Abstract

AVILA, A. de. L.  and  PEREYRA, S. M.. Early harvest, forced flower opening and vase life of four varieties of carnation (Dianthus cariophyllus L. ) in winter and summer. Agriscientia [online]. 2007, vol.24, n.2, pp.71-77. ISSN 1668-298X.

Early harvest and forced flower opening with sucrose addition in the preservative solution effects were evaluated during winter and summer, in Moresco, Mabel, Nov and Golden Odino carnation varieties. The flowers were harvested at five dif ferent stages of development: from tight flower buds to open flowers (state 0 to 4). Immediately, these were hydrated during 24 h using a silver thiosulfate solution (0,1 M) at 2 ^oC. Then, the flowers were treated with a preservative solution containing citric acid (500 mg l^-1) and hydroxyquinoline citrate (60 mg l^-1), with and without sucrose (100 g l^-1). Petal color, vase life and flower size were evaluated when the full open flower stage was obtained. The flower size was similar during winter and summer in Moresco, Nov and Golden Odino, but the vase life was significantly reduced in the summer. The sucrose addition allowed improving the flower size and the petal color in all the stages of development evaluated. The best flower quality was obtained by combining sucrose addition with the flowers harvested in the stages 2 and 3 in the winter and 0 and 1 in the summer.

Keywords : Carnation; Harvest time; Sucrose; Vase life; Flower size; Flower color.

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