light purple in color, and 4—5 layers of petals. The flower diameter is about 8 cm, and the flowering period runs from early May to early June. It is a variety commonly planted by the public, but the plant has relatively poor resistance and is prone to rust disease.
2. Purple branch rose, also called the everblooming rose (four-season rose). It is produced by crossing the botanical rose with Rosa davurica. The plant form is upright and open, nearly 2 m tall, with a clump spread of 1—1.2 m; flowers are solitary, double-petaled, light purple in color, and large, with a diameter of about 5-9 cm. The first flowering period begins at the end of April, with peak bloom from early May to mid-June, after which it continues flowering until mid-October. The plant has strong resistance to rust disease and high yield.
3. Pingyin No. 1: the plant form is upright and open. The plant height is about 1—1.2 m; flowers are solitary or several clustered at the tip of the current year's branches, double-petaled, light purple, of the thousand-petal type, with a flower diameter of about 8 cm. The first flowering period runs from the end of April to early June, after which it continues flowering until October. The plant has relatively strong resistance and high yield, with fresh weight yield reaching 400—500 kg/mu, and strong fruiting ability. The natural bud-drop rate is below 5%—8%), making it an excellent variety for large-scale promotion.
4. Pingyin No. 3: the plant form is compact, with double-petaled flowers. The flower diameter is about 8 cm, and the flower color is light purple. The flowering period runs from the end of April to the end of May, with high yield.
Other varieties include Bulgarian rose, Soviet Perfume No. 1—4, Kushui rose, Fanhua rose and Beijing white rose, among others.
What are the current market prices for edible roses?
At present, fresh flower prices range from a few yuan to more than ten yuan, and in the practical rose market, whether for fresh flower cake products or for edible roses, the barriers to entry are very low, so after attracting a large influx of merchants, this creates an uneven market situation and easily leads to vicious competition. In the long term, a long-term mechanism must be established to optimize the entire chain of planting, purchasing, processing and sales.
What are the current cultivation techniques for edible roses?
1. Site selection and orchard establishment: in mountainous areas, terrace edges and earthen slopes should be fully utilized, which not only increases economic returns but also fixes the soil and preserves the terraces, preventing soil erosion. On plains, dedicated rose orchards should be established in contiguous blocks. But whether in mountainous areas or plains, planting on heavy, sticky, waterlogged ground must be avoided.
2. Soil treatment: carry out soil disinfection before planting, mainly by steam sterilization; when conditions do not permit, chloropicrin fumigation may be used. After chloropicrin fumigation, the soil should be deep-plowed several times to avoid phytotoxicity affecting the development of the plant root system. Then apply farmyard manure and plow it in. On plains, form high beds with a bed surface width of 200 cm and a bed height of 15—20 cm.
3. Planting: the row spacing for planting is 2—2.5 m and the plant spacing is 1—1.5 m; on plains the plant and row spacing may be appropriately increased. Dig the planting holes (60 cm long, wide and deep each), place the seedlings in, fill with soil, firm it down and water.
4. Fertilization: fertilization can be carried out in 2 applications. One is in late autumn, combined with deep plowing, applying 3000—3300 kg of farmyard manure per mu; the other is after flowering, combined with loosening the soil, applying 5—25 kg of diammonium phosphate or other compound fertilizer per mu.
5. Pruning: roses have strong sprouting ability, and if not pruned in time, the branches often grow weak and die off because the clump becomes too dense and shaded. When pruning, it should be done according to plant age, growth condition, fertilizer and water levels and management conditions, adopting the principle of mainly thinning out and supplementing with heading back, so as to keep the plant old but the branches young, with many branches but not dense, and with good ventilation and light penetration. Old branches over 5 years old should be thinned out in time to support the growth of new branches. For roses that are weak in growth and have basically lost the ability to flower, heavy pruning can be done to promote new branch growth.
6. Pest and disease control: the main diseases of roses are rust, powdery mildew and brown spot. To control rust, diseased buds can be removed and buried deep. Before and during the onset of rust, powdery mildew and brown spot, spraying triadimefon, Tuzet or chlorothalonil once every half month has a good effect on preventing infection and spread of the diseases. The main pests of roses are scarab beetles, bagworm moths, red spiders, aphids, scale insects and longhorn beetles, among others. Scarab beetles and bagworm moths mainly damage the tender shoots and leaves of roses, and during their occurrence period phoxim or deltamethrin can be sprayed; red spiders, aphids and scale insects mainly suck the sap of roses, causing weak growth, and systemic insecticides such as dimethoate and monocrotophos can be sprayed for control; longhorn beetles are destructive pests, and their adults should be captured and killed and the nectar plants they feed on should be removed to suppress their occurrence.
7. Harvesting: different harvesting times for roses lead to relatively large differences in yield and quality. Usually rose buds should be harvested before they open, that is, it is best to harvest when the longitudinal diameter of the bud is 3 times that of the calyx; harvesting too early lowers the yield, and too late the flower has already opened, affecting quality. During the concentrated flowering period, select robust and plump buds to pick, and for other thin, weak buds wait until they are fully open before picking the petals; flowers that open sporadically at other times are also left until fully open before picking the petals.