Is Rose farming profitable? Yes. Roses farming holds a lot of potential. This is due to its huge market across the world.

Therefore, it isn’t surprising that a growing number of people have shown interest. This interest centers more on how to start rose farming.

We are equally interested in showing you all you need to know.

Hence, we have adopted a practical approach to the subject matter. This should help out with everything you need to know.

How to Start Rose Cultivation as a Business

There are several rose varieties to choose from. Successful crop farming requires a knowledge of these.

Also, you need to know what’s most commercially viable in your region. Nevertheless, rose export is huge! So, it doesn’t matter where these are grown as long as it reaches its market.

The most popular rose varieties include species roses, Portland roses, tea roses, noisette roses, hybrid perpetual roses, and hybrid rugose roses.

Others include gallica roses, hybrid musk roses, China roses and damask roses.
There are also bourbon roses, centifolia roses, old garden roses, alba roses, rambling roses and shrub roses.

Other varieties are the polyantha roses, miniature roses, groundcover roses, hybrid tea roses, grandiflora roses, English roses, and floribunda roses amongst others.

There’s a long list of roses. Each of these come in different color, shapes and sizes. But it’s a no brainer that you wouldn’t be planting all of these varieties.

Before starting your rose farm, you should have your preferred varieties.

Being Competitive

Starting a rose farm relies heavily on the quality of your products. The international rose market thrives on quality.

So, if you must be competitive, nothing less is good enough. But producing quality roses requires that certain conditions be met. These include the soil quality, climatic conditions, as well as harvesting techniques.

All of these factors contribute to product quality. This in turn enhances competitiveness.

Soil Type

Knowledge on the most suitable type of soil is central to success. Therefore, every farmer must know what is needed.

Multiple variables contribute to making the right soil type. These include the soil pH level, level of drainage, and soil texture among others. Having stated these the most suitable soil for growing roses should be well drained.

Other factors include soils with pH levels ranging from 6 to 6.5. Well aerated soils rich in organic matter are also ideal.

What more, soils become compacted with time. Therefore, after planting your roses, such soils will need to be loosened after some time. This allows for better growth and development of the plants.

Quality Equals Profits

Anyone going into rose farming should know that quality translates to profitability. This is because anything less than this won’t attract patronage. We have discussed how to enhance your competitiveness. This should be your goal from day one.

How Roses Are Cultivated

There are multiple ways to cultivate roses. These include budding, seeds, cuttings and layers. The soil must be readied before cultivation.

If you wonder how, this involves loosening the top soil to at least one feet depth. You may also choose to create beds for these to grow on.

The most important thing is that the soil must be well aerated, tilled or loosened as well as having an adequate supply of organic matter.

  • Supplementing Organic Matter

Sometimes, the right conditions aren’t available. Therefore, you’d need to innovate under such circumstances. One way to do this is through the addition of organic manure.

Introduction of earth worms enhance the organic content. This also helps achieve soil aeration.

  • Trimming your Roses

Rose plants need to be tended. This is done by way of trimming.

However, this shouldn’t be frequent. It should only be done when necessary. Trimming helps achieve uniformity in growth.

  • Irrigation

Irrigation is a great way to cultivate roses. This is because you are able to control the water supply. At the early stages, your rose plants will need to be irrigated daily. However, water requirements will drop with time as the plants mature.

During such periods, daily irrigation wouldn’t be necessary. You’d only need to apply water on a weekly basis.

The more adequate the water supply, the better yield results. This should be carefully carried out by applying not too little or too much water but just the right quantity.

Rose Harvesting

Harvesting is the last stage of the rose farming process. But this is a process that requires care. So, how does one know if roses are due for harvest?

It’s easy! Roses are ready for harvest when their buds are tight enough. Another way to identify is by observing the color. Mature rose roses will have a full color.

There are also harvesting times. Rose harvesting is best done in the mornings. When cutting the flowers, only sharp tools are used. This needed to ensure a clean cut as well as a remnant of mature leaves.

Doing this will encourage the production of stronger shoots. This goes on to produce more roses.

Your Market

This is one of the first things to consider before starting a rose farm. Thankfully, there’s a great international as well as local market for this product.

But first, you’d need to identify your channels of marketing. More so when you’re just starting out. This can be achieved by starting a string of inquiries.

The internet is another great tool to use in finding a marketing channel.

Marketing Strategy

After finding out all you need to know, the next stage is having a marketing strategy. The rose market is competitive.

And this is driven by quality.

So, having identified this, you can ensure your products are of the highest quality. This can be achieved through the provision of the right conditions as mentioned earlier.

You may want to strategize, having established what the market wants. There are several marketing strategies to adopt. Despite this reality, your strategy will depend on what works best for you.

Starting a rose farm is a whole process that relies on multiple factors as we’ve seen and discussed. But this is only possible when there’s a land.

Rose farming on a commercial scale will require a spacious land. This will take up a significant part of your capital if you don’t have any.