Effect of Different Vase Solutions on Vase Life of Gladiolus (Gladiolus grandiflorus)

Gladiolus is a highly popular ornamental bulbous plant, admired for its stunning spikes that bloom sequentially from the base to the top. Despite its vast potential, the crop’s contribution to the international market remains limited, possibly due to inadequate post-harvest management. Enhanced vase life can be achieved by using certain vase solutions to improve their spike life. The study was undertaken to evaluate the impact of floral preservative chemicals on the vase life of cut spikes of Gladiolus cv. Arka Amar. A laboratory experiment was carried out at the Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, College of Horticulture, Mysuru during November 2024, in a completely randomized design with two replications using T1-water (control), T2-sucrose 200ppm, T3-sucrose 200ppm+citric acid 200ppm, T4- sucrose 200ppm+citric acid 300ppm, T5-sucrose 200ppm+STS 200ppm, T6-sucrose 200ppm+STS 300ppm, T7-sucrose 200ppm+Al₂So₄ 200ppm, T8-sucrose 200ppm+Al₂So₄ 300ppm, T9-sucrose 200ppm+ GA₃ 25ppm, T10-sucrose 200ppm+GA₃ 35ppm. Results revealed that among the treatments studied, holding solution containing Sucrose 200ppm+ Al₂So₄ 200ppm has improved days for basal floret opening (5d), vase life (11d), longer days for softening of lower floret in a spike (6days), more number of florets opened (10), maximum percentage of florets opening (88.15%), minimum transpiration loss and maximum water uptake followed by sucrose 200ppm with Ga₃ @ 25ppm. Thus, Al₂So₄ inhibit the microbial proliferation in the solution and sucrose in providing energy source for florets opening. Upon visual scoring on appearance (8.5) and freshness (8.0) were observed for same treatment combination.