| dc.description.abstract | Success in the export market of roses requires continuous introduction of new cultivars to match the consumers‘ demand, however, Uganda is located far away from the market and this requires growers to plant cultivars that inherently have a long vase life using appropriate vase solutions, so there is need to test the vase life of rose cultivars that are candidates for introduction in Uganda. This research explored the influence of pre- and at-harvest stem quality attributes on the vase life of six new genotypes in Bleach, Sucrose, Bleach + Sucrose, and Distilled water. The research intends to contribute towards increased production and commercialization of cut rose flowers in Uganda through evaluation of the performance of the six rose genotypes pre-harvest and at harvest, determination of the effect of locally available vase solutions on vase life of six rose genotypes, and determination of the relationship between pre-harvest and at harvest stem quality and vase life of cut rose flowers. The six new rose genotypes RSN – 17 – 1422, RSN – 19 – 1947, RSN – 19 – 32, RSN – 19-58, RSN – 19 – 11, and SENTIJOYFUL are grown in the horticulture greenhouse unit in MUARIK where pre and at harvest parameters data were collected on stem length, stem diameter, leaf number, and stem weight before setting experiment in post-graduate laboratory to determine the influence of stem quality and vase solutions on cut flower vase life in the six rose genotypes. The statistical analysis was done using R studio software version R 4.3.1 for the data collected through: One-way ANOVA (pre harvest parameters), Two-way ANOVA (Genotypes and vase solutions), and multiple linear regression (effect of all pre harvest, at harvest attributes of rose stems on vase life). The results of the analyzed data shows that the pre-harvest and at-harvest stem quality of the six rose genotypes varied significantly, and the vase solutions had a significant impact on the vase life of the genotypes. Additionally, there was undoubtedly a relationship between the pre-harvest and at-harvest stem quality and the vase life of cut rose flowers especially at week 3 and 4, these guided the acceptance of the study hypothesis. On the six rose genotypes, bleach had the highest mean number of days (9.72) on the vase life, compared to 6.39 days for the control (Distilled water). SENTIJOYFUL with fairly longer stem length than the other five genotypes have the highest number of days (8.58) in vase solutions used. | en_US |
