Studies with long term storage of cut flowers of Hydrangea macrophylla

Abstract

Hydrangea macrophylla subsp. macrophylla var. macrophylla has been widely cultivated as a garden and potted plant. In addition, cut flower cultivars have been developed and have been recently introduced in Chile for export to the United States. Currently, cut flowers are air-shipped in cartons with their stems placed into individual water tubes. There is little information about postharvest management. This study was conducted to explore the feasibility of exporting hydrangea cut flower stems via sea freight at the classic harvesting stage, also called antique stage. Flower stems were obtained from a commercial grower located in Central Chile. Four treatments were established: precooling (stems placed at 0.5 °C before packing), precooling + fungicide pyrimethanil or sodium bisulphite, and a non-precooled group of flowers (immediate packing). Water tubes were placed in the stem ends. The stems were packed in cartons and placed in a 0.5 °C cold room. After 20 days of storage at 0.5 °C, flower vase life was 7-9 days. In contrast, an additional experiment showed that flower stems that were stored for 35 days had a vase life of only 2 days. There was no difference in vase life between precooled and non-precooled stems. The average total water uptake per stem was 43 ml. Botrytis infection was observed only in one out of two treatments without fungicide, where incidence was 12.5%, therefore the effect of fungicides was not evaluated. It was concluded that sea shipping to the United States of hydrangea cut flowers harvested at the antique stage, would be technically feasible.

ROLE OF FLOWER PRESERVATIVE SOLUTIONS DURING POSTHARVEST OF Hydrangea macrophylla CV. BELA

“…The effect of ethylene on the vase life of hydrangea flower stems has been previously reported only in the fresh stage and has been described to produce bract abscission (Schiappacasse et al, 2014). Considering that this symptom was not observed in this study, the effect of ethylene during postharvest of hydrangea flower stems was negligible.…”

“…Studies focused on hydrangea postharvest have shown that this species lasts for 7 to 9 days after storage for 20 days at 0.5 °C (Schiappacasse et al, 2014). Moreover, vase solution with an electrical conductivity (EC) between 2.0 and 2.5 dS m -1 and a pH of 3.2 has been described as optimal to extend the vase life of hydrangea (Ahmad et al, 2013).…”

“…The decorative value of hydrangeas comes from these colored bracts, which probably arose as a mutation or arrest of certain genes involved in floral organ morphogenesis. As cut flowers, hydrangeas are harvested at three different stages according to the development of the color of the bracts: fresh, transition and antique (Schiappacasse et al, 2014). Hydrangea cut flowers show a postharvest life of up to 1 month at 2 °C, but this period is shorter if hydrangeas are stored or transported at higher and variable temperatures (Dole and Wilkins, 1999).…”

Large Scales of Hydrangea macrophylla Using Tissue Culture Technique

“…has been widely cultivated as a garden and potted plant. In addition, cut flower cultivars have been developed Common cultivated species is grown widely in gardens (Schiappacasse et al, 2014). In commercial practice, hydrangea is propagated either by seeds or stem cuttings.…”

Change in Quality of Cut Hydrangea Flowers as Affected by Storage Period and Temperature

“…그러나 절화의 저장온도가 적정 온도보다 낮을 경우에는 줄기의 조직이 파괴 되고, 꽃이 괴사되는 현상이 나타나 절화의 품질을 저하시킨다 (Kim, 2004). Flavia et al(2014)의 연구에 따르면, 절화 수국은 저장 시 수분 공급이 되어야 하며, 수분 공급 시 반드시 전처리제가 포함되어야 한다. 현재 수국과 관련하여 전처리제를 이용하 여 절화수명을 연장하는 연구는 다소 진행되고 있으나 (Leeson et al, 2007;Ku and Cho, 2014), 저장 기간 및 온도와 관련한 연 구는 미흡한 실정이다.…”