Technical information Porto

The Porto principle

 

The Porto system comprises a plastic container (1) with a lid (2), which has a hole (3) surrounded by gripping fingers (4) that hold the flower stems in place, and an anti-spill rim (5). The Porto is filled with a medium (6) that absorbs and retains water so it can be sucked up by the stems in contact with the medium.

Packing in a Porto

The Porto is completely ready to use. All you have to do is pour the correct amount of water into the empty Porto (we advise adding cut-flower food), trim the stems so they are of an equal length and push the stem bundle through the hole in the Porto lid and well into the medium making sure the stems are in good contact with the medium.

Which Porto is the right Porto?

There are four different models in the Porto range. Which Porto is ideal for a specific bunch or bouquet depends on a combination of several factors:

• Stem diameter: Every type of flower has a different stem diameter
• Stem roughness: Do the stems have bulges (carnations) or thorns (roses)?
• Stem leafiness: Leafy stems are thicker
• Stem rigidity: Weak stems are more sensitive to the gripping fingers in the hole
   in the lid.

In general, the number of stems that will fit in a Porto depends on the diameter of the stem bundle at the point it is inserted. If the stem bundle diameter equals 70% (plus or minus 20%) of the diameter of the hole in the lid the gripping fingers will work optimally and the flowers will be optimally supplied with water.

Porto	Size (in inch)	For stem bundle diameter (in inch)
Porto 10	3.1 x 3.1 x 3.3	1.2 - 1.6
Porto 20	3.9 x 3.9 x 3.3	1.6 - 2.3
Porto 20XL	5.7 x 5.7 x 3.3	1.6 - 2.3 (large bouquets of thinner stemmed flowers)
Porto 50	5.7 x 5.7 x 3.3	2.5 - 3.5

The Porto 10, Porto 20, Porto 20XL and Porto 50 offer a range of insertion hole/water capacity combinations to suit virtually all Internet florists’ requirements.

The Porto 10 is also the ideal solution for exporters and wholesalers of heavy-headed flowers like hydrangeas as its round shape makes rolling individual flower heads in paper easier.

Porto 10 is available in round.

Porto 20 is available in both round and square versions.

Porto 50 and Porto 20XL are only available in a square version.

All the models in the Porto range are supplied as standard in white. Other colours are available on request (minimum quantities are applicable).

Water capacity

The combination of hole size and container/medium capacity of each Porto in the range has been carefully selected to ensure each size of Porto can contain the quantity of water needed to keep the inserted flowers supplied with water for two days at 86 F. This has been tested using large-flowered Grand Prix roses with 70 cm stems. Grand Prix roses were chosen for the tests because they are known for their thirst: Under the test conditions Grand Prix roses drink around 0.14 fl oz of water per stem per day.

Porto	Number of stems	Water required per day based on sleeved Grand Prix roses at 30° C	Porto water capacity
Porto 10	10	10 x 0.14 fl oz = 1.4 fl oz	2.8 fl oz
Porto 20	20	20 x 0.14 fl oz = 2.8 fl oz	5.6 fl oz
Porto 20XL	20 (50 thin)	20 x 0.14 fl oz = 2.8 fl oz	14 fl oz
Porto 50	50	50 x 0.14 fl oz = 7 fl oz	14 fl oz

The daily water requirement per stem depends on the type of flower. In general flowers with thinner stems need less water per stem. But the fact that the stems are thinner means a greater number of stems per Porto. The assumption is that whether a smaller number of thick-stemmed flowers or a larger number of thin-stemmed flowers are inserted in a Porto, the quantity of water required during two days at 86 F is roughly the same.

In practice it is very rare for flowers to spend two full days being transported in a Porto at 86 F. In most cases the temperature at which flowers are transported is lower, and the lower the temperature the less the flowers will drink and the longer the water in the Porto will last. It should be mentioned that the tests were carried out using flowers wrapped in sleeves and in a closed box, which limited evaporation. If the Portos are filled with flowers not packed in sleeves and are transported in open packaging, the water will

The medium

The medium’s special characteristics ensure the water is retained so it can be absorbed by the clusters of vascular cells in the cut ends of the stems.

Porto insert folding manual