The Use of Carbon Dioxid for Prolonging the Life of Cut Flowers, with Special Reference to Roses

Abstract

For many years investigators have reported various treatments which were effective in increasing the life or preserving the color and appearance of cut flowers. These treatments have usually consisted in the addition of one or more chemicals to the water in which the flower stems were placed. Farrington (2), Fourton and Ducomet (3), Grinstead (4), and Laurie (7) reported chemical treatments that were favorable in prolonging the life of cut flowers. Knudson (6), however, in studying the effect of chemicals on flowers of relatively short duration of life, was unable to substantiate the results of the French workers. Hitchcock and Zimmerman (5) found no marked beneficial results from the use of fifty different chemical treatments many of which have been favorably reported on by other investigators. These authors as well as Perret (8) have shown, however, that low temperature and relatively high humidity are effective in prolonging the life of cut flowers.So far as the writer was able to determine from the available literature no attempt has been made to prolong the life of cut flowers by altering the composition of the atmosphere about them. Investigating carbon dioxid storage of fruits, West (9) found that the life of apples was increased by one-third to one-half when held in 12-15 percent carbon dioxid. Brooks, Cooley, and Fisher (I) found that 100 percent carbon dioxid for six days produced a very decided inhibition of the activities of the apple so that in storage it developed color more slowly than the untreated apple.In some recent experiments the writer found that in carbon dioxid storage, fruits, vegetables, and flowers were affected in various ways, depending upon the concentration of gas, the temperature, and the variety of fruit, vegetable, or flower. Preliminary tests with flowers indicated that, in the case of the rose, carbon dioxid retarded bud opening and prolonged the life of the flower. The purpose of this paper is to report the results of experiments dealing with the effect of carbon dioxid on cut flowers, principally roses. Other gases such as hydrogen, nitrogen, etc. have not yet been studied. A preliminary test with oxygen indicated that this gas hastened the maturing processes in rose flowers.

Cold Storage of Selected Members of the Proteaceae and Australian Native Cut Flowers

“…Anigozanthos pulcherrimus Hook. and the Anigozanthos cultivars Ruby Delight, Bush Harmony, Bush Haze, and Gold Fever all showed a significant reduction in vase life after 14 days of storage compared with unstored controls.Early research on the postharvest handling of cut flowers demonstrated the potential of dry storage in the rose, carnation, and chrysanthemum (Fischer, 1952;Hauge et al, 1947;Neff, 1939;Thornton, 1930). Recent studies have also concentrated on storage protocols for traditional flower crops (Goszczynska and Rudnicki, 1988;Hardenburg et al, 1986) The rapid expansion of the Australian cut flower industry has resulted in a marked increase in the export trade of Aus-…”