A method for determining the vase life of cut spray carnation flowers.

Cut flowers of carnation are classified into two types, the standard type with one flower on a stem and the spray type with multiple flowers on a stem. The vase life of carnation flowers has been generally determined by observing senescence profiles, i.e., in-rolling of petal margin and wilting of whole petals as well as ethylene production. In the present study, we tried to determine the vase life of spray type carnation flowers by observing the number of open flowers, i.e., the percentage of open flowers to the total number of initial flower buds. The vase life determined by this method was similar to that determined by the former method, and was useful to evaluate the action of preservatives on carnation flowers.