Joe placed a box of apples in his flower cooler. The next day he saw some cut flowers looking bad and deteriorating. Could the apples have caused this problem?
a. Yes, fruit produces ethylene gas which can cause flowers to senesce.
b. Yes, diseases on fruit are easily transferred to cut flowers causing their deterioration.
c. No, storing fruit in a cooler with cut flowers in never a problem. The flowers deteriorated from some other pathogen,
d. No, the apples could not have caused damage to the cut flowers in such a short time.
Answer: a. Yes, fruit produces ethylene gas which can cause flowers to senesce.