STUDY ON POST-HARVEST LIFE OF CUT ROSE CV. FIRST RED AS AFFECTED BY DIFFERENT CHEMICALS AND WRAPPING MATERIALS

An investigation was carried out to find the effect of different chemicals as pulsing solutions (CaCl2 1%, Sucrose 5%+8HQC 150 ppm, Sucrose 3%+Al2(SO4)3 300 ppm for duration of 20 and 24 h) and wrapping materials (Newspaper, Butter paper and Cellophane sheet for duration of 16 h) on the quality and vase life of cut rose cv. First Red. Results obtained show that all treatments performed better than that of control. Among all the treatments, A2C2 (cut rose pulsed with Sucrose 5%+8HQC 150 ppm for 20 h and packaged with Butter paper for 16 h) recorded the maximum increase in quality and vase life of 12.34 days. Whereas the treatments A2C0 (pulsed with Sucrose 5%+8HQC 150 ppm for 20 h only) and A0C2 (packaged with Butter paper for 16 h only) recorded a vase life of 11.13 days and 11.02 days, respectively. However, in control treatment (A0C0) the vase life recorded was 8.53 days.