Effect of Pre and Post Anthesis Foliar Application of Calcium on Postharvest Quality of Gerbera Cut Flower

Postharvest quality of cut flowers is strongly affected by pre-harvest plant nutrition management. Calcium supply as an immobile element, especially in greenhouse conditions with lower evapotranspiration than field crop production is very important. This experiment was conducted to assay the effects of foliar application of calcium in different development stages (before anthesis, after anthesis to first flower harvest, whole growth cycle) of two cut gerbera cultivars ('G4' and 'OR') compared to control plants (without calcium application) in a factorial experiment based on the completely randomized design with three replications. Results showed that cultivar and the moment of spraying have a great interactions on vase life, flower diameter, stem diameter and calcium uptake. 'Or', when sprayed before anthesis, showed a longer vase life, higher calcium uptake and larger stem and flower diameter compared to the control. For cultivar G4 differences were smaller and spraying should be done best in the stage from anthesis to first harvest to achieve a longer vase life.