Dry storage of flowers in water-retentive plastic
sleeves has been considered useful for long term storage
(Goszczynska and Rudnicki, 1988; Singh et al, 2001a).
During dry storage, metabolic activity of the stem remains
low which subsequently results in a long vase life in storage
(Gosczcynska and Rudnicki, 1988). Among various
polymeric film sleeves evaluated for dry storage of gladiolus
spikes, polypropylene (PP) sleeve (25 µ thick) was found to
be the most suitable, as it retained optimally high CO

2 
and

low O
2
 levels inside the package (Grover et al, 2006). Singh

et al (2000) earlier reported aluminium sulphate solution to
effectively suppress sucrose-induced bacterial growth in
vase water of the gladiolus spikes. Studies have also revealed
that sucrose promotes opening of immature florets of
gladiolus (Nowak and Rudnicki, 1990; Singh et al, 2001b).
Due to lack of organized marketing system for flowers in
our country, there is a need to develop efficient storage
systems to overcome glut, especially, in periods of over
production and lean demand.  Studies were, therefore, made
on the effect of pre-storage pulsing of gladiolus spikes with
GA

3,
 in combination with sucrose and aluminium sulphate,

on keeping quality.

Spikes of gladiolus cv. White Prosperity (90 cm long)
were harvested at the tight bud stage, i.e., when the colour
was visible in the basal 1-2 florets, and were pulse-treated
with 20% sucrose + aluminium sulphate [Al

2
(SO

4
)

3
.16H

2
O]

@ 400mg/l + gibberellic acid (GA
3
) @100 mg/l (T1) and

20% sucrose + Al
2
(SO

4
)

3
.16H

2
O @ 400mg/l (T2) for 24h

Effect of pre-storage GA
3
 pulsing on keeping quality of gladiolus spikes

Kushal Singh, Ranjit Singh and Ramesh Kumar
Department of Floriculture and Landscaping

Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana - 141004, India
E-mail: kushal_flori@rediffmail.com

ABSTRACT

Pre-storage pulsing of gladiolus spikes with a solution containing 20% sucrose and 400 mg/l aluminium sulphate
[Al

2
(SO

4
)

3
.16H

2
O] significantly  improved vase life, floret size and per cent opening of florets.  The effect was

significantly enhanced with addition of GA
3
 @ 100 mg/l. Spikes pulse-treated with GA

3
 could be stored for 14 days

with an acceptable vase life of 5.44 days. These spikes also exhibited 49.65 per cent opening of florets even at 21 days
from onset of storage. On the other hand, spikes pulse-treated with a solution containing 20% sucrose and aluminium
sulphate [Al

2
(SO

4
)

3
.16H

2
O] @ 400 mg/l or water (Control) showed no opening of florets after 21 days of storage.

Key words: Pulsing, gladiolus, spikes, vase life

at 23±2OC, 60-70% RH and 16h illumination of 1000lux
intensity, provided by 40W white, fluorescent tubes. Control
spikes were similarly treated with water (T3). The spikes
were then grouped into bundles of 3 each, loosely tied at
the base with a rubber band and inserted into polypropylene
(PP) sleeves of 25µ thickness. The sleeves were sealed
hermetically with an electrical sealing machine and stored
vertically under refrigerated conditions in a cold store (3.5-
4oC, 85-90% RH) for 7, 14 and 21 days. After storage, 2cm
basal ends of the spikes were recut under water to remove
surface blockages and the keeping quality was evaluated in
an air-conditioned laboratory at 23±2oC, 60-70% RH and
1000lux light intensity (cycle of 16h light and 8h dark).

Observations were recorded for vase life, floret size
(size of second floret from the base) and per cent opening
of florets in the vase. Vase life of the spikes was evaluated
from the day one basal floret was open till there were five
open florets left on the spike. Spikes which exhibited opening
of less than five florets with wilting of the basal floret, were
taken as an index for termination of vase life. The data
presented are a mean of three replications each representing,
three spikes.

Data presented in Table 1 show that vase life was
maximum in spikes treated with 20% sucrose +
Al

2
(SO

4
)

3
.16H

2
O @ 400mg/l + gibberellic acid @ 100mg/l

(6.14 days), followed by pulsing with 20% sucrose +
Al

2
(SO

4
)

3
.16H

2
O @ 400mg/l (4.59 days), and, was minimum

(3.33 days) in Control. Vase life decreased with increase in

Short communication

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 6(1):69-70, 2011



70

duration of storage (Table 1).  Decrease in vase life following
storage was reported earlier in Freesia refracta
(Zencirkiran, 2002) and gladiolus (Singh et al, 2003; Grover
et al, 2006). Floret size also decreased with increase in
storage duration (Table 1) but was maximum (9.25cm) in
spikes pulse-treated with 20% sucrose + 400 mg/l
Al

2
(SO

4
)

3
.16H

2
O, + GA

3,
 and was minimum in Control

(6.70cm). Per cent opening of florets was maximum in
freshly-harvested Control spikes (60.81) and continued to
decrease with increase in storage duration, and was 53.88,
45.03 and 16.55% after 7, 14 and 21 days of storage,
respectively (Table 2). Among the three treatments imposed,
spikes pulse-treated with a solution containing sucrose +
Al

2
(SO

4
)

3
.16H

2
O+GA

3
 showed maximum opening of florets

(61.03%), followed by those  treated with 20% sucrose +
Al

2
(SO

4
)

3
.16H

2
O (42.63 per cent). Per cent opening of

florets was, however, minimum in non-pulsed Control
flowers. In the present study, GA

3 
was seen to

 
synergize

the effect of sucrose + Al
2
(SO

4
)

3
.16H

2
O. The present study

also shows that spikes pulse-treated with a combination of
sucrose, Al

2
(SO

4
)

3
.16H

2
O and GA

3
 could be stored for upto

14 days, with an acceptable vase life of 5.44 days. Even
after 21 days of storage, pulse-treated spikes showed 49.65
per cent opening of florets. On the other hand, florets in T2
and T3 failed to open after 21 days of storage.

REFERENCES
Goszczynska, D.M.  and Rudnicki, R.M. 1988. Storage of

cut flowers. Hort. Rev., 10:3562
Grover, J.S., Gupta, A.K., Singh, K., Kumar, A. and Singh,

P. 2006. Studies on passive modified atmosphere
storage of gladiolus spikes. Adv.  Hort. Sci.,  20:175-
180

Nowak, J. and Rudinicki, R.M. 1990. Post harvest handling
and storage of cut flowers, florist greens and potted
plants. Chapman and Hall, London. pp. 209

Singh, K., Arora, J. S. and Bhattacharjee, S.K. 2001a.
Postharvest Management of Cut Flowers. Tech. Bull.
No. 10, All India Coordinated Research Project on
Floriculture, IARI., New Delhi, pp. 39

Singh, K., Singh, P. J and Arora, J. S. 2003. Studies on dry
refrigerated storage of gladiolus spikes. J. Orn.
Hort., New Series, 6:107-09

Singh, K., Singh, P.J., Arora, J.S. and Mann, R.P.S. 2000.
Studies on postharvest management of gladiolus. J.
Orn. Hort., New Series, 3:107-110

Singh, K. Singh, P.J., Arora, J.S.  and Mann, R.P.S. 2001b.
Effect of vase solutions on keeping quality of different
grades of gladiolus J. Orn. Hort., New Series, 17:
23-25

Zencirkiran,  M.  2002.  Cold storage of Freesia refracta
‘Cordula’. New Zealand J. Crop and Hort. Sci.,
30:171-174

(MS Received 07 September 2009, Revised 15 April 2011)

Table 1.  Effect of pre-storage pulsing treatments with sucrose, Al
2
(SO

4
)

3
.16H

2
O and GA

3
 on vase life and floret size in gladiolus cv.

White Prosperity

Duration storage Vase life (days) Floret size (cm)
of (days) T1 T2 T3 Mean T1 T2 T3 Mean

07 6.67 6.22 5.33 6.07 10.32 9.96 9.42 9.90
14 5.44 4.56 2.89 4.30 8.73 7.93 7.37 8.01
21 3.56 0.00 0.00 1.19 7.45 - - 2.48
Control(0 day) 8.89 7.56 5.11 7.19 10.51 10.17 10.01 10.23
Mean 6.14 4.59 3.33 9.25 7.02 6.70
CD (P=0.05)

Treatment 0.41 Treatment 0.20
Storage duration 0.47 Storage duration 0.24
 Interaction 0.82 Interaction 0.41

Table 2.  Effect of pre-storage pulsing treatment with sucrose,
Al

2
(SO

4
)

3
.16H

2
O and GA

3
 on per cent opening of florets in gladiolus

cv. White Prosperity

Duration Floret opening (%)
storage of
(days )  T1        T2        T3 Mean

07 63.61(52.88) 54.78(47.73) 43.25(41.07) 53.88(47.23)
14 57.45(49.29) 54.37(47.50) 23.27(28.72) 45.03(41.84)
21 49.65(44.78) 0.00(0.00) 0.00(0.00) 16.55(14.93)
Control 73.41(58.94) 61.38(51.60) 47.64(43.62) 60.81(51.39)
(0 day)
Mean 61.03(51.47) 42.63(36.71) 28.54(28.35)
CD (P=0.05)  Treatment 2.13, Storage duration 2.46, Interaction 4.26

* Figures in parentheses are transformed values

Singh et al

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 6(1):69-70, 2011