Aspects regarding preservation and use of crocosmia cut flowers

Abstract

Lately, crocosmia is gaining more and more interest on the cut flowers market in Romania. The ornamental value of the cut flowers is given by their longevity and the number of flowers on the stem, as well as by the general appearance of inflorescences. In this research, determinations were made on the influence of storage solutions on the longevity of Crocosmia cut flowers, using six experimental variants: V1-distilled water (control); V2-commercial floral preservative-Vital Fleur (5 g/L); V3-gibberellic acid (150 mg/L); V4-boric acid (150 mg/L); V5-silver nitrate (1000 ppm); V6-potassium benzoate (0.03%). Observations and determinations showed, that boric acid (V4) had the best results in terms of the number of open flowers per stem. AgNO3 (V5), Vital Fleur (V2) and GA3 (V3) positively influenced the number of open flowers on the stem. Instead, potassium benzoate (V6) had negative influenced both the number of flowers open on the stem and their longevity.