Increasing the Vase Life of Alstroemeria Cut Flowers Using Cycloheximide, Benzyladenine and Coconut Juice

In order to improve the vase life of alstroemeria cut flowers (Alstroemeria aurantiaca), an experiment was performed based on completely randomized design with 10 treatments including cycloheximide (50, 100 and 200 mg l-1), benzyladenine (50, 100 and 200 mg l-1), coconut juice (5, 10 and 20 %) and control (distilled water) in three replications. In this study, characteristics such as vase life, dry matter, increasing ° Brix, the percentage of flower opening, chlorophyll a and b and ionic leakage were evaluated. The results showed that coconut juice at a concentration of 5% has the maximum vase life (17.39 days), although it has no significant difference with different levels of benzyladenine and 10 and 20% coconut juice treatments. 10% coconut juice with 2.58 and 0.88 has the highest ° Brix and flower opening index, respectively. Treatments of 50 mg l-1 benzyladenine, 5 and 10% coconut juice had the maximum impact on the amount of dry matter. The most successful treatments for reducing ionic leakage are two treatments of 5% coconut juice and 100 mg l-1 benzyladenine. All treatments cause maintenance of chlorophyll a and b compared to the control, and two treatments of 50 mg l-1 cycloheximide and 5% coconut juice had the highest content of chlorophyll a and b, respectively among treatments. According to the obtained results, using 5% coconut juice in the vase solution can effectively improve the vase life of alstroemeria cut flowers.