A Plant's Life Continued...

"When one of my plants die, I die a little inside, too." Linda Solegato"

First I'd like to draw your attention to a new feature we are adding to the blog for our e-mail version readers. Unfortunately, right now Feedburner (the process that sends out the blog to the e-mail subscribers) does not have a way to allow readers to leave a comment. So we have added at the end of each daily post a link to leave us a comment. Please use this link instead of replying to the e-mail you received with the blog. That way I can post the comments we receive from the e-mail subscribers as well.

Speaking of which, Mary from Oregon is asking about her poinsettia! She received one for Christmas and wanted to know if she could plant it outside and if so, should she plant it in shade? We would love to hear from you if you have an answer for Mary! Mary, according to our sources,  poinsettias will survive in Zones 13 and 16-24 outside, all other areas they must be a houseplant or greenhouse plant. They need full sun so an ideal place is by a sunny window. They do NOT like their 'feet' wet. Don't let the water stand in the pot saucer. They are a pretty high maintenance plant but well worth the effort.

 

Yesterday we were following the plant's birth and growth. The roots now have established an anchor for the plant and also stored food. Behind the root tip or cap there is a zone of cells that produce single-celled root hairs. These now provide the actual absorption of water and nutrients for the plant. They are very delicate and once exposed to sunshine or dry air, they quickly shrivel and die.


Wonder why your new plant wilts when you transplant it? In a new transplant, the loss of root hairs causes wilting. Until roots grow a new set of hairs, they cannot meet the needs for water and food imposed by the leaves. So when transplanting, keep that in mind, and try to expose the roots to air as little as possible.


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