What Effect does Glucose have on Longevity of Cut Flowers

While still attached to a plant, the flower profits by the sugars that the plant's leaves fabricate through the procedure of photosynthesis. When the flower is cut from the plant, the quantity of leaves giving food is significantly restricted, just like the measure of light accessible for food creation. Accordingly, the measure of food accessible to the flower is definitely decreased. To compensate for this misfortune, glucose is added to the water  , the flower stems are put into, to ensure the continued development of the flower and greater longevity.

 Aim- To understand the effect of glucose on longevity of cut flowers (Peregrinas)

I used Peregrina for this experiment .Common Name-Spicy Jatropha ,Botanical Name- Jatropha integerrima.

Peregrina is an evergreen bush or little tree, with glossy leaves and bunches of star molded red, pink flowers. The plant has an adjusted or tight domed structure and grows up to 15 ft tall with a spread of around 10 ft.The leaves are very variable, up to 7 inches long. They may be entire and elliptic or oval, or they may be fiddle shaped, or they may have three sharp pointed lobes. Leaves are bronze when young and brownish on the undersides. The flowers are about 2.5 cm across and borne in many-bloomed groups at branch-closes, almost all year round.

In this experiment, I brought a few peregrina , cut them, and put them in glasses of glucose and water, and one with simply water. I named them 50 ml, which has 50 ml of glucose and 200 ml of water, the following marked is 20 ml, which has 20 ml of glucose, 200 ml of water, and the following is labelled 10 ml, which has 10 ml of glucose, 200 ml of water, and the last labelled is No sugar, so it has no Glucose, however only 200 ml of water. I will experiment if the peregrinas in the glasses with more glucose will survive for a less amount of time, or more amount of time then the ones with less glucose, and with just water, and find out if extra glucose is healthy for flowers or not.

Purpose- My motivation is to discover what impact does glucose arrangement has on the life span of cut flowers (glucose is a sort of sugar required by all plants and creatures).

 Hypothesis- The measure of glucose (nourishment for the flower) a flower gets, enables the flowers to survive for longer time. On the off chance that the plant is given more sugar, it can endure longer than its typical life expectancy.

Apparatus-

• honey ( a sort of glucose)

• 4 containers

• One sort of flowers, peregrinas(at least four)

• 2 estimating containers(one up to 15 ml, and one up to 1 litre)

• Knife to cut the blossoms.

Procedure-

• Four glasses were named as No Sugar, 10 ml, 20 ml and 50 ml.

• 200 ml of water was added to "No sugar" glass and one freshly cut peregina was added to it.

• 200 ml of water and 10 ml of honey was added to "10 ml" glass and second freshly cut peregina was added to it.

• 200 ml of water and 20 ml of honey was added to "20 ml" glass and third freshly cut peregina was added to it.

• 200 ml of water and 50 ml of honey was added to "50 ml" glass and fourth freshly cut peregina was added to it.

• The day and time for the beginning of the experiment was noted.

• Everyday flowers were assessed to check whether any of the flower's petal is tumbling off, or if its petals or leaves are evolving shading. This meant that the flower is dead .

• It was noticed to what extent each flower endure. This decided whether the measure of included glucose helped the flower endure longer or shorter measure of time. 

Observations-

DATE	NO SUGAR	10 mL	20 mL	50 mL
13/06/20	ALIVE	ALIVE	ALIVE	ALIVE
14/06/20	ALIVE	ALIVE	ALIVE	ALIVE
15/06/20	ALIVE	ALIVE	DIED	DIED
16/06/20	ALIVE	DIED	DIED	DIED
17/06/20	ALIVE	DIED	DIED	DIED
18/06/20	ALIVE	DIED	DIED	DIED

 13th June; Start of Experiment-

14th June; Flowers with added glucose felt weaker and leaned forward-

15th June; Flowers with 50 mL and 20 mL glucose dies-

16th June; Flowers with 10 mL glucose dies-

The experiment begun on Sunday , June thirteenth at 6:00 p.m. The pereginas were added to the marked glasses as depicted in the Method Section. On 14th June around 1:00 pm, I saw the flowers that had honey added to their water began to lean forward and they felt frail. The petals of the flower with 50 ml of honey began falling on 15th June. Additionally, the petals and leaves for the flower changed from green to brown.  I figured out that the flower was no longer alive, as we know that when plants die, they change their color , or their leaves or petals fall down.

 Moreover , On 15th June, the flower with 20 ml of honey had its petals falling, and changed color (including the leaves) from green to brown. It was not, at this point alive.

Then on 16th June, the flower with 10 ml of honey also died.

However , the flower that was added to the glass with simply water in it didn't change color, nor had its petals fallen. After the experiment, I had discovered that extra sugar isn't healthy for the plant, and that is the reason the one with the most sugar died first, and the one with simply water in the glass was still alive. It was still alive even after 6 days.

  Flower with no added sugar -

Effect of 10 mL added Glucose on flower-

Effect of 20 mL added Glucose on flower-

Effect of 50 mL added Glucose on flower-

Conclusion- In this experiment, my initial thoughts were that, on the off chance that I add more glucose (honey) in the three out of four glasses the flowers would live longer since sugar is healthy for the plant. In any case, I wasn't right!!! The flowers with the maximum amount of glucose (50 ml) added to water died first. After that the flower with 20 ml of added glucose died and then the flower with 10 ml of added glucose died. The flower with just water and no added sugar survived the longest .This demonstrates plants needn't bother with more sugar than the sugar they produce themselves. Adding more sugar to a plant ,kills it more quicker than it's total life span under normal conditions.

THANK YOU !

BY ANUKRITI KHANNA

Contact -anukritikhanna2000@gmail.com