Effect of floral preservatives on vase life of gladiolus spikes cv. punjab dawn

An experiment was conducted to find out the effect of floral preservatives on vase life of gladiolus spikes cv. Punjab Dawn. Among all the pulsing treatments i. e.T₁.-control (with distilled water), T₂-Sucrose 5%, T₂-Sucrose 5%+AgNO₃ (100 mg/1), T₄-Sucrose 5%+AgNO₃, (200 mg/1). T₅-Sucrose 5%+Al, (SO₄)₃.16H₂O (100 mg/1), T₆-Sucrose 5%+Al₂ (SO,),. 16H,0 (200 mg/1), T₇-Sucrose 5%+Citric acid (1 00 mg/1) and T₈-Sucrose 5%+Citric acid (200 mg/1), treating of cut spikes with sucrose 5%+Al₂ (SO₄)₃ 16H₂O (200 mg/1) was found to be the most effective in extending vase life upto 9.50 days, maximum number of florets opening at a time (7.67), solution absorption by cut spikes (64.98 ml) and minimum number of days taken for basal floret opening (2.08 days) as compared to other treatments.