FFA Floriculture CDE (2025-2026)

Floriculture CDE; possible questions. (2025)

Honeydew on the leaves and ants crawling around a plant indicate:

Aphids

Fertilization in a flower takes place when:

A sperm and egg unite

Vase life is the length of time that:

Cut flowers usually remain acceptable

If a hue is diluted with gray, the resulting color is called:

Tone

The order of the elements in a 5-10-5 fertilizer analysis is:

NPK

If a flower arrangement appears to be ready to fall over, it lacks:

Balance

A person is exposed to the highest concentration of a pesticide during:

Mixing

It is important not to keep fruit baskets in the same cooler with fresh flowers because:

Ethylene gas from the fruit will cause the flowers to age quickly

The stomata of a plant leaf:

Regulate water vapor loss from the plant

A method of applying pesticides to plants that can be effectively used in greenhouse but not outdoors is:

Fumigation

A flowering pot marketed throughout the year is:

Chrysanthemum

To check if a plant needs water, touch the soil with your finger: if the plant needs water the soil will feel:

Dry and warm

The treatment given Easter lilies to speed flowering is called:

Precooling

An explant is:

Plant produced from a tissue (meristem)

The word photoperiod has to do with light:

Duration

Growing medium kept too wet will deprive plants of:

Oxygen

A pathogen is:

Microorganism that causes a disease

The following florist crops are propagated by cuttings:

Carnation, chrysanthemum, poinsettia, azalea

Green plants manufacture sugar in the presence of sunlight. This process is called:

Photosynthesis

The highest percentage of florist industry sales are made by:

Telephone

Hydrangeas are forced for the following holidays:

Easter, Mother's Day, Memorial Day

The Alstromeria is most closely related to the following plant:

Easter lily

Costs associated with making an arrangement, decorating a blooming plant, or creating wedding flowers are called _______.

Direct costs

______play a powerful role in advertising floral shops and in most locations leads all other media in sales return for dollar

spent.

Window displays

Systemic pesticides control the pest by:

Dissolving into and being moved by the plant sap

The primary colors are:

Red, yellow, and blue

When ordering flowers from a wholesale florist, one should consider the following:

All of the above

The most commonly used material for holding flowers is:

Floral foam

Foliage below the water line should be removed to:

Prevent the leaves from decaying, which foul the water

Flowers such as roses and carnations should be stored at:

36-40 degrees F

An example of a mass flower is:

Rose

The size of the bow for a corsage should be:

Slightly wider than the petals of the corsage

Pre-formed pot covers used on potted plants are called

Speed covers

Florist azaleas are:

Small evergreen shrubs

Which of the following is provided for a plant by its leaves?

A food factory

The most important cut flower crops in the US are:

Mum, rose, carnation

The area within a composition occupied by material is called ______

Positive space

The flowers of Easter lilies last longer if:

The stamens are removed

The larger the gauge of florist wire indicates that the thickness is:

Thinner

Deluxe floral foam is used to:

Hold heavy stemmed flowers

The number of flowers usually in a cymbidium orchid corsage is:

One

The most important environmental factor in orchid culture is:

Watering and water quality

The acceleration of flowering by manipulation of environmental conditions is known as:

Forcing

Mass marketing is the sale of floral products:

All of the above

Optimum temperatures for poinsettia growth are:

60-80 degrees

Costs associated with making an arrangement, decorating a blooming plant or creating wedding flowers are called:

Direct costs

The function (s) of floral preservatives is(are) to:

All of the above

A grouping of closely spaced flowers, net and accessories in a hand-held floral arrangement is called:

Nosegay

Field production of gladiolus is accomplished by using:

Corms

This fungus attacks a wide variety of ornamental plants, probably causing more losses than any other single pathogen.

Botrytis cinerea

Distorted flowers characterized by shorter petals, which give the rose a flattened appearance are called:

Bullheads

Which of the following is a true statement?

The lower the number, the thicker the wire and narrower the ribbon

Specialty cut flowers may be defined as:

Cut flowers other than roses, carnations and chrysanthemums

The size relationship of a floral arrangement with its surroundings is:

Scale

The showy red, pink or white portions of the poinsettia are called:

Bracts

A speckled leaf appearance with fine silky strands between leaves and on lower leaf surfaces suggests the presence of:

Spider mite

All of the following are bulbous and tuberous-rooted plants except:

Snapdragons

The majority of florist businesses are conducted in one location and annual gross sales are generally under:

$250,000

The unit of heat measurement used in the greenhouse industry is the:

BTU

There are three basic types of pots that are commonly used in the greenhouse industry. Which of the following is not one of

the basic types?

Designer pot

Flowers, which are worn by men and pinned on a lapel, are called:

Boutonnieres

This growth regulator increases the flower size of geranium and accelerates flowering in cyclamen:

Gibberellic acid

A more expensive decorative container into which a potted plant can be set is a:

Jardinière

Analogous color harmony utilizes:

Two or three adjacent colors on the color wheel

When completing flowers for a wedding you may work with all but one of the following arrangements except:

Full couch spray arrangement

Certain plants are quite suitable for use in terrariums. Which, if any, of the following are suitable for this use?

All of the above

These summer-blooming perennials produce dense, bristly balls of blue color:

Globe thistle

When growing orchids, a hygrometer is used to measure:

Humidity

The hook method of wiring for floral arrangements is used for ______.

Flat headed flowers

Upper leaves which show interveinal chlorosis probably suffer from:

An iron deficiency

Marigold seed which fails to emerge, or seedlings which die soon after emerging: from wet soil are the result of:

Damping off

The flowers and leaves of a rose are mottled and streaked with silver, and dusty black droppings have collected. This damage

is indicative of:

Thrips

African violets are typically propagated by:

Leaf cuttings

______________ is the act of cutting flower stems properly and providing them with the proper treatment at any stage of the

distribution process.

Processing

The pricing method based on 40% of retail selling price is:

Wholesale pricing

Cut branches of evergreen 20-30 inches long are called:

Boughs

The term "texture", as it applies to plants, includes such adjectives as:

Fine, medium and coarse

A design that uses a complementary color scheme is one that:

Uses colors that are opposite to one another on the color wheel

Cool colors include color combinations like:

Blue-green, blue, blue-violet and violet

The type of plant that lives for more than two years is:

Perennials

The reason for putting irregularly shaped stones or broken pieces of pottery into the bottom of a pot containing flowering plants

is:

It helps the soil to drain after being watered

What is the purpose of "pinching‟ plants?

Pinching helps the plant to become bushier

This element is essential for strong stems, strong roots, and deep flower color. A deficiency in plants shows up as weak stems,

and a yellowing and browning of leaves at their tips and edges.

Potassium

The best time to water flowering plants is:

In the morning

How many essential nutrients are essential to plant growth and reproduction?

Sixteen

When is the best time to divide a mature chrysanthemum?

When it is about three inches tall in the spring

The pH on soil test results stands for:

Potential hydrogen

When cutting roses to use indoors or to remove spent blossoms:

Cut directly below the first strong, five-leaflet leaf

A cutting garden is a plot of land set aside for the purpose of growing flowers for what use?

Indoor bouquets only

A correct way to remove mealy bugs from plants is:

Dab each bug with a cotton swab dipping in rubbing alcohol

Fertilizer that you add to your flowering plants contains the following elements in the correct order:

Nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium

Japanese style of floral arrangement is known as:

Ikebana

What type of water supply do cut flowers need to transport food and to keep the stems stiff?

Constant water supply

Heavy-headed flowers, such as large mums, often bend by the flower head, nearly breaking off. What should be done to

temporarily improve this situation?

Insert tooth picks pointed through the bloom into the stem

A _____ has a flower bud within it surrounded by layers of food supply.

True bulb

Plants need which part of the visible spectrum for good foliage development?

Blue

Abnormally streaked or striped flower petals are a symptom of „flower breaking‟. This problem is common tulips, lilies and

gladiolus and is caused by:

Viruses

What is the most important thing to do for bulbs to produce flowers during succeeding years?

Grow a good crop of foliage

Which type of rose has multiple large flowers on a single stem?

Floribundas

What is a good sign that potted plants need to be repotted?

New leaves are quite a bit smaller than older ones