Major Diseases of Cut Flowers

Abstract

Flower cultivation at the commercial level has attained immense significance in the area of crop diversification and contributes a lot to the cultivator's economy. With the worldwide boom in the floriculture trade, the production of highquality and disease-free flowers has become an important challenge in commercial floriculture. Various biotic and abiotic factors affect flower production in open fields and controlled environments. Among the cut flowers, anthurium, carnation, china aster, chrysanthemum, gerbera, marigold, orchid, rose, etc. are covered in this chapter with regard to their plant diseases. Anthracnose, black spot, botrytis blight, crown rot, leaf spot, powdery mildew, mosaic, root-rot, rust, twig blight, stem necrosis, stump rot, white rust, wilt etc. are important diseases of the above cut flowers that shall be discussed in detail and suitable management strategies shall also be presented in the chapter.

Keywords: Anthurium , Carnation, Chrysanthemum, Disease aetiology, Gerbera, Management, Orchid, Rose, Symptoms.