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PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION OF SOME FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE VASE LIFE OF CUT BULB FLOWERS
Vase life of iris, measured at 4 keeping temperatures, was not extended, beyond that seen with deionized water, when a keeping solution containing an antimicrobial agent and sucrose was used.
With tulips and daffodils, vase life in a keeping solution containing 25 ppm AgNO3 and 1.5% (w/v) sucrose, was longer than vase life in deionized water.
Physan 20 damaged daffodils when present at 200 ppm in the keeping solution.
With all cultivars, vase life decreased as keeping temperature increased.
Similarly, vase lives decreased as storage temperatures increased.
Longer periods of storage were possible at 1.1°C than at 4.5°C (or 10.0°C). With iris and daffodils, storage in a solution containing 25 ppm AgNO3 and 6% (w/v) sucrose yielded flowers that had longer vase lives than flowers stored in water or in the dry state.
Storage in a solution containing 200 ppm Physan 20 damaged daffodil flowers.
Storage in a nitrogen atmosphere yielded flowers with longer vase lives than flowers held in open storage with iris and daffodils, but not with tulips.
When humidified and ethylene scrubbed compressed air was used to establish the storage atmosphere, the vase lives of flowers were reduced below those seen with open storage.
Harvest of cut flowers of all cultivars at a tight bud stage resulted in longer vase lives than those seen with harvest at a loose bud stage.
Placing freshly harvested stems into a solution containing an antimicrobial compound increased vase life over that seen with dry harvest with daffodil and iris, but not with tulip.
A forcing temperature of 20°C yielded flowers with vase lives no different than those of flowers forced at 15°C.