Improvement of the stem firmness in gerbera by increased uptake of

calcium
Herman Eijkelboom, Agronomy manager at Tessenderlo Kerley International

Herman.Eijkelboom@tessenderlo.com

06-22483482

Much has been achieved in improving the quality of gerbera. However some varieties, especially in the
winter, have problems with the firmness of the stems. Often one can find gerberas in bouquets that are
supported by an iron wire so that the stems do not bend.

Firmness depends on several factors but it is common knowledge that calcium plays a key role. Calcium
is often supplied, by the gerbera growers to their flowers, as calcium nitrate and calcium chloride. The
growers, in particular, have been using calcium chloride at higher rates in recent years. Besides these
sources of calcium, growers can also supply calcium as CaTs® (a solution of calcium thiosulfate).
Thiosulfate (S2O32) is structurally similar to sulfate (SO42-) where one oxygen atom is replaced by a sulfur
atom. Calcium thiosulfate can be dissolved in water. Thiosulfate is transformed into sulfate within a few
weeks.

Thiosulfate is also present in STS (silver thiosulfate solution) which is used to increase the vase life of
flowers. Silver thiosulfate in a solution does not only contain silver and thiosulfate ions but also
complexed forms like [Ag2(S2O3)2]2-. These negatively charged complexes appear to be transported much
more easily through the floem vessels than positively charged silver atoms. This difference is due to the
fact that the wall of the vessel is negatively charged and positively charged particles will ‘stick’ to the
wall of the vessel. The uptake of silver applied as silver thiosulfate is therefore higher compared to the
uptake of silver applied as silver nitrate.

Vegetable growers in Australia apply CaTs® in tomato and bell pepper to reduce blossom end rot.
Blossom end rot, just like stem firmness, is related to calcium uptake. For every 100,000 liters of drip
irrigation solution, growers in Australia apply 10 liters of CaTs®. These 10 liters of CaTs® are equivalent
to 0.2 mmol calcium and 0.2 mmol thiosulfate per liter.

In a trial with bell pepper at the University of Teheran, application of CaTs® demonstrated a positive
effect on the calcium content of the fruit and their firmness. The bell peppers from plants that were
grown with 10 liter CaTs®/100.000 liter had a better shelf life after 20 days, than those from plants that
did not receive CaTs®. The calcium content in bell peppers from plants treated with CaTs® twice as high
as the control. The control (in which all the calcium was supplied as calcium nitrate) had a similar
amount of calcium in the drip solution since plants with CaTs® received less calcium nitrate.
Effect of thiosulfate on the shelf life of bell pepper after 20 days.
The control on the left was wrinkled while the treatment with CaTs® on the right looked more smooth.
The 2e and 3e bell pepper are treatment with different rates of KTS®(potassium thiosulfate)

To see if CaTs® has a similar effect on the uptake of calcium and the firmness of gerberas, Rudi and
Günther Nisters (gerbera growers in Germany near the Dutch border) started to apply CaTs® to their
flowers. The CaTs® was added to the A-tank and the concentration was comparable to that used in
Australia. Before Nisters started adding the CaTs®, 20 flowers of the variety Café were taken to the lab
to determine calcium content and firmness. For control 20 flowers of Café from a flower grower 15 km
away from Nisters in the Netherlands were taken.

Cultivar Café

In flowers, firmness is measured by measuring how much pressure is needed to bend the stem
(Brookfield texture analyzer). This measurement showed no difference between gerberas from both
growers at the start, when no CaTs® had been applied. This demonstrates that, in this study, the flowers
of the other flower grower can be used as a control.
Measurement of firmness of the stem

After 4 days, Rudi and Günther Nisters already had the impression that the leaves were harder and that
the crop had less difficulties coping with sudden changes in the weather. After 3 weeks, the
measurements for firmness were conducted again. The flowers that were harvested were less than 5 cm
height at the time Nisters started to apply CaTs®. The stem and the flowers were almost entirely grown
in the presence of CaTs® in the drip water. The stems of gerbera from Nisters showed a significant
difference in comparison with those of the control. Stems treated with CaTs® were 20% more firm.

6,00

5,00
Normalised stress (GPa)

4,00

3,00

2,00

1,00

0,00
Gerbera: Café without CaTs Café with CaTs

Effect of CaTs® on firmness of stems

This difference was confirmed by checking the calcium uptake of the crop. At the start of the test,
calcium content in the stem was 0.31%, and was increased to 0.36% 3 weeks later for the flowers of
Nisters. An even bigger effect was found for the flowers. Here the calcium content increased from 0.39%
to 0.60% while at the control no difference was found, either in the stems or the flowers.

CaTs® appears to play an important role in the uptake of calcium and therefore has a positive effect on
the quality of gerbera.
® CaTs is a registered trademark of Tessenderlo Group NV/SA