Comparing the Effects of Various Solutions on the Lifespan of Cut Flowers

The objective of this study was to test sugar, a sugar-vinegar solution, and a sugar-bleachsolution (sugar, sugar + white vinegar, and sugar + bleach) in their effectiveness of preventingcarnation flower petals from wilting. The larger implications for this report will allow us to beable to give individuals the ability to keep their flowers alive for longer after being cut. Weperformed an one-way ANOVA test on the four groups which gave us a p-value of 0.0082. ATukey-Kramer test revealed that the base group (bleach + sugar solution) was statisticallysignificant from the water group (p-value= 0.0174), sugar group (p-value=0.0193), and the acidgroup (p-value= 0.0124). We predicted that the acid solution would be the most effective atpreventing wilting; however we found that the base group was more effective. Therefore, wesuggest that perhaps the pH effects were overpowered by the characteristics of bleach itself. Thebleach could be acting as a strong antimicrobial solution such that when added to the solution, itdecreases the amount of bacteria in the xylem allowing for a greater absorption of water by thecarnations, preventing wilting.