PERFORMANCE OF CUT ‘SONIA’ ROSES AS AFFECTED BY STEM COOLING

Fresh weight and waterbalance were favourably affected by placing the stem bases of cut roses in tap water of 0 °C, with leaves and bloom exposed to normal environmental conditions.

Limiting the cold treatment, by means of an adjustable cooling block, to the lowermost 2 ½ cm of stem, including the very cut surface, turned out to be definitely better than cooling a 5 cm portion a little higher up the stem, leaving the cut surface exposed to the ambient temperature.

In 0 °C-treated stems the resistance to water flow increased less rapidly than it did at 20 °C, especially in the lowest stem part.

These findings are discussed in relation to the ‘vascular occlusion’ concept.
No unequivocal conclusion is reached; yet, this much is evident that some process occurring at the cut surface of the stem plays an essential role.

Postharvest Physiology and Storage, XXI IHC

H.C.M. de Stigter, A.G.M. Broekhuysen

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1983.138.33