Preservation of the cut flowers - Essay Example

Preservation of the cut flowers Cutting flowers is a science. There are various points that need to be followed in order to make theflower survive as long as possible. Without proper care the flowers in the vase will probably die in less than five days. In most of the cases, people just store these flowers in water, which is absolutely not enough if the purpose is to keep those flowers healthy for a long time. Thus, the technique of growing plants, cutting the flower and the medium used to store them are important in order to store flowers for a longer time. In this experiment, two factors were more closely studied, a) Nutrition in the water, b) pH of the water. Introduction: Floral plants are grown indoors, in a garden or for floral farming. These plants need to be handled very gently. Their nutritional requirements need to be taken care of in order to get very good quality flowers. Various factors that need to be considered while growing plants are soil, temperature, light, watering and fertilizer. A good care of the plants will results in a better production of flowers. Flowers are cut from plants for two main reasons, a) to promote more flowering on the plants, b) to make a floral bouquet. In this project the focus is mainly on the science behind the preservation of the cut flowers. There are four main factors that play an important role in the storage of flowers they are as follows. 1. Temperature: Temperature is a critical factor. Photosynthesis in plants occurs from sunlight, carbon dioxide and water to produce sugars. Sugar undergoes respiration to produce energy. This energy is then utilized to produce a flower. Thus higher the respiration faster is the flower development and faster is its death. The rate of respiration is directly proportional to the temperature. Thus, higher the temperature, higher is the respiration rate. This is the reason why flowers are usually stored in lower temperature. 2. Water: Water is indeed another critical factor for the cut flower to survive. Cut flowers dry out very quickly. This is due to the fact that the flowers evaporate a lot. Evaporation is even greater if the air is dry and hot. Thus a constant supply of water should be made available. Storing the flowers in a vase with water can help with this. The xylem tissue in the floral stem then transports water from the vase to the floral bud. Re- cut flowers: If the flower is cut in the air, the air bubbles enters the xylem and block it. This will lead to blockage of the only water transport route to the floral bud. It has been shown previously (Jones, 2001) that the air bubbles usually settled down in the xylem about 2 cm from the opening. Thus in order to get rid of the air bubble, one may re-cut the stem inside the water; doing this will help getting rid of the air bubble. Chlorine treatment: Another source of xylem blockage is the bacteria in the water itself. These bacteria proliferate over time and block the xylem and will also lead to foul smell. Thus in order to avoid that, water containing one-teaspoon chlorine per lit water can be used. Chlorine is a disinfectant and keeps the bacteria count low. Water temperature: Water temperature is important for the blooming. Cold water is useful in the hot weather. It keeps the flower cooler and thus delays its development and death. Sometimes it could be necessary to use warm water around 40oC especially in the case of severely dehydrated flowers as it passes quickly through xylem. Water pH: pH of the water avoids bacterial growth too. A pH of around three is acidic and keeps the contamination away. Apart from this, the acidic water passes quickly through xylem. Vinegar is a good source to reduce the pH. 3. Preservative: As the flower is cut from the plant, it needs a source of energy. The best way is to add sucrose to the media. 2% sucrose is usually sufficient for a normal floral development. Nevertheless, sugar in the media also promotes bacterial growth, thus it is important to lower the pH and to add disinfectant as well. 4. Ethylene: Ethylene is a plant hormone – a gas that is produced in the flower. Excessive ethylene can hurt the flower. Fortunately it is possible to lower the ethylene accumulation in the flower by storing them at lower temperatures. Materials and methods: For this project, the plant rose was selected for all further experimental analysis. Plant growth: Four-week-old plants were bought at a local plant nursery ensuring that they are all of same age and treated exactly the same way. After bring them home, they were treated exactly the same way for 48 hours before cutting the flowers. Vase: Standard sized one-liter vase made of glass were used for all the experiments. Cutting equipment: New sharp scalpels were used. Each scalpel was used only once for cutting the stem. Disinfectant: 4% stock solution of chlorine was used. Vinegar was bought from the local supermarket. Conditions for storing the cut flowers: All cut flowers for the experiments were stored in separate vase in a room with ambient light. Fresh air circulation was insured through an open window. Temperature inside the room was maintained at 71oF or 22oC. Weighing scale: A standard milligram precision weighing scale was used to weigh the flowers at regular intervals. Water: Ordinary tap water was used for all the experiments. All the flowers were cut at a 45o angle in the water. For each experiment three flowers (triplicate samples) were used to ensure statistical significance. The pH experiment: Three control flowers and three treatment flowers were put in two separate vases. They were treated exactly the same way except that in the treatment vase the pH of the water was lowered to 3 with vinegar. The sucrose experiment: Three control flowers and three treatment flowers were put two separate vases. They were treated exactly the same except that in the treatment vas, water containing 2% sucrose was added whereas in the control vas, no sucrose was added. Results and discussion: Figure 1 and 2 proves that both sucrose and vinegar are important for the survival of the cut flowers. In figure 1, both the controls and the flowers to be treated had the similar mean weight of 10 grams. The weight is the mean weight from three flowers. However, as the days pass, the mean weight of the controls decreases considerable whereas the mean weight of the flowers grown in the sucrose is maintained at the same level. This proves that sucrose is an important medium for the survival of the flowers. In figure 2, same as figure1, the weight of the controls and the treatment flowers is similar. But as the days pass, the mean weight of the controls decreases considerably where as the weight of the treatment flowers is maintained at the same level. This proves that pH of the medium is an important criteria for the survival of the plants. Conclusion: Sucrose acts as an energy source and vinegar maintains the pH of the medium. The addition of these to the storage medium is an important factor for the long survival of the cut flowers. Figure 1: Graph showing the flower weight in grams (Y axes) and the days on X axes. Figure 2: Graph showing the flower weight in grams (Y axes) and the days on X axes. Work Cited Jones, R. (2001). Caring for cut flowers. New York: Landlinks press. Read More