Abstract Cut flowers face the problem of short display
life and lose their aesthetic value rapidly. In order to
enhance the vase life of gladiolus, its cut spikes were
subjected to different levels of gibberellic acid (GA3), viz.,
0, 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg L-1 in vase solution, during two
consecutive years 2010 and 2011. The GA3 treatment
significantly influenced the vase quality attributes and
antioxidants capacity of gladiolus cut flowers. Gibberellic
acid at 25 mg L-1 caused the longest time taken to open
the floret and increased the floret opening, vase life duration
and fresh weight. The highest antioxidative activities
of superoxide dismutase and free radicals scavenging were
also recorded with GA3 at 25 mg L-1. The highest peroxidase,
catalase activity and the lowest membrane leakage
were recorded with GA3 at 50 mg L-1. Present study
concludes that GA3 applied at lower concentrations
(25 mg L-1) renders greater beneficial effects on vase life
quality, membrane stability and antioxidant activities in
gladiolus cut spike, and further higher application rates
cause no improvement in the flower longevity.