GREEN BALL®
GREEN BALL®
GREEN BALL®
Green Ball ®
- Non-flowering Dianthus that features green showy spikes of light green ball shaped flower
- The flower that the market has been asking for: different, focal and green
- Dark, glossy, long leaves on strong stems make it suitable for solid bunches
- Perfectly-round, green heads about 6 cm in diameter provide bouquets with a never-before-seen texture and look
*® Denotes a registered trademark of Green Ball in Ecuador and Colombia, unless otherwise noted.
Culture Tips
CROP TIME
From planting to harvest: 18 weeks
STEM HEIGHT
50-60 cm
PLANTING DENSITY
42 plants/m2 net (3-4 plants/ft2 net).
PRE-PLANTING
Substrate: Plant in beds using burned rice husk as substrate.
PH: 5.6 to 6.5
Netting: 2 levels
PINCH
Pinch 4 weeks after planting leaving 3 pairs of leaves. If plants don’t have enough length, do the pinch one week later.
SHOOT SELECTION
Depending on the plant development, shoot selection is done in weeks 6-8. Choose the 3 best stems. Selection criteria is be based on the vigor and thickness of the stem. Discard any reproductive stems. A second selection is done two weeks later.
LATERAL DISBUDDING
As stems grow, remove lateral buds from the internodes in a weekly manner.
IRRIGATION
During the first three weeks, maintain the subtrate’s humidity homogeneous using overhead irrigation according to atmospheric and organoleptic conditions.
Then change to drip irrigation at the time of planting, or 7 days later, applying a volume of of 6-7 l/m2/day depending on atmospheric conditions.
FERTILIZATION
A general fertilization formula can be the following:
N: 120 ppm; P: 40 ppm; K: 160 ppm; Ca: 120 ppm; Mg: 60 ppm; S: 50 ppm; Fe: 2 ppm: Mn: 2.5 ppm: Cu, Zn and B: 0.2 ppm.
Additional fertilization are done in weeks 8-9 with the following formula:
K: 200 – 220 ppm
Ca: 220 ppm.
EC: 1.0 to 1.4
HARVEST
Harvest when flower heads are well formed and when their diameter is 8 cms. The stems can be harvest 16 weeks after planting with smaller flower heads. Ideally, stems are harvest 20 weeks after planting or once the desired head size is reached.
POST-HARVEST TREATMENT
Use AVB (0.5 cm3 /Lt of Water). The pH after applying the AVB should be between 7 and 8. Mix very well and add AVB Booster (1 cm3/Lt of Water). Once mixed, the pH should be between 3.5 and 5.5. Keep the flower in this solution for 4 hrs. Then hydrate for 4 hours in CHRYSAL PROFESSIONAL 2 (10 cm3/Lt of Water). Once mixed, the pH should be between 3.5 and 5.5.
PESTS & DISEASES
•Leaf Miner (especially when the plant is young)
•Thrips sp
•Fusarium sp.
•Aphids