Vase life is one of the most important characters of postharvest cut flower quality. The onset of ethylene production and the amount of ethylene produced by flowers vary with the carnation cultivar, and thus influence their vase life. In the present study, differences in ethylene production and the response to exogenous ethylene among carnation cultivars were evaluated. Ten different cultivars: �Baltico�, �Domingo�, �Exotica�, �Famosa�, �Kiro�, �Madame Augier�, �Master�, �Mundo�, Pilar� and �Reina�were studied. Five flowers for each cultivar were exposed for 8 hours to 1 ìL L�1 exogenous ethylene concentration. Ethylene production, fresh weight and water uptake was measured daily throughout the experiments. The 10 different cultivars studied showed clear differences in vase life, ethylene production, onset time in ethylene production and response to exogenous ethylene. The shortest vase life was for �Exotica� flowers which was only 11.6 days, while �Baltico� and �Pilar� lasted 2.5-3 times longer than �Exotica�. Most of the investigated cultivars showed notable increases in the amount of ethylene. However, �Baltico� and �Pilar� flowers produced only a trace amount of ethylene and had the longest vase life. Results showed that cultivars with a long vase life (�Baltico� and �Pilar�) display high ethylene responsiveness and, in contrast, cultivars with a short vase life (�Exotica� and �Mundo�) present low responsiveness. The decline in fresh weight of cut flowers observed in the last phase of their vase life occurred earlier in short-lived cultivars than in the longer-lived ones. ; La vida util de la flor cortada es uno de los caracteres mas importantes de evaluacion de la calidad en poscosecha. El momento y cantidad de etileno producido por la flor de clavel varia entre cultivares y eso influye en la vida util de la flor. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar diferencias en la produccion de etileno y su repuesta al etileno exogeno en diez cultivares de clavel (�eBaltico�f, �eDomingo�f, �eExotica�f, �eFamosa�f, �eKiro�f, �eMadame Augier�f, �eMaster�f, �eMundo�f, Pilar�f y �eReina�f). Se expusieron durante 8 h cinco flores de cada cultivar a una concentracion de 1 �ÊL L.1 de etileno exogeno. Se midio la produccion de etileno, peso fresco y absorcion de agua diariamente. Los 10 cultivares estudiados presentaron diferencias claras en la vida util de la flor, tiempo y produccion de etileno y respuesta al etileno. �eExotica�f fue el cultivar con vida util mas corta (11,6 dias), mientras �eBaltico�f y �ePilar�f presentaron una vida util 2,5- 3 veces mayor que �eExotica�f. La mayoria de los cultivares produjeron una notable cantidad de etileno, sin embargo �eBaltico�f y �ePilar�f, con la vida util mas larga, produjeron solo cantidades trazas de etileno. Estos cultivares de vida util larga (�eBaltico�f y �ePilar�f) mostraron alta sensibilidad al etileno, sin embargo, los de vida util corta (�eExotica�f y �eMundo�f) presentaron baja sensibilidad. La reduccion del peso fresco observado en la primera fase de la vida util de la flor, ocurre antes en los cultivares con una vida util corta que larga.