Immersing stems of carnation flowers ( Dianthus caryophyllus L. cv. White Sim) in solutions containing a silver thiosulfate complex prepared by combining silver nitrate with sodium thiosulfate (molar ratio 1:4) doubled their vase life (from 5 to more than 10 days). The effect could be achieved by treating stems with solutions containing as little as 1.0 mM Ag with a pulse as short as 10 minutes. Silver uptake estimations indicated that a minimum of 0.5 μ mol Ag was required per stem for maximum vase life and that more than 5 μ mol Ag per stem was toxic.
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Reid et al. (1980) studied this question.