Abstract
Corms of Freesia hybrida hort. 'Aladdin' (semi-late flowering cultivar) were exposed to 3°C for 0-4 weeks from August 7, and then to 9°C for 6 weeks, and finally grown at 21°C. Exposing corms to 3°C stopped leaf initiation, and it had no influence on the flower-bud initiation which occurred during the subsequent exposure to 9°C. However, the 3°C treatment hastened flower bud development at 21°C and decreased the number of days at 21°C to flowering by a maximum 10 days. This promotive after- effect of 3°C was not obvious in the early flowering cultivar, 'Rapid Yellow'. Small corms (3.5g) of 'Aladdin' were less responsive to 3°C than were the larger corms (6g). The sensitivity to chilling was gradually increased with time after the corm dormancy broke, indicating that juvenility governs it. Both wet and dry corms responded to the chilling treatment, but the response disappeared when the corms were chilled under controlled atmosphere (CA) at 3% O2, 3% CO2 and 94% N2 or modified atmosphere (MA) in 0.04mm in thick polyethylene bags.
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