Flowering responses of Gladiolus tristis (L.) after exposing corms to cold treatment A. Gonza Âlez a,* , S. Ban Äo Ân b , J.A. Ferna Ândez b , J.A. Franco b , J.L. Casas c , J. Ochoa a a Departamento de Horticultura, C.I.D.A., Estacio Ân Sericõ Âcola, E-30150 La Alberca, Murcia, Spain b Departamento de Ingenierõ Âa Aplicada, Universidad de Murcia, Paseo de Alfonso XIII, 52. 30203-Cartagena, Murcia, Spain c Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales y Recursos Naturales, Universidad de Alicante, P.O. Box 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain Accepted 20 January 1998 Abstract The influence on the subsequent growth and development of Gladiolus tristis after exposing the corms to low temperatures was studied. Corms stored for 3 or 6 weeks at 58C and 90% RH flowered 20 and 11 days, respectively, before the controls, while the length of the flowering period increased by 35 days after the longer storage period. The vegetative and quality parameters of the gladiolus flowering stem were similar to those of the control, except that flowering stem and spike lengths increased after 6 weeks of cold treatment. # 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. Keywords: Gladiolus tristis L.; Vernalization; Corm; Flowering 1. Introduction The cut flower market is continuously looking for alternatives to the traditional genera such as Dianthus, Rosa and Chrysanthemum. Bulb flowers (Gladiolus, Iris, Narcissus, Tulipa, etc.) make up a substantial proportion of the cut flower trade, gladiolus being prized by florists for their showy flowering stems and by growers for their relative ease of production (Serek et al., 1994). Gladiolus tristis has many advantages over the standard Scientia Horticulturae 74 (1998) 279±284 * Corresponding author. Fax: +34 68 844802. 0304-4238/98/$19.00 # 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved PII S0304-4238(98)00092-2