Postharvest Handling of Alstroemeria

Abstract

Petal shedding and leaf yellowing impair Alstroemeria hybrida flower postharvest vase life. Silver thiostrlfate (STS) pretreatment increases Alstroemeria flower vase life (Staby and Naegele, 1984; Vermeulen, 1986) by reducing flower shedding and leaf yellowing. Leaf yellowing can be prevented by the addition of a mixture of (in mgliter -1 ) 5 auxin, 2 cytokinin, and 7.5 gibberellin (GA 3 ) to the vase water (Staden, 1976(Staden, , 1978)). Gibberellin was regarded as the most active component of this solution. A pretreatment at 5C for 24 h is recommended (Vermeulen, 1986).