Thursday, August 20, 2009

Keeping flowers longer and fresher

Masthead showing Anil Ranwala, PhD.


Volume 11, Issue 8 August 2009



Efficacy Test on Floralife Quick Dip® Instant Hydration Pretreatment

Background
Floralife Quick Dip® Instant Hydration Solution is a ready-to-use pretreatment for cut flowers to aid in keeping them fresher. This unique pretreatment was specially designed for retail florists where workspace and time is limited. It is, however, also applicable for wholesale florists and growers as well. The process is very simple, dipping the bottom stem area of cut flowers into 2 - 3” of the pretreatment solution for merely one to two seconds. The treatment helps clean the stem ends and opens up the vessels inside the flower stems which carry water and flower food throughout. The end use results are enhanced uptake of flower food, quick hydration, and recovery from stressed flowers which have wilted. Using Floralife Quick Dip® Instant Hydration Pretreament aids in reducing the amount of flowers which would otherwise be thrown out by a retail florist due to stress and wilting.

Research
An experiment was conducted at the Floralife Research Laboratory in Walterboro , SC to investigate the effects of Floralife Quick Dip® Instant Hydration Pretreatment on fresh cut roses. Flower bunches of rose varieties “Freedom’ and ‘Miracle’ were removed from the floral cooler and held dry at room temperature for 6 hours to induce wilting. The bottom of each flower stem was air cut and then immediately dipped into 2 inches of Floralife Quick Dip® Instant Pretreatment solution for 1 - 2 seconds. All leaves which would otherwise be under the water level in a vase were removed. The flowers were then placed into 1 L glass vases filled with Floralife Crystal Clear® flower food. The vases were kept in an interior postharvest room for further evaluation. Control flowers were processed the same way except the the Floralife Quick Dip® Instant Hydration pretreatment step was omitted. The hydration and overall appearance of the flowers were then observed.

Results
At the beginning of the experiment all flowers were visibly wilted. After the flowers were placed in a vase solution the flowers gradually became hydrated and regained petal turgidity. The flowers treated with Floralife Quick Dip® Instant Hydration Pretreatment Solution hydrated much faster than the “control” flowers. The photos below show the appearance of flowers two hours after the treatment.

'Freedom' Roses Experiment photo

'Freedom' Rose
Control: No Floralife Quick Dip ® Instant Hydration Pretreatment


Treated: Floralife Quick Dip ® Instant Hydration Pretreatment



'Miracle' Rose Experiment photo

'Miracle' Rose
Control: No Floralife Quick Dip® Instant Hydration Pretreatment


Treated: Floralife Quick Dip® Instant Hydration Pretreatment







Conclusions
Floralife Quick Dip® Instant Hydration Pretreatment solution revives stressed cut flowers much faster than cut flowers which are untreated. It is important to keep flowers fully hydrated for greatest flower freshness and to reduce flower waste.

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