4.3. Stem elongation; stem cavity
Stem elongation was quite small and was confined to the uppermost 10 cm of the stem. Nonetheless, this elongation pushed the floral head slightly upwards. As it did not take place at about 12 cm below the floral head (in summer; and lower in winter), elongation growth did not weaken the stem segment where bending occurred. Two days of dry storage at 5 ◦C prior to vase life reduced the rate of stem elongation and delayed the time to stem bending. The relationship between stem elongation and stem bending in this experiment might or might not be causal. Seven days of dry storage at 5 ◦C prior to vase life also reduced the rate of stem elongation but did not delay the time to stem bending. Treatment with salicylic acid also strongly inhibited stem elongation but did not affect bending. These data suggest absence of a relationship between stem elongation and stem bending.