Shi Jun science popularization China
On a bleak winter, if you place a few pots of vitality and bright flowers at home, it will not only bring new home atmosphere, but also make people's moods happy.
However, how to extend the "shelf life" of fresh cut flowers is a science.
There are so many tricks on the Internet. Just search for it casually, "Put sugar and aspirin in the water of a vase can make the flowers bloom for ten days and half a month without defeat". Is it really effective?
How should the "career" of freshly cut flowers be extended?
01 Can aspirin heal the "pain" of flowers?
Let’s talk about aspirin first.
It is undeniable that aspirin has many miraculous effects on treating our human illnesses:
First of all, it can resist platelet agglutination and prevent thrombosis; aspirin can also act on the hypothalamus and lower our body temperature;
In addition, because it can inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandins, it can also achieve miraculous effects of pain relief.
So, can aspirin relieve the "pain" of fresh cut flowers leaving plants and allow them to bloom longer?
Whether plants can perceive pain and whether it will affect the blooming time of flowers, we have no way of knowing whether they can perceive the flowers to bloom for a longer time, but it is certain that it is mainly related to three problems:
First, let the flowers get sufficient water;
Second, to supplement the flowers with appropriate energy;
Third, to inhibit the flowers from synthesizing endogenous plant hormones that promote withering.
Next, let’s start from these three points to see which methods are indeed conducive to maintaining and extending the beautiful appearance of fresh cut flowers.
02 Give it sufficient water not only to be inserted into water
Like all organisms, rose flowers composed of cells of large and small also need to be nourished by water.
Before picking, the "catheter" of the moisture transport system inside the stem will continuously send water from the root system, and the entire pipeline is filled with water;
After picking, the normally water-filled catheter will be temporarily dehydrated, especially at the base of the stem, and air continues to invade into a cavity, just like an embolism formed in blood vessels.
If you do not discharge these air, the moisture cannot be transported upward.
So, the practice of "trimming off two or three centimeters of the base" is wise and can help the catheter absorb water better from the vase.
In addition to the interference of the air cavity, some bacterial microorganisms also like to set up camp in the "transportation pipelines" in these environments.
In addition to "sitting in rows" to block the upward flow of water with your body, they will also cause some minor damage to the pipeline, interfering with the normal transportation of water.
This requires that the water must be clean, and filtered pure water is better.
In order to maintain the smooth flow of the catheter, we can add some substances such as calcium nitrate , calcium chloride ( chemical reagent is available in stores, usually in large packaging, it is recommended to share with friends).
This substance can not only maintain the normal ion concentration of cells, but also inhibit the growth of microorganisms.
Even if you can't get these chemical reagents, don't throw the roses home in a vase soaked in water. In fact, pure water and simple pruning can make your flowers bloom for longer.
03 If the flowers bloom freshly, the nutritional supply cannot be cut off
Even if they are pruned from the garden, the cells of the petals are still alive. Just like us, we need to breathe and metabolism and energy supply.
, especially flowers, because it is related to the production of next generation seeds, which is a key part that needs to be supplied. But after picking, the external energy supply is almost cut off.
experiments show that after picking, the starch content in roses will drop rapidly, and the "number of starch content in petals" directly determines the time when the roses in the bottle bloom.
So, in addition to water, we also need to "feed" the flowers appropriately, and sucrose is a good choice.
Generally speaking, a 3% sucrose solution is enough, a 1000 ml vase (see medium-sized cola bottle), about 2 tablespoons of sugar can satisfy.
needs to be emphasized, don’t think that the more you add, the better.
sugar water with too high concentration not only provides more nutrients, but will instead take away the moisture from the roses like the brine in the pickle jar.
Unless you want not a bouquet of watery flowers, but a candied rose.
04 The key to retaining the petals to remove the meaning of the petals must first become Salicylic acid
When the plant is severely damaged, or at the end of flowering, it will synthesize a large amount of ethylene ;
Under the action of ethylene, the severely damaged leaves or petals that have completed the task will break away from the parent body and turn into spring mud and merge into the earth.
Therefore, inhibiting the process of ethylene synthesis in plants is effective in preserving flowers and even preserving fruits. More and more studies have found that salicylic acid has such functions.
salicylic acid not only fights ethylene, but also improves plant resistance.
Under the induction of salicylic acid, plants can produce more proteins that fight fungi, bacteria and viruses, which to a certain extent organize fresh cut flowers to be infected by these harmful microorganisms, thereby prolonging the opening time.
However, the name salicylic acid may be unfamiliar with it. In fact, its synthetic acetylsalicylic acid is the famous aspirin.
Although the name is only two words different, aspirin cannot affect plants in the form of ontology. They must be decomposed to produce salicylic acid before they can act in plants.
aspirin can indeed decompose and produce salicylic acid in water, but the decomposition rate is very slow at room temperature; at the same time, the solubility of aspirin in water is very low, which also sets difficulties in supplying salicylic acid.
In experiments on roses, lily , gerbera and other flowers, the culture medium with aspirin did not extend the flowering period of fresh cut flowers.
Therefore, using aspirin to grow flowers is not groundless, but there is still a certain scientific basis, but the actual effect is not optimistic.
, it is easier to replace it with clean water and add some white sugar.
Another method is to slightly burn the apex of the stems, which can prevent bacteria from clogging the water supply pipeline to a certain extent.
Author | Shi Jun CEO of Corn Laboratory O
Review | Wang Kang Director of the Science Popularization Center of Beijing Botanical Garden Professor-level Senior Engineer
Source: Science rumor refutation, popular science Chinese
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