Flower longevity of ornamental alliums depending on cutting stage and postharvest treatment

Flower longevity of ornamental alliums depending on cutting stage and postharvest treatment. The postharvest longevity of infl orescences evaluated till the drying up of the fl orets amounted 15–20 days for Allium afl atunense, 21–29 days for Allium christophii, 28–35 days for Allium giganteum and 15–19 days for Allium rosenbachianum. The postharvest longevity of infl orescences was the longest when fl owers were harvested at the beginning of fl owering or when 1/4 of the fl orets were open in an infl orescence. Applying 8-hydroxyquinoline sulphate for conditioning improved only the longevity of cut infl orescences of A. giganteum till drying up when they were kept in 100 mg⋅dm–3 and 200 mg⋅dm–3 gibberellic acid solutions. The postharvest longevity of cut infl orescences of A. christophii improved when they were kept in gibberellic acid. This was the case for A. afl atunense only in non-conditioned infl orescences treated with 100 mg⋅dm–3 gibberellic acid solution and in conditioned infl orescences treated with 100 mg⋅dm–3 and 200 mg⋅dm–3 gibberellic acid solutions. Gibberellic acid improved the postharvest longevity of A. giganteum till drying up only in conditioned infl orescences and of A. rosenbachianum in conditioned infl orescences treated with 200 mg⋅dm–3 solution.