Why can cut flowers thrive for a short period of time in water but usually ultimately die?
In: Biology
I think it has to do with the flower.
They require more energy and nutrients to maintain and so it eventually over exerts itself and dies. But I think if you took the flower off soon enough you could potentially root it.
They are not getting enough water and nutrients, so they eventually die.
Some notes : enough water and nutrients can cause the flower to live longer, which is why you sometimes see nutrient packets when buying bouquets of flowers and why you would change the water out with fresh nutrients/ water. Also, there are some types of flowers that can develop roots after they’ve been cut, so you can transplant just a cut flower!
Because they can’t photosynthesise anymore, they can’t get useful nutrients from the sun or soil anymore.
Plants have hormones like people, and they are made in different parts of the plant. The hormone auxin is produced at tips of leaves and new growth and travels downward to stems and roots, signaling that the plant is in tact. If you remove the new growth of an apical bud (the top part of the plant that is still growing upward) the plant no longer receives auxin and starts growing in other directions, setting up lateral buds. If a leaf blade is removed, the petiole leading to the blade will fall off, because auxin inhibits sene scence (cell death). So when removed, the tips of plants still produce auxin, signaling the flower to not die.
Cytokinin is the hormone of the plant responsible for cell growth and originates from the tip of roots. When you remove the flowers of the plant, they are no longer receiving cytokinin and will not do cell division or make new plant parts because they no longer receive the molecular signal that allows them to do so.
Source: bio major and molecular/microbiology TA/ grad student
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