Cut Flowers - an overview (2024)

Specialty cut flowers may be defined as any cut flower other than roses, carnations, and chrysanthemums.

From: Introduction to Floriculture (Second Edition), 1992

Ethylene
Orchidaceae
Dianthus caryophyllus
Cultivar
Postharvest
Anthesis
1-Methylcyclopropene
Ornamentals
Vase Life
Ornamental Plant

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Role of metal oxide nanomaterials in the preservation of harvested crops

Venkatachalam Vasudevan, Vidhya Arumugam, in Nanometal Oxides in Horticulture and Agronomy, 2023

14.3 Metal nanoparticles for extending postharvest life of cut flowers

Cut flowers are commonly used to express gratitude, affection, and emotion on various occasions. Vase life and quality are the two most significant characteristics of a cut flower (Ichimura et al., 2002). Silver NPs, which extend the vase life of cut flowers, enter the vascular tissues of the stem, reducing ethylene synthesis and repressing the ethylene-producing genes ACO1 (Musa acuminata oxidase 1) and ACS1 (Musa acuminata synthase 1). Furthermore, they promote the uptake of the solution, hence extending the vase life of cut flowers. Because of the interrupted water intake caused by microbial development, cut flowers do not have a long shelf life after harvest. Various nanotechnological products, such as nano-silver, can be used to make antimicrobial agents and ethylene inhibitors. This preservative solution also increases the vase life of cut flowers (Table 14.1). These silver NPs are safe to use, convenient to apply, and have a high level of stability. Silver NPs in variable concentrations are used to improve and maintain the quality of cut flowers in a variety of ways as shown in Fig. 14.1.

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Postharvest physiology of fresh-cut flowers

Zhiya Liu, ... Weibiao Liao, in Oxygen, Nitrogen and Sulfur Species in Post-Harvest Physiology of Horticultural Crops, 2024

8 Conclusions and outlook

Cut flowers have become an export income in the global floriculture market. They are used for decorating homes, in ceremonies, and as symbols of love, appreciation, respect, etc., in humane society. Various cut flower types have different vase lives, and the longevity of their freshness is affected by preharvest, harvest, and postharvest conditions and tools. Obtaining the desirable qualities of cut flowers requires considering the postharvest quality and vase life, and factors that affect these qualities are crucial to the floral industry. The quality of cut flowers is closely related to postharvest physiological changes and preservation techniques (Nguyen and Lim, 2021). In the past years, horticultural and physiological research has revealed the factors that affect the vase life of cut flowers. In the present review, we discuss the main physiological changes affecting postharvest vase life and quality of cut flowers, including changes in moisture, respiratory metabolism, membrane permeability, pigments, carbohydrates, and antioxidant systems. In general, cut flowers are able to rely on their own stored energy to maintain normal physiological activities in a short period of time after they leave the mother plants. However, with the change of time, the energy consumption in plants cannot be replenished in time, resulting in metabolic imbalance, thereby shortening the life of cut flowers and causing their own drop in value (Fig.2.4). Therefore, the postharvest processing technology of cut flowers has become the key to enhance their own value. Based on extensive experimental data, we explored the beneficial effects of many exogenous substances on postharvest lifespan and quality of fresh-cut flowers. These compounds have broad application prospects in regulating the senescence process of fresh-cut flowers, increasing the feasibility for the application of postharvest preservation of other horticultural products. However, there are still some drawbacks to using these compounds, since some substances may be toxic by themselves and might have residues after application. Thus, it is very necessary to filter out the best treatment in all aspects. Certainly, it is ideal to completely solve the short lifespan of fresh-cut flowers through breeding, which will be a huge challenge for the fresh-cut flower industry in the future.

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Ethylene and horticultural crops

Antonio Ferrante, in The Plant Hormone Ethylene, 2023

6 Ethylene and ornamentals

Cut flowers are very sensitive to ethylene, and the vase life often depends on the flower organs’ sensitivity to ethylene. Postharvest treatments that inhibit ethylene biosynthesis or action greatly extend the vase life of many cut flowers. The flower life is directly correlated with flower or petal sensitivity to ethylene. In cut flowers, ethylene can reduce productivity starting from greenhouse cultivation. High ethylene concentration in the greenhouse can induce bud abscission in Lilium or other sensitive flowers (Reid, 1985). The ethylene can be released from the heating system that has a power station using gasoline as fuel. The incomplete combustion of the fuel can release ethylene into the environment, and if the engine of the power station is inside the greenhouse, the leaks of engine exhaust gases can damage the crop. After harvest, the exposed cut flowers can be stored in a cold room free of ethylene that can be achieved using decontamination systems. The cut flowers can be preserved and protected by ethylene avoiding the storage or transportation with fruit or vegetables producing a high level of ethylene.

The effect of ethylene on quality losses of cut flowers is due to the petal wilting or abscission or color fading. In cut foliage and flowers, the vase life can be reduced by ethylene inducing the leaf yellowing or abscission. Low concentrations such as 0.5μLL⁻¹ can induce petal, bud, or leaf abscission in sensitive cut flowers. During the cut flowers distribution chain, the concentration of ethylene can range from 0.01 to 3–5μLL⁻¹. The protection of cut flowers from endogenous or exogenous ethylene can be obtained with different postharvest treatments.

The use of AOA as a post-harvest treatment allows to extend the post-harvest life of ethylene-sensitive flowers (Wawrzyńczak and Goszczyńska, 2003). Cut carnation flowers exposed to ethylene or treated with an ethylene promoter (ACC) rapidly showed symptoms of senescence with petal wilting (Fig. 2). Carnation cut flowers (Dianthus caryophyllus L.), pre-treated for 24h with 2mM AOA doubled the vase life (Mensuali-Sodi et al., 2005), since AOA reduced ethylene production. However, AOA treated flowers did not produce ethylene but are not protected from exogenous ethylene, in fact, cut flowers exposed to ethylene dramatically reduced the vase life. On the contrary, cut carnation flowers treated with ACC and 1-MCP did not show any symptom of ethylene effect, demonstrating that ethylene action inhibitors can greatly preserve the cut flowers (Seglie et al., 2011).

Action inhibitors are very effective in protecting flowers from both exogenous and endogenous ethylene (Mensuali-Sodi et al., 2005). AOA was one of the first ethylene inhibitors that reduced the ethylene biosynthesis in carnation and extended the vase life (Broun and Mayak, 1981). The use of 1-MCP has been successfully tested on various cut flowers (lily) and potted plants (Wei et al., 2018).

The 1-MCP provides full protection from exogenous and endogenous ethylene and is the perfect postharvest treatment for ethylene sensitive flowers. Many different ornamental plants show extended vase life or chlorophyll retention after the treatment with 1-MCP (Table 3).

Table 3. Effect of ethylene inhibitor on different ornamentals.

Ornamental species	Concentration, treatment time (h), temperature (°C)	Ethylene exposure	Effects	References
Alstroemeria spp.	20nLL⁻¹, 6h at 20°C	1μLL⁻¹	Increased vase life of flower treated with exogenous ethylene	Serek et al. (1995a) and Nasiri et al. (2020)
Antirrhinum majus	20nLL⁻¹, 6h at 20°C	1μLL⁻¹	Increased vase life of flowers exposed to ethylene	Serek et al. (1995a)
Begonia×elatior “Najada” and “Rosa”	5 or 20nLL⁻¹, 6h at 20°C	1μLL⁻¹	Prevented bud abscission, flowers, leaves, and delayed senescence and increased vase life	Serek et al. (1994b, 1995b)
Begonia×tuberhybrida “Non-Stop”	5 or 20nLL⁻¹, 6h at 20°C	1μLL⁻¹	Prevented bud abscission, flowers, leaves, and delayed senescence and increased vase life	Serek et al. (1994b, 1995b)
Boronia heterophylla	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	Avoided fresh weight loss and flower abscission after exposure	Macnish et al. (1999)
Calanthe triplicata	100nLL⁻¹, 6h		Extended the vase life	Tsai et al. (2021)
Campanula carpatica “Dark Blue” and “Blue Clips”	20, 50 or 100nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C	3μLL⁻¹	Extended flower life of cut flower exposed to ethylene	Sisler et al. (1999)
C. carpatica “Dark Blue”	20, 50 or 100nLL⁻¹, 6h, 21°C	0.5μLL⁻¹	Treatments extended flower life	Serek and Sisler (2001)
C. medium “Champion Pink”	800nLL⁻¹, 4h, 22°C		Improved vase life	Bosma and Dole (2002)
Cassiniaadunca	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C		No effect	Macnish et al. (2000)
Ceratopetalum gummiferum	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	Avoided the negative effects of exogenous ethylene and increased vase life	Macnish et al. (2000)
Chamelaucium uncinatum	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	Avoided the negative effects of exogenous ethylene	Macnish et al. (2000)
Chamelaucium uncinatum	200nLL⁻¹, 6 or 13h, 21°C	2μLL⁻¹	Avoided the negative effects of exogenous ethylene and reduced bud and flower abscission.	Serek et al. (1995c)
Consolido ambigua	20nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C	1μLL⁻¹	Increase vase life under ethylene exposure	Serek et al. (1995a)
Dendranthema grandiflorum “Coral Charm”	20nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C		Reduced rooting of cuttings	Serek et al. (1998)
Dianthus barbatus	20nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C	1μLL⁻¹	avoided vase life reduction in ethylene treatments	Serek et al. (1995a)
Dianthus caryophyllus “Sandra”	0.6, 1.7, 3.3, 5.8 or 20nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C	0.4μLL⁻¹	Treated flowers avoided exogenous ethylene effects and reduced senescence and increased vase life	Serek et al. (1995a,b)
Dianthus caryophyllus	5nLL⁻¹, 12h, room temperature	1μLL⁻¹	The 1-MCP alone or included in nanosponges avoided exogenous ethylene effects and increased vase life	Serek et al. (1995b) and Seglie et al. (2011)
Epipremnum pinnatum	200nLL⁻¹, 6 or 13h, 21°C		Prevented leaf yellowing of cuttings	Müller et al. (1997)
Eriostemon scabe	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	No effects	Macnish et al. (2000)
Gynurabicolor	10μLL⁻¹, 20°C, 6h		Increased anthocyanins and flavonoids, but reduced lignin biosynthesis	Zhang et al. (2022)
Grevillea “Kay Williams”	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	Avoided flower abscission and vase life reduction	Macnish et al. (2000)
Grevillea “Misty Pink”	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	Prevented flower abscission and vase life reduction	Macnish et al. (2000)
Gypsophila paniculate	200nLL⁻¹, 24h, 20°C	0.7μLL⁻¹	Prevented senescence of flowers	Newman et al. (1998)
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.	200nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C		1-MCP continuously applied avoided leaf yellowing and flower senescence	Serek et al. (1998), Reid et al. (2002), and Trivellini et al. (2011)
Ixora coccinea “Big Red”	100nLL⁻¹, 8h, 20°C		Avoided leaf abscission	Michaeli et al. (1999)
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana “Tropicana”	5 or 20nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C	1μLL⁻¹	Prevented bud abscission, flowers, and leaves, and delayed senescence	Serek et al. (1994b, 1995b)
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana (different varieties)	200nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C		No effect	Serek and Reid (2000)
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana	0.5, 2.5, 5 or 10nLL⁻¹, 6h 20°C	3μLL⁻¹	Prevented exogenous ethylene effects	Sisler et al. (1999)
Leptospermum petersonii	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	Exogenous ethylene was prevented by treatment and avoided flower abscission and extended vase life	Macnish et al. (2000)
L. scoparium	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	No effects	Macnish et al. (2000)
Lilium “Mona Lisa”	500nLL⁻¹, 18h, 25°C	2–5μLL⁻¹	Prevented ethylene effects and reduced bud and flower abscission	Çelikel et al. (2002)
Lilium “Stargazer”	500nLL⁻¹, 18h, 25°C	2–5μLL⁻¹	Avoided ethylene effects such as bud and flower abscission	Çelikel et al. (2002)
Lilium hybrids, Lilium longiflorum	150nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	Avoided the negative ethylene effects such as vase life reduction	Elgar et al. (1999)
Lupinus havardii “Texas Sapphire”	450nLL⁻¹, 12h, 15°C		Reduced flower abscission and weight loss	Picchioni et al. (2002)
Matthiola incana	20nLL⁻¹ 6h, 20°C	1μLL⁻¹	Prevented ethylene vase life reduction	Serek et al. (1995a)
Matthiola incana	500nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C	1μLL⁻¹	Avoided flower abscission and extended vase life	Çelikel and Reid (2002) and Ferrante et al. (2012)
Metrosideros collina	0, 1.5, 15, or 150nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C	0.1μLL⁻¹	Reduced stamen abscission	Sun et al. (2000)
Mokara (Arantha×Ascocentrum×Vanda)	200nLL⁻¹, 6h		Extended vase life	Wongjunta et al. (2021)
Ozothamnus diosmifolius	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	No effects	Macnish et al. (2000)
Pelargonium×hortorum	100 or 1000nL, 3, 6, 12, or 24h, 20°C	1μLL⁻¹	Prevented petal abscission	Jones et al. (2001)
Pelargonium zonale “Isabel”	200nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C		Delayed leaf yellowing during storage	Serek et al. (1998)
Pelargonium peltatum “Pink Blizzard”	1000nLL⁻¹, 2h, 22°C	1.5μLL⁻¹	Delayed petal abscission of ethylene treated flowers	Cameron and Reid (2001)
Penstemon “Firebird”	20nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C	1μLL⁻¹	Avoided vase life reduction exposed to exogenous ethylene	Serek et al. (1995a)
Petunia hybrida “Pink Cascade”	150nLL⁻¹, 6h, 22°C	1–12μLL⁻¹	Avoided exogenous ethylene-induced membrane integrity losses and increased flower longevity	Serek et al. (1995d)
Phalaenopsis “Herbert Hager”	250nLL⁻¹, 6h, 22°C		Avoided ethylene production after pollination	Porat et al. (1995a)
Phlox paniculate “Rembrandt”	25, 250, or 500nLL⁻¹, 6h, 22°C	0.3, 1 or 3μLL⁻¹	Avoided exogenous ethylene, flower abscission and vase life reduction	Porat et al. (1995a)
Platysace lanceolata	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	No effects	Macnish et al. (2000)
Primula sinensi	150nLL⁻¹, 24h, 20°C		Increased the flower life	Ghasemzadeh et al. (2021)
Rosa damascene Mill. var. trigentipetala	400mgm⁻³1-MCP, 6h, 18±1°C.		Extended vase life	Ali et al. (2022)
Rosa “Royal” and “Sunset” Rosa “Vanilla” and “Bronze”	100nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C 200nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C	0.5μLL⁻¹	Avoided leaf abscission and flowers senescence, but did not prevent ABA effects	Serek et al. (1996) and Müller et al. (1999)
R. hybrida “Victory Parade”	5 or 20nLL⁻¹, 6h, 20°C	1μLL⁻¹	Avoided exogenous ethylene-induced bud abscission, flowers, leaves, senescence and extended vase life	Serek et al. (1994b, 1995b)
Schlumbergera truncata “Dark Marie”	20, 50 or 100nLL⁻¹, 6h, 21°C	0.5μLL⁻¹	Extended of flower life	Serek and Sisler (2001)
Telopea “Shady Lady”	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	No effects on exogenous ethylene exposure on flower abscission and vase life	Macnish et al. (2000)
Thryptomene calycina	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	No effects	Macnish et al. (2000)
Tulipa gesneriana “Apeldoorn”	1nLL⁻¹, 16h, 20°C	0.3Pa	Avoided exogenous ethylene effects	DeEll et al. (2002)
Verticordia nitens	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	Avoided exogenous ethylene effects such flower abscission and vase life reduction	Macnish et al. (2000)
Zieria cytisoides	10nLL⁻¹, 12h, 20°C	10μLL⁻¹	No effects	Macnish et al. (2000)

Modified from Blankenship, S.M., Dole, J.M., 2003. 1-Methylcyclopropene: a review. Postharvest Biol. Technol. 28(1), 1–25.

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POSTHARVEST PHYSIOLOGY | Xylem Structure and Function in Cut Roses

H.M.C. Put, A.C.M. Clerkx, in Encyclopedia of Rose Science, 2003

Introduction

As cut flowers lack roots, root-supplied hormones and dissolved materials are no longer available. As transpiration continues unabated, water moves upwards from the cut end and allows air to enter the vascular system. This makes it difficult to reestablish the supply of water to leaves and flowers. Additionally, when water uptake is established, dissolved materials, microbes and particulate matter carried into the vascular system restrict the flow of water and shorten postharvest life.

The vase-life of cut greenhouse roses is, above all, dependent on water balance, which is affected by the water uptake by the flower, water transport through the stem and transpiration. Although the maintenance of an optimal water status is the most important factor in cut-flower longevity, many of the underlying mechanisms leading to disturbed water balance are still unresolved.

This article summarizes methods of assessing the water status of the cut-rose flower, analysis of factors leading to a disturbed water status, the relation of a disturbed water status to the xylem structure and the consequences of disturbed water status for vase-life.

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Specialty Cut Flowers

Allan M. Armitage, in Introduction to Floriculture (Second Edition), 1992

V. SUMMARY

Specialty cut flowers have a huge potential in the United States market. At the present time, many specialty flowers are imported. There is no doubt that the market for specialty flowers will continue to rise, but the sites of production are still uncertain. American growers are capable of producing as large a variety of flowers equalling or surpassing the quality of imported production. If the American grower is to compete with international growers, competition must be based on the quality of the product and effective marketing. American growers must have pride in their product, and “Grown in the U.S.A.” must mean that the flowers are true to name, color, and quality designation. Postproduction treatments must begin in the field, grading must be honest, and packing must be done with the contents in mind and not to see how many stems can be jammed together. “Grown in the U.S.A.” must become a recognizable and proven symbol of quality to wholesalers, florists, and consumers or the specialty cut flower market will be turned over to lawyers and brokers, with no interest in quality, and to overseas producers.

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Snapdragons

Marlin N. Rogers, in Introduction to Floriculture (Second Edition), 1992

C. Postharvest Physiology

Few cut flower crops are more responsive to good postharvest treatment than snapdragons. Freshly cut flower spikes of most cultivars will have a vase life of about 1 week in tap water or distilled water. When the best combination of flower preservatives is used, vase life can be increased two or three times.

Larsen and Scholes (1966) and Raulston and Marousky (1971) found that longest vase life, greatest number of florets opening, and greatest increase in spike length after cutting occurred when flowers were held in a solution containing 300 ppm of 8-HQC + 1.5% sucrose. The former researchers also found the addition of 25 ppm Alar (n-dimethylaminosuccinamic acid) to be beneficial. Johnson (1972) got best results from a solution of 300 ppm 8-HQC + 0.5% sucrose. Both light and floral preservatives are crucial for proper development of floret color in florets that open after harvest (Marousky and Raulston, 1970). Regardless of the solution used, spikes held in darkness produced little anthocyanin and were poorly colored. In the light, those spikes held in 8-HQC + sucrose produced much more intensely colored florets than those held in tap water. Light (2.15 klx) incident on the developing floret at the time of opening was critical for anthocyanin production.

Self-generated ethylene gas can be a prime cause of early senescence in cut snapdragons. One of the reasons for excellent results with hypobaric storage is the constant removal of trace quantities of ethylene from the storage atmosphere. Pretreatment of cut snapdragon stems for 20 hours immediately after harvest in a solution containing silver thiosulfate (STS) and sucrose inhibits ethylene action and added about 6 days vase life compared to distilled water controls (Nowak, 1981). The highly toxic silver ion, however, has not yet been cleared for commercial use in postharvest treatment of cut flowers in the United States.

Another approach to control of ethylene problems has involved use of chemicals to suppress ethylene formation (Wang et al., 1977). In this study, two analogs of rhizobitoxine and sodium benzoate were tested to determine the relationships between their effects on ethylene production by flowers and keeping quality. Both ethoxy and methoxy analogs of rhizobitoxine significantly reduced ethylene production and increased vase life. Like hypobaric storage, however, this treatment has also not yet gained commercial acceptance.

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Ethylene in floriculture

Hilary J. Rogers, ... Rakhee Dhorajiwala, in The Plant Hormone Ethylene, 2023

Abstract

The cut flower industry is an increasingly globalized market, of economic importance worldwide. It relies on the transport of high value and high-quality flowers across long distances. Flowers follow a genetically controlled developmental program that starts with floral initiation and ends with petal senescence and often abscission. Ethylene is a key regulator in this senescence process in many species. Understanding which species or varieties are more or less ethylene sensitive and controlling ethylene through the flower supply chain is a major contributor to flower quality for the consumer. Our understanding of ethylene biosynthesis and signaling is largely based on model species such as Arabidopsis. However, a better understanding of ethylene in different floral organs, in different species and interactions with other growth regulators is emerging and is reviewed in this chapter. Several approaches have been tried for delaying floral senescence through manipulation of ethylene levels and ethylene perception both through chemical means and by generating transgenic lines. The success of these approaches to date is considered, and future technologies are reviewed for their application to floriculture.

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Exogenous postharvest application of ROS for prolonging the shelf-life of horticultural crops

Vasileios Ziogas, in Oxygen, Nitrogen and Sulfur Species in Post-Harvest Physiology of Horticultural Crops, 2024

4.7 Cut-flowers

For fresh-cut flowers the extension of vase-life is an important factor that affects their ability to trade and travel long distances, thus increasing the economic profit of their commercial value (Weaver etal., 1998). It has been documented that the use of H₂O₂ (20, 40mg/dm) into the vase water influenced the postharvest quality of tuberose cut flower (delay of chlorophyll loss, inhibition of water loss from leaves, delay of browning and abscission of florets) and extended the vase-life up to 14–17days (Rahimian-Boogar etal., 2016). Also, in the work of Cocetta and Ferrante (2018) it was demonstrated the beneficial application of H₂O₂ toward the prolongation of rose vase-life. In their work, the inoculation of roses into H₂O₂ solution (0.1mM) for 24h, resulted to a significant increase of the vase-life, and a delay in flower opening and increased loss of chlorophyll content.

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Application of ROS, RNS, and RSS for prolonging the shelf-life of horticultural crops via the control of postharvest bacterial infections

Sajid Ali, ... Shaghef Ejaz, in Oxygen, Nitrogen and Sulfur Species in Post-Harvest Physiology of Horticultural Crops, 2024

7 Factors affecting vase life of cut flowers

The vase life of postharvest cut flowers is the most important aspect in the extension of their storage as well as shelf-life. The prolongation of the vase life potential remained the major challenge and most imperative factor which still needs to be extended in order to provide a broader marketability of the cut flowers in the world (Naing etal., 2022). Therefore, maintenance and conservation of cut flower quality along with shelf-life extension offer one of the major constraints for the sustainable supply chain operations of the cut flower industry (Hassan and Schmidt, 2004). In addition, exporters and commercial floriculturists need to extend the longevity and maintenance of the general quality of the cut flowers during postharvest conditions. Typically, cut flowers vase is conserved with the help of certain preservative solution types encompassingdisinfectants and energy source, i.e., sugars. The purpose of sugars in the vase solution is to ensure a sustained supply of energy and disinfectants to inhibit the microbe's proliferation (Ahmad etal., 2013; Akhtar etal., 2021). Among the different factors, the microbial infestation in the vase solution and cut ends of flowers also significantly influence the shelf-life and longevity of the cut flowers. Microbialinfections such as bacterial pathogens (among others) negatively affect the wateruptake (from vase solution) thereby significantly reducing the vase life of postharvest cut flowers (Van Meeteren and Schouten, 2013; Mohammadi etal., 2020; Fang etal., 2021; Naeemi etal., 2022).

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Orchids

Thomas J. Sheehan, in Introduction to Floriculture (Second Edition), 1992

D. Storage

Orchids, unlike many cut flowers, do not store for any length of time at 31°F. Flowers start turning brown in 3 days at this temperature and lose their salability very rapidly.

Because most orchid flowers are long-lived on the plants, up to 3 or 4 weeks, growers will often leave them on the plants until they are needed. If they must be cut and stored, they should be stored at 42° to 45°F. At this temperature, most orchids can be safely stored for a 10- to 14-day period. If orchids are not at their peak, then storage time will be less.

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