EFFECTS OF PRECONDITIONING BUDDED CARNATION SHOOTS PRIOR TO LONG-TERM COLD-STORAGE ON FLOWER QUALITY

To supply high quality cut carnation flowers in summer, budded shoots harvested on replanting time (from mid-May to early June) were pre-conditioned with silver thiosulphate (STS) and/or sucrose and stored at 1 degrees C for 12 weeks. The effects of pre-conditioning on the opening, vase life, and sugar contents were investigated. 1. The vase life of 'Nora' and 'Coral' carnation flowers pre-conditioned with STS was extended after the 12 weeks of cold storage, but vase life of 'Coral' treated with STS + sucrose was slightly shortened because less preservative solution was absorbed. 2. The sugar concentration in petals of 'Nora' was maintained at a certain level by sugars translocated from leaves during 12-week storage. After cold storage, petals of shoots pre-conditioned with 0.3 mM STS + 10% sucrose had the highest sugar concentration but no promotive effect on vase life was observed. The results confirm that high grade cut carnation flowers can be obtained in mid-summer by pretreating budded shoots with STS and cold storing them at 1 degrees C for 12 weeks.