Do Flowers Absorb Food Coloring?

Experiment

• All you need to learn firsthand how flowers are able to absorb food coloring is a white carnation, a clear container, water and food coloring. Fill the container about halfway with water, add 20 to 30 drops of red or blue food coloring and place the flower stem in the water. Come back and check on the flower every few hours, and you will see that it has taken on the shade of the food coloring you've added.

Transpiration

• The way a plant draws water and nutrients up into its petals is through a process called transpiration. There are tiny pores on the leaves and petals, too small for the human eye to see. These pores are called stomata. If the flower was still planted in the ground, it would draw water up into its roots, then into its stem and finally up to the leaves and petals of the plant. Water from the ground contains the nutrients that a plant needs to survive.

After It's Been Cut

• Even after the roots have been cut off, the flower will draw water and nutrients up into its stem. It is able to pull the water up because it is stacked from end to end with hollow cells called xylem. The xylem contain phloem, a tissue that carries nutrients to the parts of the plant where they're needed.

It's Not Just Flowers

• This process of transpiration occurs in all plants, meaning that all plants get their nutrients from the soil in which they're planted. If that soil is rich and clean, plants are fed rich, clean nutrients. If the soil has been polluted with chemicals, plants are fed chemical-filled soil. Plants are only as healthy as the soil in which they're planted.