Research boosts Philippine cut flower industry

MANILA, Philippines -  Want to prolong the vase life of your flowers?

This question usually crops up during seasons of the year when the country’s cut flower industry literally blooms.

A study done years back by Los Baños researchers noted Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14), All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1), and Christmas are times when the country’s flower business peaks.

Thus, the indispensability of preserving the flowers so that they will stay fresh during these seasons of the year.

Over the years, local and foreign researchers have been conducting studies on flower preservation.

For instance, it has been found that cut flowers must be harvested when they are 60 to 70 percent open.

“The best time of harvesting is about 6 o’clock in the morning,” pointed out the Los Baños-based Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCARRD).

One preservative that has recently been found effective in prolonging the vase life of dendrobium orchid up to 21 days is silver nitrate solution.

The headway was achieved by the Indonesian Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology and shared with the Philippines, through PCARRD, by the Taiwan-based Food and Fertilizer Technology Center (FFTC). PCARRD and various foreign R&D institutions have an active linkage with FFTC in sharing research results for the benefit of Asia and the Pacific nations.

PCARRD cited the following stops in the use of silver nitrate:

“Prepare the preservative solution using silver nitrate, 0.5 grams; citric acid, 0.15 g; sucrose, 100 g; and water, one liter. The preservative must be promptly used upon preparation.”

“Dissolve the preservative materials in one liter of water in a bucket. Then soak the dendrobium in the bucket up to 10 centimeters of the stem for as long as 90 minutes. After 90 minutes, the dendrobium is ready to be displayed.”

Liquid detergents have also been found effective in prolonging the vase life of cut flowers, as found by the UP Los Baños-Postharvest Horticulture Training and Research Center.

In the research, the chrysanthemum “Red Jacoline” sourced from Davao City was soaked in five different surfactants composed of liquid detergents such as Tween 20, Amazing Glaze, Joy, Axion and Pril for 24 hours.

The study showed that the vase life of cut flowers was longer (11-14 days) when soaked in Tween 20, compared to the control (seven days).

“This validated the findings of a group of researchers in 1991 that surfactants can significantly improve vase life of cutflowers rather than distilled water,” PCARRD reported.

Also, in seasons like Valentine’s Day when flowers are in great demand, aster is one plant that flower arrangers cannot do without.

Widely used as filler for flower arrangements, bouquets and corsages, aster is a “long-day” plant that needs at least 18 hours of light a day to start growing.

Thus, flower growers have to light up the plots to complete the plant’s light requirement. This practice is not only costly because it require manpower and electricity; it also is inconvenient for flower growers who have to stay up to midnight to make sure that the plant’s light requirement is met.

A breakthrough that can replace the usual lighting system which aster growers adopt has been achieved by UP Los Baños researchers using gibberellic acid (GA3), a kind of hormone that speeds up the growth of the branch where buds start to bloom.

More important, the UPLB researchers emphasized, GA3 can bring in bigger profit, save on cost, and produce better flowers.