INFLUENCE OF SOME PRESERVATIVE SOLUTIONS ON VASE LIFE AND POSTHARVEST QUALITIES OF LIMONIUM CUT FLOWERS

The present study was conducted at the Postharvest Lab. of Ornamental Plants and Landscape Gardening Res. Dept., Hort. Res. Inst., Giza, Egypt in March of 2016 and 2017 seasons, to examine the effect of some pulsing solutions on improving the quality of limonium cut flowers.Limoniumcut flowerswere pulsedin silver thiosulfate (STS) at 500 mg/l for 1/4 and 1/2 h, silver nitrate (AgNO3) at 500 mg/l for 1/4 and 1/2 h, AgNO3 at one g/l for 1/4 and 1/2 h, sodium benzoate at 250 mg/l for 12 and 24 h, sodium benzoate at 500 mg/l for 12 and 24 h, daminozide at 25 mg/l for 12 and 24 h and daminozide at 50 mg/l for 12 and 24 h followed by transferring to a holding solution 8-hydroxyqunoline sulphate (HQS) at 200 mg/l + sucrose (20 g/l). Distilled water was used as a control treatment. The obtained results indicated that treatment of Limonium sinuatum cv. Girlie Wings cut flowers treated by STS at 500 mg/l for 1/2 h enhanced water uptake, relative fresh weight, dry weight percentage of cut flowers, floret opening percentage, pigments content, total carbohydrate percentage and total phenols as well as inhibiting growth of all isolated microorganisms and improved quality of flowers, followed by cut flowers treated with STS at 500 mg/l for 1/4 h then AgNO3 500 mg/l for 1/2 h.