Influence of dry handling at two temperatures and stem length in vase life of rose 'Polo'.

Abstract

The effect of room temperature and refrigeration temperature and the length of the flower stem in vase life of rose ‘Polo’ was evaluated. During storage, three stems were taken daily to determine the damage of the cell membrane. After storage, eight stems of each temperature were trimmed at 33, 41 and 54 cm in length and were placed in vases with 250 mL of tap water and randomized into an area with illumination of 10 mmoles m^-2 s^-1, photoperiod of 12 h, average temperature of 23 ± 3 °C and 40 % of RH to evaluate vase life (VL).   The results indicated a direct relationship (R² = 0.9835) between the number of vessels and stem length between 33 and 54 cm. The membrane cell damage was higher at 23° than at 4 °C. Stems stored at 23 °C decreased their fresh weight in the fourth day and their water absorption on day seven, they also had less flower opening and vase life compared to the stems stored at 4 °C. Dry storage at room temperature for 72 h only decreases from 11.5 to 9.4 days the VL of rose ‘Polo’, resulting in a good choice in places where the cold rooms do not exist; the short stems had higher water absorption but did not improve the VL.