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Air bubbles from trimmed plant


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I saw the bubbles in situations other than trimming as well. Whenever my cabomba plants were out of water for a while (no trimming or other manipulations, just being out of water), they would "pearl" profusely from the entire leaf mass when put back into water.  I don't think is was a happy pearling but some kind of damage.  

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I don't know the answer but I do have a background in Botany so this is only a guess but it is an educated guess.

When you look at plant cells under a microscope the most prominent feature is a central vacuole.

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One of its main roles is to help maintain turgor pressure or water/gas balance. When we slice through a plant leaf, we tear apart hundreds or more of plant cell walls and central vacuoles. That sudden loss of pressure results in an escape of fluids and gases from the plant leaf. We don't see the fluids, but we see the gases.

It is the same reason we bleed. We have a pressured plumbing system and if you cut it our internal fluids escape. And just like with bleeding, once the wound has had a little bit of time to repair itself, the escape of internal gases ceases.

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This is what's usually called "streaming" or "bleeding."  The damage to the cells allows gasses to escape quicker. Plants are also able to direct nutrients and minerals to the damaged area, sealing the area off, kind of like cauterizing a wound. 

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11 minutes ago, Adsfm_joe said:

 @Daniel is there any merit to trimming on an angle? I swear I read/saw something about that.

I know it seems like I have heard that also. I think it is in regards to cut flowers, but I don't remember why that helps cut flowers. I know with grafting fruit trees you cut at an angle to maximize the surface area of the graft (and it also provides better support). Maybe surface area is also the explanation for cutting at angle with cut flowers.

I think the best thing you can do when cutting a plant's leaf or stem is to cut with the sharpest, cleanest cutting tool possible. I would use an extremely sharp blade as scissors are rather blunt and crush as much as they cut.

It is the same as your skin. Would you rather have a laceration that was a clean sharp cut, or a jagged torn wound with crushing?

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56 minutes ago, Daniel said:

I know it seems like I have heard that also. I think it is in regards to cut flowers, but I don't remember why that helps cut flowers. I know with grafting fruit trees you cut at an angle to maximize the surface area of the graft (and it also provides better support). Maybe surface area is also the explanation for cutting at angle with cut flowers.

I think the best thing you can do when cutting a plant's leaf or stem is to cut with the sharpest, cleanest cutting tool possible. I would use an extremely sharp blade as scissors are rather blunt and crush as much as they cut.

It is the same as your skin. Would you rather have a laceration that was a clean sharp cut, or a jagged torn wound with crushing?

Daniel, with regard to cut flowers, I believe the claim is so they can drink more water and stay fresh longer. I have no idea if that's true. I always do, and put a little sugar in my flower water, if flowers don't come with a packet of nutrients, on the very rare occasion I get them, just in case it does help. ⚘

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