International Journal of Horticulture 2015, Vol.5, No.6, 1
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5
1
Research Report Open Access
Pre- and Post-harvest Physiology of Cymbidium Orchids
L. C. De , P. Deb, Geetamani Chhetri, Deepak Rai
ICAR-NRC for Orchids, Pakyong, Sikkim, India
Corresponding author email
International Journal of Horticulture, 2015, Vol.5, No.6 doi: 10.5376/ijh.2015.05.0006
Received: 24 Mar., 2015
Accepted: 03 May., 2015
Published: 20 May., 2015
Copyright
© 2015 De et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
De et al., 2015, Pre- and Post-harvest Physiology of Cymbidium Orchids, International Journal of Horticulture, 2015, Vol.5, No.6 1-5 (doi:
Abstract
In the present study, an effort has been made on pre-harvest physiology of
Cymbidium
orchid hyb. ‘Pine Clash Moon
Venus’ as effected by pre-harvest foliar treatments and post-harvest physiology as effected by bud opening chemicals. Pre-harvest
foliar application with GA
3
(50 ppm) + BA (200 ppm) increased length of spikes, rachis length, number of florets per spike and
flower longevity on plants in orchids. Longest spike (60 cm), rachis (30cm), highest number of spikes /plant (4) and number of
florets per spike (15) were found with GA
3
(50 ppm) + BA (200 ppm). Carbohydrate content in leaf was estimated maximum with
BA (200 ppm) (182mg/g) followed by GA
3
(50 ppm) + BA (200 ppm) (170mg/g). Highest per cent of fully opened buds (75%) and
maximum vase life (45 days) were recorded with the chemical combination of Sugar 4% + Salicylic acid 200 ppm. Highest content
of carbohydrate (140mg/g) was estimated at bud stage in fresh condition. Minimum carbohydrate content (60mg/g) was observed
with Sugar 4% + 8-HQS (200 ppm) followed by Sugar 4% + Salicylic acid 200 ppm) (64mg/g).
Keywords
Cymbidium; Bud opening; Longevity; Carbohydrate
Introduction
Cymbidiums are among the most popular winter and
spring blooming semi-terrestrial orchids originated
from tropical and subtropical Asia, usually growing in
cooler climates at high elevations. Cymbidiums are
famous for its beautiful long lasting spikes derived
from species and hybrids. Post –harvest life of orchid
cut flowers is influenced by pre-harvest factors like
varietal differences, light intensity, sugar level of
flowers, temperature and water loss; harvest factors
including time and stage of harvest and post-harvest
factors viz. ethylene production, pre-cooling, pulsing,
use of preservatives, packaging and storage. In
Cymbidium,
75% bloom stage with the spike length of
60-90 cm shows vase life of 55-60 days. Bud opening
of flowers increases longevity of cut flowers by
reducing the sensitivity of flowers to extreme
temperatures, low humidity and ethylene, saving space
during shipment and extending the useful storage life.
The sugar concentration used is lower than the
concentration of pulsing and the optimum temperature
is kept lower.
1 Materials and Methods
In the present investigations, three experiments have
been carried out at NRC for Orchids, Pakyong,
Sikkim during 2010-11 and 2011-12 to study the
effect of pre-harvest treatments on growth and
flowering, vase life and post-harvest treatments for
opening of tight buds of cut flowers of
Cymbidium
hyb. ‘Pine Clash Moon Venus’.
1.1 Pre-harvest treatment
In the first experiment, there were altogether 11 foliar
treatments including control laid out in CRD design
with 9 replications. Treatments were control, 0.3%
NPK (19:19:19), Cow urine (1:20), Coconut water
(1:10), Calcium nitrate (1%), Micronutrient mixture
(0.05%), Glucose (0.1%), Mustard cake (1kg/50 litres),
GA
3
(50 ppm), BA (200 ppm), GA
3
(50 ppm) + BA
(200 ppm). All the foliar treatments were applied at 15
days interval from March to September till initiation
of spikes. Observations were recorded on pseudobulb
size (cm), maximum leaf length of flowering
pseudobulb (cm), spike length (cm), rachis length
(cm), number of spikes/plant, number of florets/spike,
floret diameter (cm) and flower longevity on plants
(days).
1.2 Estimation of total carbohydrates at flowering
stage
Changes in total carbohydrate content of pseudobulb,
leaf and flowers for all the 11 treatments were
estimated at flowering stage using Phenol Sulphuric
