VASE LIFE OF NEW CUT FLOWERS

Stems of 42 cultivars from 14 genera were pretreated with either a commercial hydrating solution or deionized (DI) water and placed in either a commercial holding solution or DI water for 44 hours. Treatment with a holding preservative produced the longest vase life for 21 cultivars in the genera Amaranthus, Antirrhinum, Capsicum, Carthamus, Celosia, Eustoma, Helianthus, Tagetes, and Zinnia, indicating that holding preservatives should be used with most taxa. Compared to the water-only control commercial hydrator had a less positive effect as it reduced the vase life of seven cultivars in five genera: Capsicum, Carthamus, Eucomis, Solanum, and Zinnia. All treatments produced a statistically similar vase life for 15 cultivars in the genera Capsicum, Carthamus, Celosia, Dianthus, Eucomis, Gomphrena, Helianthus, Matthiola, and Zinnia. Cultivar variation was noted in six genera, including Capsicum, Carthamus, Celosia, Eucomis, Helianthus, and Zinnia. Of the 42 taxa tested, six had a vase life longer than 21 days for at least one of the treatments, 12 had a vase life of 14 to 21 days and 13 had a vase life of 10 to 14 days, indicating that most of the taxa tested would be suitable for commercial production. The work presented here is part of 13 year study to determine overall effectiveness of commercial hydration and holding solutions.