Effect of calcium on the stem quality of cut herbaceous peony

In order to solve the problem of stem curve of herbaceous peony cut flowers in cultivation,three varieties:Huangjinlun,Yinxianxiuhongpao and Zifengchaoyang were used in the research as plant materials to study the effect of different forms and concentration of Ca2+.Altogether four different Ca2+ treatments were arranged during the pre-harvest stage:2% CaCl2 and (CH3COO)2Ca,4% CaCl2 and (CH3COO)2Ca.Besides,principal component analysis was used to evaluate the different treatments synthetically.The results showed that:organic Ca2+ was superior to inorganic Ca2+;the best concentration of (CH3COO)2Ca was 4%;the effect of spraying Ca2+ to the stem quality of herbaceous peony showed obvious differences among the three varieties.With 4%(CH3COO)2Ca,the stem quality of Huangjinlun and Yinxianxiuhongpao could be improved a lot while the calcium treatment was unsuited to Zifengchaoyang.