Bud necrosis, a storage disease of tulips IV. The influence of ethylene concentration and storage temperature on bud development

Abstract

Ethylene in concentrations as low as 0.05 ppm inhibited the elongation growth of the main generative bud within tulip bulbs during storage after lifting. The sooner the ethylene was administered after lifting and the higher the storage temperature, the higher the concentration of ethylene needed to obtain the same degree of inhibition. Fifty percent inhibition was found at concentrations between 0.05 and 10 ppm.Stamens within the buds were inhibited to a degree which was generally lower compared with the leaves; the largest differences were found at 13~ whereas at 23~ the degree of inhibition was nearly equal.Open buds (which result from unequal growth of stamens and young leaves and are the prerequisite of bud necrosis) were induced by exposure to ethylene in concentrations as low as 0.1 ppm. This phenomenon occurred in bulbs exposed to ethylene for 6 weeks at 17 ~ shortly after lifting; at other temperatures and later exposure times, higher concentrations were needed to obtain the effect.During storage after exposure to ethylene, growth resumed and the degree of bud deformation mostly decreased; in bulbs that had been treated later, an increase was found when the ethylene concentration had been higher than 1 ppm.After planting, shoots emerging from ethylene-treated bulbs were shorter, basal internodes of the stem were shorter if the concentration was 1 ppm or higher, and the width of leaves was reduced after early exposure.

Low Pressure Storage of Tulip, Hyacinth, and Daffodil Bulbs Prior to Planting1

“…The physiological disorder, blossom-end rot (BER), has been associated with low fruit Ca concn (3,15,16,17), low Ca (5,8), high K (9), or Mg (8) stylar to calyx concn ratios, and low transpiration rate (17). Spurr (14) made an extensive study of the anatomical aspects of Ca-related BER.…”

“…Spurr (14) made an extensive study of the anatomical aspects of Ca-related BER. Blossomend rot has also been enhanced by increasing plant water stress whether induced by substrate water deficits (13,16), by substrate osmotic potential (4,12,13), or by manipulation of transpiration (5,17). High levels of N fertilization (2,12) and NH4-N (2, 18) have been reported to increase BER inci dence.…”

Neoseiulus paspalivorus, a predator from coconut, as a candidate for controlling dry bulb mites infesting stored tulip bulbs

“…In fact, in practice ethylene is continuously diluted and led away from the storage rooms by ventilation, because of its adverse effects on flower development (de Munk 1973, Kamerbeek and de Munk 1976, Gude and Dijkema 2005 and increased risks of bud necrosis (Lommen et al 2012b). Hence, there is a need to find predators that do not only feed on the dry bulb mite, but are also small enough to enter the inside of the bulb under storage conditions in practice.…”

Variation in Fusarium-Induced Ethylene Production Among Tulip Cultivars

“…Whether arising from Fusarium infection, or from external biological or mechanical sources, ethylene has many well-known effects on tulip bulbs, including 230 flower abortion (which may be induced nearly any time between G-stage and anthesis the following spring), reduced shoot growth, reduced or slower rooting, production of "twisted" appearance and root hairs, enhanced bulblet production in the field ("splitting"), polysaccharide eruption from the bulb's cells (gummosis), and increased respiration (De Munk and de Rooy, 1971;de Munk, 1971de Munk, , 1972de Munk, , 1973aKamerbeek et al, 1971;Kamerbeek and de Munk, 1976;De Hertogh and Le Nard, 1993;de Wild et al, 2002).…”