It is so Hard to Kill a Plant

I have quite probably killed more plants than the average person on the face of this earth. I mean personally killed. Many an oil magnate has issued instructions that another few thousand hectares io trees be demolished for some money-generating venture. By “killed” I mean by direct action by my own hands.

There are many ways that humans can kill a plant, and in civilised society the most common way is to over-water house plants.

A dozen or so years ago a myth circulated that we should each drink eight pints of water each day. What that did to human bladders (and car-wrecks due to the pressing needs of full bladders) is anyone’s guess.

Nowadays we are told to keep water within reach, and to take a few sips when we feel thirsty.

For that I had made up some plastic sticks for plants, blank on one side where I can add data with a pen, and on the face side the slogans “Water When I Wilt; Water Not When Thou Wilt”.

I have been gardening now for 68 years, and am still amazed at each seed’s, cutting’s, bulb’s ability to Keep On Going.

In this photo I have circled parts of my cuttings that sprouted when the jars were filled with water. Some of the water has been drawn up into the plant by the plant; the plant has drunk the water.

That leaves the tender roots exposed.

Have the roots stopped working? No.

Have the ends of the roots shrivelled up? No.

Are the roots extending every day? Yes.

In short, although the human has not topped up the water, the plant continues to grow.

Here comes a philosophical point: vegetable life in general (“plants”) have been around for a great deal longer than animal life. (Animal Life is defined as Vegetable Life with a Brain).

Long before humans appeared on earth, long before primates appeared on earth, long before mammals began to dominate the earth, plants were busy reproducing and growing. All without human help.

If every human, every primate, every mammal was wiped off the face of the Earth in the next 24 hours, vegetable life, plant life, would continue to flourish and evolve.

We are not needed!

Humans play no necessary role in the growth and development of plants.

We need to sit and think about that; but you know that it is true.

Twenty four hours from now we will all be gone, and the trees, shrubs, bushes, plants, grasses, carrots and potatoes won’t even notice that we are gone. They will just go on spreading across the ground.

The exposed roots on my cuttings do no long-term harm to the plant because the plant has evolved to send out roots whenever a piece of plant is stripped from the parent plant – by a high wind, or by an animal brushing past it – and as long as it finds itself in a puddle of water, the cutting will send out roots.

The puddle will begin to dry out as the clouds disappear and the sunshine re-appears. The water level in the puddle will drop. But our plant is a survivor, and is the latest in a long line of ancestral plants that has managed to cope with exposed roots.

Sit back and smell the roses.

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