INTRODUCTION Dianthus caryophyllus commonly known as carnation belongs to family Caryophyllaceae. This flower is a symbol of passion and desire and it is the national flower of Spain. It is an important cut flower owing to its excellent keeping quality, ability to withstand long-distance transport, wide range of forms and ability to rehydrate after shipping therefore being preferred by flower growers of exporting countries as compared to other flowers (Nowak and Rudnicki 1990). However, carnation flower is susceptible to ethylene. Ethylene production is responsible for senescence in flowers and is an important signal for the onset of programmed cell death (PCD) of flowers (Sisler et al., 1983; Buanong et al., 2006). Various inhibitors of ethylene production play an important role in improving the vase life and delaying the PCD in cut carnation flowers (Van Staden, 1995; Zhou et al., 2005). Ethanol is an inhibitor of both ethylene synthesis and action which helps in inhibiting sensitivity to ethylene, inhibits ethylene action, and inhibits ethylene biosynthesis (Van Doorn, 2002; Hashemabadiet al., 2021). Sucrose provides energy, controls water balance, delays ethylene production thus reduces ethylene sensitivity and maintains flower freshness. Present experiment was conducted to in order to find out the effect of different concentration of sucrose and ethanol as a pulsing solution on vase life of carnation. MATERIAL AND METHODS The experiment entitled “Effect of ethanol and sucrose on extending vase life of carnation cut flower” was conducted with completely randomized design consisting of 7 treatments and 3 replications in Horticulture laboratory, Department of horticulture, School of Agriculture, Lovely professional university, Punjab during 2021-2022. The cut stem of carnation cv. ‘Bizet’ was collected at paint brush stage and their stem was recut at 40cm height and the basal two pair of leaves was removed in laboratory and their initial weight was taken by using weighing balance. After which initial flower diameter was also recorded with the help of scale. Then these carnations cut flower stems were kept in solutions of ethanol and sucrose in an initial volume of 300ml for 24hrs where the concentrations were different for each treatment. The treatments were: T1-control (distilled water), T2-10% sucrose + 0% ethanol, T3-10% sucrose + 4% ethanol, T4-10% sucrose + 8% ethanol, T5-15% sucrose + 0% ethanol, T6-15% sucrose + 4% ethanol, T7-15% sucrose + 8% ethanol. After 24hrs the carnation stems were transferred to a uniform vase solution of 5% sucrose + citric acid 200ppm in an initial volume of 300ml. Any changes in the carnation stem were regularly evaluated at regular intervals. Parameters like flower weight (at an interval of 3 days), flower diameter (at an interval of 3 days), water uptake (at an interval of 5 days), bent neck, vase life, and petal color were taken into consideration and accordingly the results were obtained. The data generated was subjected to statistical analysis by using WASP (web Agri stat package) software by ICAR. RESULT AND DISCUSSION A. Effect of different concentration of ethanol and sucrose as a pulsing solution on increase in carnation flower stem weight (gm) Data presented in Table 1, revealed that maximum increase in flower stem weight was observed in treatment T7 (8.49g on 18th day of pulsing), when pulsed with 15% sucrose + 8% ethanol which was found to be statistically superior to all other treatments and increase was seen gradually on consecutive days i.e., on 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 18th, day after pulsing. Minimum increase in flower stem weight on 15th day of pulsing was observed in treatment T1 (4.65g), when carnation was simply treated with distilled water. After which there was decrease in flower stem weight. While the increase in flower stem weight was found to statistically at par in treatment T5 and T6, when carnation was pulsed with 15% sucrose + 0% ethanol and 15% sucrose + 4% ethanol respectively; on 15th days after pulsing. It was observed that after 15th day of pulsing (in treatments T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6) and after 18th of pulsing (in treatment T7) decrease in flower stem weight was there which may be due to vase life of carnation coming to an end. Sucrose promoted bud opening much faster in treatment T7 as compared to when they were kept in control i.e., distilled water. Sucrose helped in supplying of substrates for respiration and provided energy thus increasing flower metabolism which helps in increasing vase life and helping cut flowers harvested at bud stage to open, which otherwise would not occur naturally (Pun and Ichimura 2003; Ichimura et al., 2022). Maximum increase in flower stem weight as seen in treatment T7 and gradual increase in flower stem weight from treatment T1 to treatment T7 may be due to maximum water uptake and maintenance of water balance. Sucrose also contributed to increase in flower stem weight as it helped in providing energy to cut stem. Ethanol helped in decreasing ethylene production as it acts an antimicrobial agent thus helping in inhibiting any microbial growth and preventing bacterial plugging of water conducting tissues and therefore there is maximum increase in fresh flower weight in treatment T7 having more concentration of ethanol as compare to other treatments. Citric acid on the other hand also helped in increasing water conductance in xylem of cut carnation thus increasing fresh flower stem weight and improving vase life. B. Effect of different concentration of ethanol and sucrose as a pulsing solution on increase in flower diameter (cm) Data presented in Table 2, revealed that maximum increase in flower diameter was observed in treatment T7 (9.81 cm on 18th day of pulsing), when pulsed with 15% sucrose + 8% ethanol which was found to be statistically superior to all other treatments and increase was seen gradually on consecutive days i.e., on 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th day after pulsing. Minimum increase in flower diameter was observed in treatment T1 (5.16cm on 15th day of pulsing), when carnation was simply kept in distilled water. After which there was decrease in flower diameter. While the increase in flower diameter was found to statistically at par in treatment T3 and T2, when carnation was pulsed with 10% sucrose + 4% ethanol and 10% sucrose + 0% ethanol respectively; on 6th and 9th days after pulsing. It was observed that after 15th day of pulsing (in treatments T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6) and after 18th of pulsing (in treatment T7) decrease in flower diameter was there which may be due to vase life of carnation coming to an end. Presence of sucrose and carbohydrates help in opening of flower bud which otherwise could not open naturally (Pun and Ichimura 2003). Essential substrate are provided by sucrose for respiration, structural material and carbon skeletons for opening of bud and thus increasing flower diameter gradually (Mayak et al., 1973; Krause et al., 2021). Sucrose promotes cell expansion and petals markedly mark outwards (Norikoshi et al., 2016) as compared to control treatment where no sucrose was present. On the other hand presence of ethanol and citric acid helped in reducing any microbial activity and ethylene production which might be helpful in enhancing flower opening and flower diameter. Germicides and sucrose together in right concentrations can be helpful in enhancing flower opening and diameter as seen Antirrhinum (Asrar, 2012) and Rose (Norikoshi et al., 2016). C. Effect of different concentration of ethanol and sucrose as pulsing solution on amount of water uptake (ml) by carnation flower cut stem Data presented in Table 3, revealed that maximum amount of water uptake was observed in treatment T7 (37.50 ml on 20th day of pulsing), when pulsed with 15% sucrose + 8% ethanol which was found to be statistically superior to all other treatments and increase was seen gradually on consecutive days i.e., 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th days after pulsing. Minimum amount of water uptake was observed in treatment T1 (1.06 ml on 5th day of pulsing and 33.16 ml on 20th day of pulsing), when carnation was simply kept in distilled water. While the amount of water uptake was found to be statistically at par in treatment T7 and T6, when carnation was pulsed with 15% sucrose + 8% ethanol and 15% sucrose + 4% ethanol respectively; on 15th days after pulsing. Sucrose helps in maintaining the water balance, turgidity (Chaudhary and Khanal 2018) and helps in absorbing more water by lowering of osmotic potential of flower tissues thus improving the amount of water uptake (Wani et al., 2009). On the other hand, ethanol and citric acid acted as successful germicide inhibiting vascular blockage caused by various micro-organisms and thus avoiding any proliferation of bacteria and improving water uptake. It was observed that after 20th day of pulsing there was gradual decline in amount of water uptake which may be due to proliferation of microbes, air embolism of cut stems and plant reaction to wounding (Tsegaw et al., 2011). D. Effect of different concentration of ethanol and sucrose as pulsing solution on vase life of carnation Data presented in Table 4, revealed that maximum vase life was observed in treatment T7 (21.56 days), when pulsed with 15% sucrose + 8% ethanol which was found to be statistically at par with T6 (21.12 days) when treated with 15 % sucrose + 4% ethanol. Minimum vase life was observed in treatment T1 (18.60 days), when carnation was simply kept in distilled water. Treatment T7 had the longer vase life which was justified from the fact that ethanol was effective in increasing the vase life of carnation by inhibiting ethylene biosynthesis in carnation flowers (Wu et al., 1992). On the other hand, both ethanol and citric acid helps in controlling microorganism’s activity thus preventing any vascular blockage, maintaining better water absorption, preventing any water stress and wilting of petals therefore increasing vase life. Also, once the vascular blockage is avoided by the use of ethanol, sucrose then facilitates higher intake of water and accumulation of total soluble sugars in petal cells by enhancing osmotic driving force for uptake of solution, thus increasing vase life. These findings were supported by studies of Nagarajuna et al. (2002); Hutchinson et al. (2003) in tuberose and Nijasure et al. (2004) in gladiolus.