Solutions to conserve the vase life of Heliconia ‘Tropics’

ABSTRACT Heliconia ‘Tropics’ has high market acceptance and blooms year-round. Still, there is little information on solutions to prolong its vase life. The objective of this research was to assess pulse solutions to prolong the vase life of Heliconia ‘Tropics’ in three cutting stages. Floral stems in a closed, semi-open and commercial grown stages from three years old plants grown in an outdoor setting were evaluated. Three experiments were evaluated: sucrose at 10, 20 and 30% (w/v); Hydraflor® 100 at 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 g L-1; and citric acid (CA) at 25, 50, 100, 150 and 200 ppm, and a control (tap water). The floral opening, fresh weight of the floral stems, solution consumption and vase life were measured every two days. Based on the best results of these experiments, the following combinations were assessed: 10% sucrose + 0.50 g L-1 Hydraflor® 100; 10% sucrose + 150 ppm CA; 10% sucrose + 0.50 g L-1 Hydraflor® 100 + 150 ppm CA; 0.50 g L-1 of Hydraflor® 100 + 150 ppm CA and a control. A 10% sucrose + 0.50 g L-1 of Hydraflor® 100 pulse for 24 h had a 22.8-day vase life and was superior to the floral stems in the control treatment (15.6 days) at the semi-open cut stage. This was associated with greater water consumption, lower fresh weight loss and greater floral opening.摘要：蝎尾蕉（Heliconia）‘热带’市场认可度高且可全年开花，但目前针对延长其瓶插寿命的解决方案相关研究仍较为匮乏。本研究旨在针对三个采切阶段的蝎尾蕉‘热带’品种花枝，评估可延长其瓶插寿命的脉冲处理液。试验以种植于户外环境的3年生植株为材料，分别采集处于闭合、半开放及商品成熟阶段的花茎开展评估。共设置3组单因素试验：分别为浓度10%、20%、30%（重量体积比，w/v）的蔗糖溶液；浓度0.25、0.50、0.75 g·L⁻¹的Hydraflor® 100溶液；以及浓度25、50、100、150、200 ppm（百万分比浓度）的柠檬酸（citric acid，CA）溶液，并设置自来水对照组。每两天测定一次花朵开放度、花茎鲜重、处理液消耗量及瓶插寿命。基于上述单因素试验的最优结果，本研究进一步评估了以下复配处理组合：10%蔗糖+0.50 g·L⁻¹ Hydraflor® 100；10%蔗糖+150 ppm CA；10%蔗糖+0.50 g·L⁻¹ Hydraflor® 100+150 ppm CA；0.50 g·L⁻¹ Hydraflor® 100+150 ppm CA，以及自来水对照组。结果表明，半开放采切阶段的花枝经10%蔗糖+0.50 g·L⁻¹ Hydraflor® 100脉冲处理24 h后，瓶插寿命可达22.8天，显著优于对照组的15.6天；该处理组同时表现出更高的水分吸收量、更低的鲜重损失率及更高的花朵开放度。