Transcript You Are the Expert!

KMS University
Best-in-Class Flower Handling!
Facts, Challenges and Rx
Gay Smith
Chrysal Technical Consulting Manager
2013
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Topics:
What affects shrink?
Prep – “measure twice, cut once”
Temperature
 Sanitation
 Solutions
 Bucket polishing
 Grooming
Creativity is everybody’s business
Smart vocabulary – to be more compelling
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Display Cooler Set Point
38F-- 42F
Take home temperature info for members~
 Store flowers in coolest location in house
 Don’t put them in the kitchen fridge
 NEVER put flowers in the freezer
 Use cold water when mixing food for vase
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What takes
the
biggest bite
from
profits?
 Bacteria &  Botrytis
Sanitation is key to resolving
(controlling) both problems
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Botrytis spores need water to start developing
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Bacteria and Botrytis Defense
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Frequent sanitation
Sharp, clean tools
Keep blooms dry
Handle with Care--bruising & wounding
predisposes flowers to infection
• Resist non-stop grooming
Botrytis infection
Bacteria filled water
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SANITATION
Impossible to over-clean buckets or oversanitize tools:
Bucket cleaning--last step = a final mist of RTU
cleaner bucket
Dip brooms in cleaner solution
No trash filled buckets or funky
water left on back stock carts 7
Germs --- never sleep
Where Bacteria & Botrytis Thrive
 In under-dosed bucket solutions
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Cooler floors & walls
Green trash on carts & old buckets
Tools, dust pans, rags, broom bristles
Dirty aprons
Trash cans
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Chrysal Leaf Shine Concentrate
Easy to shine proconas
a) Shake bottle of concentrate
b) Dilute concentrate 1:10
1 part concentrate to 10 parts water
c) Wipe away dirt & spots from outer
surface of procona buckets (soft cloth)
d) OK to dump used solution into drain
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Demystifying Solutions
• What’s the advantage of using flower
food?
• Why the correct dose matters
• What’s behind the fascination of home
brews
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Flowers
gotta
drink!!
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Flower Food-What’s in that stuff??
• Acidifiers:
Lower the pH of tap water
Dissolve air bubbles in stems
Boost flow
• Clarifiers keep pollution in check
• Nutrients (glucose) energy for opening
and holding in vase
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The delicate vascular systems
of flower stems traps 90%
of the gunk in
the bottom 1 inch of the stem
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Do the right thing
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Get the dose right
Quick transfers into bucket after cut
Top-up w/ fresh solution
Never consolidate used solutions
No ice
DRY, Dry, dry
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Busting urban myths
Aspirin
Bleach
Pennies
Vodka
Vinegar
Sugar
7UP
Boiling water
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Myth busters:
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Flower food clogs stems
Add a little each day
Flower food burns foliage
Vase solution needs to be changed every other day
Home brews work as well as the packets
Mix packets with warm water
Doesn’t matter if you give stems a fresh cut or not
Only / always cut on an angle
Flower food is poisonous
Vodka keeps tulips upright
Add Ice
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Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!
― Mae West
3 per procona, 1 per atlas
When it comes to flower food use,
OVER-dosing is far better
than under-dosing
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BEST PRACTICES for Prep
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Set up buckets with COLD water
Over-dosing is far better than under-dosing
1/3 fill level Botrytis pressure
No Daffs in same bucket with other blooms
Quick transfers! Stems start to heal fast
Don’t combine old solutions with fresh
Top-up arrangements with flower food, not H2O
Needle nose watering can to fill arrangements
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Shifting gears: Flower Handling
Are you a Stripper?
…a peeler
…a bit heavy-handed?
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Educating Ourselves
1. When is it OK to strip foliage?
2. When’s the right time to out a product?
3. How do I make that judgment?
4. How can I identify Botrytis on …?
5. What flowers are in what family?
example: are Alstroes in the lily family?
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Educating Ourselves
1. When is it OK to strip foliage?
When it’s bruised or Botrytis spotted
2. When is the right time to out a product? How do I make
that judgment?
Would I buy it for my mom?
3. How can I identify Botrytis on…?
Shake the bunch. Infected florets fall off calyx. Spots are
beige-ish. Remove a petal, and hold to the light- are
compromised all way through
4. What flowers are in what family?
Lots of common names give confusing cross-over
references.
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BEST PRACTICES–
working the cooler
• Are you guilty of constantly peeing?
• Keep blooms dry to reduce Botrytis
• Pressure. Remove Botrytis—it spreads
Spray hydrangeas with Leaf Shine ready to use
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Step up solution changes for
tinted anything
Quick transfers when restocking
Keep an eye on the thermostat
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Answering Member Cooler Questions
1. How long does it last?
2. Why would I want to buy this one over that one?
3. Why do the roses look open?
4. How do I make it last at home?
5. How often should I cut the stems?
6. What flower is related to what
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Rose INFO Bytes
1. Most varieties have a minimum of 30 petals
The more petals in the bud structure, the more open the
cut needs to be to ensure bloom performs
2. Roses need food to open and hold in the vase
3.
Roses don’t open for 2 reasons:
a) bloom is cut too tight
b) something (likely bacteria) is blocking flow
4.
No home brew works as well as commercial flower food
5.
No solution makes a bad flower good
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BEST PRACTICES for
Member success at home
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Start with clean vase
Use the food--it prolongs life by +50%
Remind to give each stem a fresh cut
Tell what quantity of water to use with food
packet
Information prevents
DISAPOINTED MEMBERS
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Member Success --Gerberas
1. Start with a clean vase. Mix flower
food in 1 qt water, but don’t fill
vase more than ¼ full.
Gerberas last longer in shallow solution.
2. Cut 1” off every stem. Sharp knife
3. Add 1 drop of bleach to the flower
food in the vase at home
4. Toss water and start fresh every 3-4 days. Fresh cut
Gerbs are super-sensitive to pollution
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Member success at home
When roses won’t open …
1. Start over
2. Empty and wash vase with soap
3. Use plastic or glass liner in metal containers
4. Fill with cold flower food
5. Cut 1+ inch off every stem with clean knife
6. Immediately place in fresh food solution
7. Display away from drafts and/or sun
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TELL CUSTOMERS WHY TO BUY
USP’s (Unique selling points)
Blooms that dry well-upside down in airy, dry area
Protea
Gyp
Colored roses
Bear grass
Hydrangeas
Fragrant blooms
Tuberoses
Freesia (some varieties)
Oriental lilies
Peonies, some roses
Daffs
Bells of Ireland
Lilac
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MORE USP’s
Bullet proof: last more than 10days
Lilies (Orientals last longer than Asiatics)
Carns, mini carns
Alstroe
Flowers with History
Chrysanthemums –symbol of royalty in both
Chinese & Japanese dynasties
Roses—Cleopatra strewn bed with petals
Reagan declared it a American emblem along with the bald
eagle and the flag
Green carns--Catholic Irish celebrating St Paddy Day
famously worn by Oscar Wilde
Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes. O Wilde
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USP’s … flowers are interesting!!
Color and Culture
Red--good luck Chinese culture
White -- sympathy Chinese, purity, innocence
Yellow—Lady of Guadalupe
Purple—color of Easter
Blue—Jewish holidays because Israeli is blue/whiet
Sentimental Journey blooms
Roses
Hydrangeas
Dahlias
Peonies
Carnations
Daffs
Pussy willows
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Have fun with color descriptions
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Flower-friendly Vocabulary~
____Yes___________No_________
Fragrance
Strip
Spray carns, chrysanths,
Cut point
Foliage
Florets
Succulent stems
Vascular or plumbing system
Flower food
Botrytis
Black petal margins
Ruffled petal margins
Bi-color
Baby’s Breath
Intriguing, mysterious
odor
rip
poms, minis
too tight, blown
leaves (more elegant)
little flowers
juicy stems
(describing flow in stems)
preservative
rotten, bad, spots
burned tips
wrinkled petals
two tone
gyp
weird, odd
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What’s in a name?
Lilies: Oriental, Asiatic lilies. Does not include
Callas, alstroemeria or lily of the valley
Roses: Hybrid Teas, spray roses, garden roses
Does not include Tuberoses,
Dianthus family--Carns, minis, Baby’s breath, Sw. William
Chrysanths--single blooms, multi, various flower shapes,
colors, sizes. Foliage is key identifier
Statice & Limonium--cousins.
Asters: Meteor & Matsumotos, filler asters--kissing cousins
Protea--huge family--many shaped blooms
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Conclusions: Best Practices
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Working clean reduces shrink
Measure when mixing to get full results
Plan ahead—quick transfers
Don’t combine old solutions with fresh
Keep petals dry
Top-up arrangements with fresh T-bag
solution, not H2O
• Avoid over-peeling
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Thank-you!
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