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Multicolored Flowers

Here is how to make your own exotic flower blooms like in The Secret of The Staffroom music video
  1. Buy a white flower with a woody stem. Carnations, daisies, or roses work well.
  2. Get some small cups and half fill with water. Add enough food coloring to each cup to make a very strong color.
  3. Have an adult slit the flower stem with a razor or sharp knife. Put part of the stem in each cup.
This works due to TRANSPIRATION. There are little tubes, called xylem, that carry water from the bottom of the plant to the top. At the top, water evaporates from the leaves and flowers though little holes called stoma. When the water leaves, it creates an upwards pressure (similar to your sucking the top of a straw) which pulls the water up from below though the xylem. The colored water then rises to create the multicolored flowers.

Tips:
  • It helps to cut off an inch or so of the stem at the bottom right before you put it in the colored water in case bacteria have already clogged the bottom part of the xylem
  • It also helps if the flower is very fresh. I cut mine off the live potted plant right before putting it in the food colored water.
  • There needs to be lots of food coloring in the water or the colors in the flower will be too pale to see
  • I also left the leaves on and then put the apparatus in the sunlight so the plant could photosynthesize and transpire more
  • If you're wondering where I got the four compartment plastic tray - it's a Whole Foods container for their in-store olive bar. I bought some olives, then washed the container afterwards and reused it.
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