Gardening: Caring for plants, trees, and flowers cutting
Cutting all live plants, including the tree, just before they are placed in water helps keep the greenery hydrated. When stems or branches are removed from a plant, and they can no longer access liquid, they start callusing over to retain liquid within the stems. The calluses slow and eventually stop the stem from losing or taking up moisture therefore, it is important to keep stems submersed in moisture to keep them hydrated.
According to the Michigan State University, Department of Horticulture and Forestry, a freshly cut tree will take up to a quart of water per inch of trunk diameter per day. The more water the tree takes up, the fresher and more hydrated the tree resulting in needle retention. Keeping the tree stump covered in water is very important. There are products along with homemade solutions that are reported to make trees stay fresh longer but studies have found that the cut tree does best with just freshwater.
When fresh boughs are outside they will keep for weeks as long as they are not in direct sunlight and the weather is cool. Place them in the warmth of the house, without direct access to moisture and they will dry out quickly – once the needles turn a dull shade of green and fall from the branches.
Fresh floral arrangements should last a week if the stems are kept in water. Changing the water, cleaning the container, and recutting the stems extend the life of the flowers. Be sure to remove any leaves that will become submerged as they will rot adding bacteria to the water.
Houseplants can easily be forgotten when people are busy. Choose a day of the week to water and take care of the potted plants in the home. Being consistent with the watering time makes it less likely that the plants will be over or underwater. This is especially important in the winter months when plants are dormant and require less moisture.
More plants are shipped to stores before holidays encouraging people to add them to the festive decorations. Do not be surprised if these plants do not last past the holidays as they do not thrive in an average house.
Placing several small plants in a pot can be attractive. When doing this care must be taken to ensure that all plants placed in a container or pan, have the same growing requirements; water, sunlight, and temperature. When plants with different growing requirements are in one pot, chances are one or all plants will become stressed. Regardless of how the container is watered, plants will either be too dry or too wet and it will be evident in the condition of the plants.
Plants that receive too bright of a light turn brown. If they receive too little light they might not grow or will grow towards the light. When the temperature is wrong, expect leaves to fall.
Do not purchase a container of plants if the care label suggests different care for each plant or one or more plants in a container look stressed.
Seasonal plants are grown to look attractive for the holidays. If they do not look healthy, leave them on the shelf.
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