Effects of Temperature and Different Chemical Treatments on Vase Life of Cut Flowers of Lilium cv.Pisa

Experiments were conducted to study the effects of temperature and chemical treatments on the vase life of cut Asiatic hybrid lily cultivar Pisa, with sixteen chemical treatments using factorial design with 3 replication arrangements. Lilium cut flowers were harvested when the first flower colored fully. Following chemical treatments, they were grouped in different combinations before storage. The treatments included sucrose, 8- hydroxy quinoline sulfate (HQS), citric acid (CA), gibberellic acid (GA3), kinetine (KI) and distilled water as control. Lilium cut flowers were pulsed for 24 hours in different solutions, then brought out and kept in the distilled water at temperatures of 4°C and 22 ° C .Effects of applied treatments were evaluated on different characteristics like vase life, the amount of water absorbed, flower diameter, total soluble solids and fresh weight. Results showed that the temperature of 4°C had the most effect on vase life, keeping the quality of lilium cut flowers. The results also displayed that the chemical treatments kinetine + sucrose had the most effect on vase life and percentage of sucrose, gibberellic acid + kinetine delayed yellowing of the foliage, 8- hydroxy quinoline absorbed the most amount of water, and treatments sucrose + kinetine , gibberellic acid + 8- hydroxy quinoline sulfate and gibberellic acid + citric acid were most effective in increasing the flowers diameter.