APICAL APPLICATION OF AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS TO CARNATIONS VIA FLOWER TUBES

Special flower tubes are available for the flower industry to provide a source of water during transport of cut flowers. In this study such flower tubes were fixed upside down to decapitated rooted standard carnation cuttings. By this method the amount of applied aqueous solution that moves into the plant is substantial and can be recorded. Water dyed with acid fuchsin showed that the solution moved via xylem vessels downwards to roots and leaves within one hour. In a week cuttings absorbed about 2 ml of water, with a maximum uptake of 1.4 ml during the first day. Application of 0.1 mg PBA (3.8 ml, 25 ppm) via flower tubes resulted in an increased number of side shoots of good quality (from 3.4 to 6.7 shoots per cutting). The presented technique may solve the problem of poor formation of shoots of stock plants of standard carnations with little axillary shoot growth ('budless' carnations). Preliminary experiments showed uptake of 1.3 ml of sucrose 10% per cutting of 1.6 g fresh weight. Application of other chemicals e.g. systemic pesticides or mutagens can be considered.