351 Use of Promalin (GA4+7 and BA) Sprays to Prevent Cold Storage-induced Leaf Yellowing and Abscission in `Stargazer' Hybrid Lilies

Abstract

Our previous research has demonstrated preventive effects of foliar sprays of growth regulators containing GA4+7 (ProVide or Promalin) on cold storage-induced leaf yellowing and abscission in `Stargazer' hybrid lilies. Further research was conducted to investigate the effective concentrations of Promalin and appropriate timing of promalin sprays. Lilies at “puffy bud” stage were sprayed with promalin at concentrations of 10, 25, 50 or 100 ppm (each GA4+7 and BA) just before placing them at 4 °C for 2 weeks in darkness. Promalin concentrations of 25 ppm or above completely prevented cold storage-induced leaf yellowing occurring during the poststorage evaluation phase in a simulated consumer environment, whereas 10 ppm sprays only partially prevented it. Foliar spray of Promalin (100 ppm each GA4+7 and BA) just before storage at 4 °C for 2 weeks was compared with spraying 2 or 4 weeks before cold storage. While spraying 2 weeks before storage prevented leaf yellowing to the same extent observed in plants sprayed just before cold storage, spraying 4 weeks before storage had very little preventive effect on leaf yellowing. To investigate the effectiveness of promalin sprays with different cold storage durations, puffy-bud stage plants were stored at 4 °C for 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 weeks in darkness with or without promalin sprays (100 ppm each GA4+7 and BA) before storage. Longer cold storage durations increased the severity of leaf yellowing occurring during poststorage phase. Although promalin was able to prevent leaf yellowing completely up to 2 weeks of cold storage, beyond 3 weeks of cold-storage, effectiveness of promalin diminished with no apparent preventive effect on plants stored for 5 weeks.