I noticed that the plants in my local grocery store were shiny and lustrous. I looked closer and could see and feel that they were rubbed with oil. They looked great but I was curious if over the long-term that oil would clog the pores on the leaves and kill the plant. Any thoughts?
Robyn
-
opabinia51
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 4659
- Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 5:58 pm
- Location: Victoria, BC
Well having no experience in using oil to massage plants I can offer this thought:
Plant leaves are covered with stomata that allow the plants to vent and absorb gases and presumably the oil could clog these pores and make difficult for the plant to photosynthesize and expel the waste gases from photosynthesis (Oxygen).
And oxygen in the form of the Oxygen free radical can damage tissue quite drasticly if there are not built in reactions to subdue this byproduct of several physiologic processes.
If you actually massaged some sort of oil into a plants leaves, I would surmise that it could forseeably cause a few problems.
However if you just sprayed an oil on the plant periodically and lightl brushed the plant, it could be okay.
What does everyone else think?
Plant leaves are covered with stomata that allow the plants to vent and absorb gases and presumably the oil could clog these pores and make difficult for the plant to photosynthesize and expel the waste gases from photosynthesis (Oxygen).
And oxygen in the form of the Oxygen free radical can damage tissue quite drasticly if there are not built in reactions to subdue this byproduct of several physiologic processes.
If you actually massaged some sort of oil into a plants leaves, I would surmise that it could forseeably cause a few problems.
However if you just sprayed an oil on the plant periodically and lightl brushed the plant, it could be okay.
What does everyone else think?
