Foliar Application of Anti-frost Solution Influences Physiological and Biochemical Parameters in Bougainvillea, Canna and Petunia

Frost is the coating or deposit of ice that may form in cold conditions, usually overnight. If the temperature drops far enough for the plant cells to freeze, non-hardy plants will die. Therefore, a research was laid out to study the influence of an anti-frost solution on growth, flower quality and biochemical parameters of ornamental plants. The anti-frost solution was applied as foliar sprays in different concentrations of T0: 0 (mg L-1) (only water) as control, T1: 250 (mg L-1), T2: 500 (mg L-1), T3: 1000 (mg L-1), T4: 1500 (mg L-1), T5: 2000 (mg L-1) ‘ferti-frost’, on bougainvillea (Bougainvillea glabra), canna (Canna indica) and petunia (Petunia axillaris). Results showed that flowering percentage and flowering duration in the treated plants was higher than those in control. The highest flowering percentage and flowering duration were observed in T5 (81.22% and 13.86 days, respectively). By as anti-frost solution rate was increased, damaging percentage was decreased. The lowest damaging percentage of 69.77% was associated with T5. Total chlorophyll was enhanced with the rate of anti-frost solution. The highest total chlorophyll content belonged to T5 (50.80 mg g-1). The comparison of the effect of different treatments on proline content revealed that control had highest proline content of 0.56 μM g-1. As anti-frost rate was increased, proline content was decreased so that it was minimized in T5 (0.08 μM g-1). Electrical conductivity was affected by different treatments in all flowers. The highest electrical conductivity was recorded for control (9.0 mS g-1 cm-1) and the lowest was related to T5 (2.26 mS g-1 cm-1). All treatments differed significantly at the 0.1% level.