MAINTAINING THE QUALITY OF CARNATION CUT FLOWERS DEPENDING ON TEMPERATURE

In the assortment of cut flowers, carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) fall in the first places, with a large number of varieties, of various colors, being appreciated on the cut flowers market. Carnations flowers that cannot be sold immediately after harvest, being a time of year when the market offers an abundance of cut flower species, they are prone to rapid depreciation under normal environmental conditions. Carnation is an important ornamental plant, which is used as a potted plant as well as a cut flower. One factor that influences the shelf life is temperature. From the flowering stage to the total depreciation of the inflorescence, it plays an important role. In this experiment, the flowers were harvested on two different dates for about a month. The temperatures at which the varieties were kept had 6 graduations (from 10 to 22 °C). The parameters followed were: bud height, corolla height above the calyx, bud diameter and flower stem length. Storing flowers in water at 4 °C for 6 to 15 days, did not increase the diameter of the flower bud. In flowers kept at 22 °C for 6 days, the values of several parameters of cell senescence fell below the values of fresh flowers. However, in flowers kept at 4 °C there was no expected slow decrease in these parameters, but rather an increase above the levels found in fresh flowers. We conclude that storage at low temperatures has effects on carnation cut flowers, other than slowing down the aging process.