Materials & Methods
Eighteen cut flowers from three
species - rose (Rosa sp.), carnation
(Dianthus sp.), and daffodil (Narcissus
sp.) - were assigned to one of six treatments: a water control, a 2.5%
sucrose solution, a 5% sucrose solution, 2.5% sucrose and 0.34 % calcium
solution, a 0.34 % calcium solution, and a Floralife solution. All solutions were made with filtered water
obtained from a drinking fountain in Brooks Hall. The sucrose solutions were prepared with Pioneer
Sugar and the calcium solution was prepared using ˝ of a 675 mg Rolaid tablet. The
packet obtained from the florist was mixed according to the manufacturer’s
directions.
All flowers
were cut at an angle under water and then placed singly into 100 mL of the appropriate treatment in a 125 mL
Erlenmeyer flask. The roses and
carnations were cut above a node to a 6-8 inch stem. Because the daffodils lack nodes, they were
cut one inch from the bottom. The
flowers were stationed in front of a west-facing window in Brooks Hall, where
the flowers would receive sunlight on a daily basis. The experiment was conducted for 2 weeks,
during which measurements were taken of head angle (degrees) of carnations and
roses, and the head width (cm) of carnations.
Observations were recorded on color and spotting of flower petals. Data was collected every three days during
week one and every day during week two of the experiment. The solutions were changed one week after the
experiment began. Date of senescence was
recorded for each flower. The vase life
data of each species in control and packet treatments were evaluated by analysis
of variance (ANOVA). Data collected from
rose head angle on day thirteen was also evaluated with ANOVA, followed by a Tukey test.