4.1. Changes in weight of different floral organs
Flower buds obtained from plants forced at 21 ◦C/16 ◦C and
24 ◦C/21 ◦C showed similar weight changes and, therefore, physiological
differences between buds grown at both temperatures may
not be different from each other (Table 1). However, the incidence
of flower bud abscission was only observed in the smallest and
medium small flower buds when plants were forced at 21 ◦C/16 ◦C.
The smallest buds may not have enough assimilates accumulated
at harvest necessary for growth and development of the buds, particularly
for the growth of anthers and the filaments, which could
compete with tepals and possibly ovary and style for available
stored assimilates. It was hypothesized that the anthers at this
stage of bud development could be the strongest sink among floral
organs (Clement ˇ et al., 1996). In developed flowers, the weight
decrease in anthers of L. longiflorum flower buds was significant 1 d
after anthesis (Lee and Roh, 2011). Small buds may act as a strong
sink for assimilates when they are attached to the inflorescence.
However, when detached, small buds of about 6 cm in length at
harvest do not reach anthesis (José et al., 2001), thereby leading