Kinetin, gibberellic acid and sucrose affect vase life in Oncidium spp

Abstract

Cut Oncidium flowers were kept in open solutions. Kinetin at 50 mg.l−1 plus sucrose at 40 g.l−1 appeared to be more efficient in maintaining flower longevity than kinetin or sucrose alone. The flower longevity was longer with a kinetin pulse followed by a sucrose treatment than a continuous kinetin plus sucrose treatments. Gibberellic acid (GA3) had little effect on keeping flower longevity in Oncidium. Ethylene production was inhibited by the presence of sucrose. However, ethylene production was slightly stimulated by treatments of kinetin or GA3 alone as compared with HQS (8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate) controls. Similarly, ethylene production in kinetin plus sucrose, kinetin plus GA3 plus sucrose and GA3 plus sucrose was slightly enhanced compared with sucrose alone.