The key difference between floriculture and horticulture is that floriculture refers to the farming and cultivation of flowers, whereas horticulture refers to the cultivation of different plants such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants.
Floriculture and horticulture are two fields that involve the cultivation of plants. The basic difference between floriculture and horticulture is the type of plants they cultivate. Floriculture involves flowers, while horticulture involves flowers, fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plants.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Floriculture
3. What is Horticulture
4. Floriculture vs Horticulture in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Floriculture vs Horticulture
What is Floriculture?
Floriculture is the cultivation and trade of flowers. This process consists of flower production, processing, marketing, and distribution. There are different types of plants in floriculture, such as bedding plants, flowering plants, pot plants, cut cultivated greens, and cut flowers. These plants are usually grown in greenhouses or just mass gardens that grow a large number of plants for mass production. In gardens, flowering plants are often grown in trays, pots, and hanging baskets. In floriculture, flowering plants are also sold on a larger scale for gardening and landscaping.
In most cases, these plants are grown in a controlled environment in order to get a high yield. Pelargonium and petunia are recognized as the best-selling bedding plants in the floriculture field. Chrysanthemum has become one of the major garden plants in the United States. The types of flowers grown for floriculture are affected directly by the climate and the market demand. Orchids and roses are also popular flowers around the world. Some variations of these flowers are developed for specific climate conditions.
What is Horticulture?
Horticulture refers to the process of cultivating plants to produce food or for medicinal or ornamental purposes. Cultivating flowers, fruits, nuts, vegetables, and herbs come under the field of horticulture. Horticulture contributes to the development of quality of life, sustainability of the environment as well as the human condition.
Horticulture is divided into various subcategories:
- Pomology, which deals with fruits and nut crops,
- Olericulture, which deals with herbal plants for the kitchen,
- Floriculture, which deals with the cultivation of flowers,
- Viticulture, which deals with the production of grapes
There are a number of organizations around the world established to promote and encourage horticultural sciences. Horticulture focuses on the use of small pots and has a wide variety of different types of crops. Horticulture is different from agriculture as the latter focuses on one large primary crop at once without focusing on a mixed variety of crops like in horticulture. But horticulture is a field that lies somewhere between domestic gardening and field agriculture.
What is the Difference Between Floriculture and Horticulture?
The key difference between floriculture and horticulture is that floriculture is the farming and cultivation of flowers, whereas horticulture is the cultivation of different crops such as vegetables, fruits, medicinal plants, and ornamental plants. Horticulture has several subcategories like olericulture and pomology, and floriculture is one such subcategory that comes under horticulture. Moreover, floriculture only focuses on decorative and aesthetic purposes, whereas horticulture also involves plants that produce foods, medicines, as well as ornamental plants.
The following table summarizes the difference between floriculture and horticulture.
Summary – Floriculture vs Horticulture
The key difference between floriculture and horticulture is that floriculture refers to the farming and cultivation of flowers, whereas horticulture refers to the cultivation of different plants such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants. Horticulture has several subcategories, and floriculture is one such subcategory.
Reference:
1. “Floriculture.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation.
2. “Horticulture.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Photo of plant, field, farm, flower, purple, petal, tulip, red, flowers, tulips, flowering plant, lily family, fish eye, land plant” (CC0) via Pxhere
2. “Apples-orchard-apple-trees” (CC0) via Pixabay