CAN PHENOTYPING FOR WATER BALANCE IMPROVE BREEDING FOR VASE LIFE?

Water deficit is a main cause for early wilting of cut flowers during vase life.
To prevent water deficit, water uptake from the vase should compensate transpiration.
Our goal is to identify parameters characterizing water balance that explain genotypic differences in vase life.
This allows more precise phenotyping of vase life related traits.
In two independent experiments 19 chrysanthemum genotypes were characterized for three water balance parameters during their vase life: the maximum weight gain (MWG; maximum weight increase after placement in water) and weight loss rate (WLR; % of weight loss per time unit after MWG is reached), which together explain time to negative water balance (t_WB<0). As expected, MWG/WLR approximated t_WB<0. Genotypic variation in time to petal wilting was explained by t_WB<0. However, there was little correlation of genotypes in water balance parameters between experiments.
In conclusion, fresh weight change explains vase life differences between genotypes, but there are major genotype by environment interactions.

XXV International EUCARPIA Symposium Section Ornamentals: Crossing Borders

G. van Geest, U. van Meeteren, P. Arens

postharvest quality, Chrysanthemum × morifolium, petal wilting, water deficit, environment

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2015.1087.17