Temperature, duration in simulated shipping, and thermal acclimatization on the development of chilling injury and subsequent flowering of Phalaenopsis

Bare-root Phalaenopsis Blume orchids are frequently shipped by air freight intercontinentally. It was not known how temperature and duration in shipping affect their subsequent performance during greenhouse production. On 15 Sept., container-grown plants of vegetatively propagated Phalaenopsis (Atien Kaala Group) 'TSC 22' were removed from pots and individually weighed immediately. These bare-root plants were packed in cartons with shredded newspaper and placed in growth chambers at 15, 20, 25, or 30 degrees C in darkness. After 4, 7, and 14 days, one-third of the plants were removed from each temperature treatment, weighed, planted in pots, and then placed in a greenhouse. Weight loss increased with increasing air temperature and duration in storage. Chilling injury (CI) was more severe at 15 degrees C than 20 *C storage temperature and was progressively more severe as storage duration increased from 4 to 14 days. Plants had no sign of CI at 25 degrees C or 30 degrees C regardless of storage duration. Leaf loss was most severe on plants stored at 15 *C for 7 days (three leaves) or 14 days (five leaves) or at 30 degrees C for 14 days (three leaves). Storing plants 14 days or less between 15 degrees C and 25 degrees C did not affect the time of spiking (emergence of the flowering shoot), but at 30 degrees C, spiking was delayed by 5 to 8 days regardless of the duration. Storage resulted in reduced flower count, but not flower size, regardless of temperature and duration. In a second experiment, potted Phalaenopsis plants of the same clone were thermal-acclimatized in growth chambers in mid-September for 10 days at 25 degrees C followed by another 10 days at 20 degrees C before being stored in pots or bare-root at 15 degrees C, 20 degrees C, 25 degrees C, or 30 degrees C for 10 days. Thermal acclimatizing at 25 *C and 20 degrees C reduced the severity of CI and leaf loss after being stored for 10 days at 15 degrees C either bare-root or in pots, but did not reduce leaf loss resulting from heat at 30 degrees C. Repotting or storing bare-root plants did not affect spiking or flowering date under otherwise similar conditions. Nondisturbed plants in pots stored at temperatures between 20 degrees C and 30 degrees C for 10 d had higher flower count as compared with bare-root plants that were similarly stored. Spiking of nonacclimatized, bare-root plants was delayed after 10 days at either storage temperature, whereas flowering was delayed by 15 degrees C and 30 degrees C only. Bare-root Phalaenopsis orchids should be shipped near 25 degrees C during the warm period of the year and between 25 degrees C and 15 degrees C in the late fall through early spring to avoid CI or heat stress.