Post Greenhouse Evaluations of Forced Bulbous Plants
IMPORTED CUT FLOWERS’ POSTHARVEST HAZARDS ARE ADDRESSED
Kenya to Kansas, Bogota to Boston. Those are long flights. And
it’s easy to understand why so many imported, cut flowers and foliages
show signs of jet lag in consumers’ vases. Imported cuts, in fact, introduce
a world of new postharvest variables to the American floral industry.
And the industry’s outdated care-and-handling manuals offer little insight
on the globetrotters. Happily, Endowment-funded postharvest pros Dr. Michael
Reid and Dr. Terril Nell are determined to bring us Yanks up to date. In
1996, the researchers began evaluating the vase lives of new cut flower
and foliage cultivars. And employing new technologies to revise decades’-old
postharvest practices. But their studies were largely focused on domestically
grown materials. Now, considering imports’ indisputable market importance,
the researchers are taking a close look at postharvest hazards peculiar
to imports: extended storage, dry storage, temperature swings, and more.
Still, despite the expansion of their studies’ scope, the team’s goal remains:
To give the industry a fresh set of standardized postharvest guidelines
– a protocol that brings the best out of homegrown as well as imported
cuts.
Nell and Reid are working closely with domestic, Colombian, and
Ecuadorean growers from whom the researchers receive shipments of fresh-cut
stems. Crop-production notes are kept. In the labs, newly arrived cuts’
responses are monitored as the stems are put through a series of tests
simulating material movement through the floral industry chain — from
grower to consumer. Then, the team carefully studies the stems’ positive
and negative test responses in hot pursuit of their standardized protocol.
Surprisingly, they’ve found cut mums live as long with preservative as
without. ‘Madame del Bard’ roses are less prone to bent neck if given a
warm hydration solution, while undemanding ‘Royalty’ last ten days with
water alone. Stay tuned. Many more generalized and cultivar-specific postharvest
tips are in the offing.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT RESEARCH-PROJECT LEADERS:
Dr.Terril Nell, Postharvest Physiologist, University of Florida. E-MAIL:
Dr. Michael Reid, Professor of Horticulture, University of California
at Davis.
