When is it better to pick roses?
Introduction: This article discusses tips on when to pick roses and the best season for rose care, with detailed information provided below.
Roses are a widely beloved flower, with their beautiful appearance and fragrant scent, making them a common gift for occasions such as Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. However, roses can easily wilt, and if not properly preserved, they quickly lose their vibrant color and vitality. So, when is it best to pick roses to prevent them from wilting? This article will reveal the reasons for rose wilt and the best picking time from a scientific perspective.
Reasons for Rose Wilt
Rose wilt is mainly caused by a lack of water and nutrients. Once a rose is picked, it loses contact with the plant and can no longer absorb water and nutrients from its roots, stems, and leaves. Therefore, it can only rely on its stored water and organic matter to maintain its life activities. However, roses still need to perform respiration, which is the breakdown of organic matter into carbon dioxide and water, releasing energy. Respiration consumes the water and organic matter in the rose and produces carbon dioxide. When water and organic matter are insufficient, roses will show signs of wilt.
In addition to respiration, roses are also affected by environmental factors. For example, high or low temperatures, strong or weak light, and dry or humid air can all accelerate the wilting of roses. Moreover, microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and insects can also damage the health of roses, leading to decay and discoloration.
The Best Time to Pick Roses
Based on the above analysis, we can draw a conclusion: to delay the wilting of roses, we need to reduce the loss of water and organic matter and maintain a lower concentration of carbon dioxide in their bodies. So, at what time of the day should roses be picked to meet these conditions?
The answer is: afternoon.
Why? Because by the afternoon, roses have experienced the entire day's sunlight and have undergone sufficient photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants, under the condition of light, use carbon dioxide and water from the air to synthesize organic matter and release oxygen. Photosynthesis can increase the reserve of organic matter in roses and consume carbon dioxide. Therefore, roses picked in the afternoon have a lower concentration of carbon dioxide, presenting a neutral or slightly alkaline state. Roses picked in the morning, on the other hand, have undergone respiration mainly during the night without light and have a higher concentration of carbon dioxide, presenting a slightly acidic state.
Why does the concentration of carbon dioxide affect the wilting of roses? This is because carbon dioxide concentration can affect the activity of enzymes in plants. Enzymes are biological catalysts that promote chemical reactions, and they are sensitive to environmental factors such as temperature and pH. When the concentration of carbon dioxide is high, the pH value in the plant's body decreases, turning it acidic, which can inhibit the activity of some enzymes, slowing down the plant's metabolism and preventing effective use of water and nutrients. When the concentration of carbon dioxide is low, the pH value in the plant's body increases, turning it alkaline, which can enhance the activity of some enzymes, promote the plant's metabolism, and improve the utilization of water and nutrients.
Besides the concentration of carbon dioxide, there is another advantage to picking roses in the afternoon: their stomata are closed. Stomata are tiny pores on the surface of plant cells that regulate gas exchange and water evaporation between the plant and the external environment. Under sunlight, plants open their stomata to absorb carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen for photosynthesis. However, a lot of water also evaporates from the stomata during this process. Therefore, to reduce water loss, plants will close their stomata when light is weak or the duration of light is long. Consequently, roses picked in the afternoon, having experienced the entire day's sunlight, have their stomata closed and lose less water. Roses picked in the morning, however, just starting to receive sunlight, have their stomata open and lose more water.
In summary, roses picked in the afternoon are more likely to remain fresh than those picked in the morning because they have undergone a balanced process of photosynthesis and respiration, storing more organic matter and water, having a lower concentration of carbon dioxide, presenting a neutral or slightly alkaline state, and having their stomata closed, losing less water. Roses picked in the morning, on the other hand, have undergone respiration mainly during the night, storing less organic matter and water, having a higher concentration of carbon dioxide, presenting a slightly acidic state, and having their stomata open, losing more water.
The above sharing about when it is better to pick roses and the best season for rose picking is for reference by rose enthusiasts.