Glow of plants. Business idea: glowing flowers. A new idea for an outdated business - glowing flowers
Glowing plants
The glow of plants in the dark is a rather unusual phenomenon and not known to many. But if at the end of summer, after warm rain, you find yourself at night in a rare mixed forest or in a clearing with old stumps of pine, spruce, birch, aspen or alder, where honey mushrooms have been repeatedly collected, you will be able to admire this fabulous picture with your own eyes. Take a closer look - and in the mysterious silence among the dark silhouettes of whispering trees in the darkness of a summer night, you will see magical “lights” glowing with phosphorescent light. Try hitting a rotten pium with a light hatchet or chipping off a thin layer of bark: sparks will scatter to the sides as “lights” of rotten wood. At home, such a rotten thing does not glow for long.
On the exposed wood of such rotten wood, it is easy to notice black veins or branched dark brown “cords” (rhizomorphs) ending in thin whitish threads - mycelium. This is a mycelium of well-known mushrooms that have settled on wood - autumn or summer honey fungus. These mushrooms do not glow with a cap or a stem, but with the mycelium, which weaves around the destroyed wood like a thin web. And it seems that the entire stump or rotten tree is glowing!
Honey mushroom spores in the soil are not afraid of sudden changes in temperature. In addition to the fruiting bodies, growing rhizomorphs appear in the mycelium, which infect the roots of trees and through them pass to the trunks, rising to a height of 2.5-3 m (Fig. 12). The appearance of mycelium on a living tree (most often through damaged bark) leads to the destruction of the wood and its death.
Rice. 12. Honey fungus on a tree trunk affected by its rhizomorphs
As you can see, these edible mushrooms not only provide pleasure in the form of freshly prepared or stored food for future use, but also cause harm to forestry.
There is information that in some cases, another mushroom common in the Non-Black Earth Region, the true butterfly, glows, especially when its fruiting body is already overripe and begins to collapse.
water surface vats and pallets flower pots in greenhouses and greenhouses they are often covered with so-called golden algae (Chromophyton Rosanoffii), visible only under a microscope, whose zoospores give a spectacular golden glow when directed under directional lighting. Due to the presence of a chromatophore in each zoospore and its ability to orient the reflecting spherical surface in the direction of the flow of light, the most intense reflection occurs when viewing the water surface at the smallest acute angle to it. If you look at the water from above perpendicularly, the algae coating appears colorless and does not give shine at all. But this effect no longer occurs due to its own glow, but only due to the capture of light and its directed reflection.
Bioglow has created an unusual GMO plant that, according to its creators, glows in the dark. At the presentation of the botanical miracle, developers from Bioglow demonstrated its glow to several hundred people present.
Miracle plant
Genetic modification technology opens up broad boundaries, but some researchers are convinced that it may be too dangerous, both for humans and for nature. Today there are many more opponents of GMO products than supporters, but only time will decide its fate.
GMO plant is an achievement of geneticists.
Genetic scientists at Bioglow have been working on genetic modification for quite some time, and their plant, called "Avatar", is the product of several years painstaking work. It was possible to achieve such an unusual effect for the flower thanks to its genetic modification using genes from deep sea algae.
Avatar plant.
The glow that a plant produces in the dark is natural and is a common phenomenon in terms of the process of photosynthesis, at least for marine plants. The flower-lamp “avatar” is not capable of reproducing on its own; moreover, the “avatar” has neither buds nor fruits, so the plant cannot disrupt the natural balance of nature due to pollination by insects.
Growing GMO plants.
Avatar plants can be used for decorative purposes. To read a book in the dark, the plant will not have enough light, but a luminous plant looks very beautiful in the dark and can be used for decoration. The “avatar” lives only 2-3 months, and the cost of one seedling is just over 1 US dollar.
When the time comes for a whole series of holidays coming one after another, the question of gifts certainly arises. Particular problems with this arise for those who have not communicated with the heroes of the occasion for quite some time or who do not know them well at all. One cannot but agree that at all times and for any occasion, flowers have been and will be the universal gift. A bouquet will indeed always come to the rescue in such a situation. And today’s assortment of flowers in specialized flower shops can stun everyone. One of the most interesting recent innovations is the so-called luminous flowers.
Flowers that glow in the dark
A luminous flower is the most ordinary living flower, the bud of which is simply treated with a special glow-in-the-dark paint (luminophore) or bio-gel. Such flowers glow very elegantly in the dark. Any flower or even a whole bouquet can become unique and even more exquisite thanks to such processing. Glowing buds evoke extremely positive emotions in people. Many people associate them with a miracle, but few know that any person can create such a miracle with his own hands.
Both the luminous gel and the paint have very high environmental performance. They meet absolutely all necessary requirements and standards. Such flowers pose absolutely no danger to people, pets or indoor plants.
How to make your own flower that will glow?
It's not all that complicated. In fact, this does not require any special skills or knowledge. To make such a “miracle” you only need the imagination of the manufacturer and the necessary materials.
Options for making flowers that glow in the dark:
- Using a special glowing gel.
In this case, any fresh flowers are treated with a special bio-gel that glows in the dark. It will not be noticeable at all on the petals in normal daylight, but in the dark it gives an irresistible glow to the treated bud. It is very interesting to apply such a gel to the base of the petal, and not to the entire flower. Then in the dark it seems that some source of light is located somewhere deep inside the bud. It actually looks very impressive.
Using this gel, you can also apply any inscriptions to flowers, draw patterns on them or depict figures. In addition to imparting uniqueness and originality, bio-gel is also able to extend the life of a flower by reducing the evaporation of moisture from it.
- Using glowing paint.
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Paint, unlike bio-gel, is more invisible on the flower and even lighter. She has a very high level vapor permeability and does not burden the bud itself, so the plant does not even “notice” the additional layer of paint on itself. The paint can be used on any growing or cut flowers.
This unique paint gives a brighter glow on white or any light-colored buds.
Price of materials and their consumption
A special glowing bio-gel is usually sold in standard bottles with a volume of 210 milliliters. Just one milliliter of such gel is required to color an entire bud. But such a bottle costs approximately forty euros.
Special luminous paint costs about seventy euros per liter. With this volume it will be possible to paint approximately one and a half thousand flower buds. You can also buy this paint in a set, which consists of several bottles with different shades. However, it is worth noting that the brightest glow is achieved exclusively when using pure phosphor paint.
Development direction
Naturally, this idea is most beneficial for those who are engaged in growing and selling flowers at a professional level.
However, even as a start to a flower business, you can safely consider luminous flowers. True, the costs of labor and material resources in in this case will increase significantly, but there is an advantage here too. And it lies in the fact that the entrepreneur is already entering the market with a wide range of luminous colors. As additional income, you can use the sale of the most luminous bio-gel or paint. This product should also be in wide demand.
Taking into account everything written above, we can say with complete confidence that the profitability of this idea will exceed one hundred percent. But for really good result It will take a lot of hard work. Flowers that glow in the dark are a very promising trend in modern floristry. And the number of offers of this product on the domestic market is still very small.
Imagine a plant that glowed like a flashlight, allowing you to read in the dark without spending a penny on electricity. These plants can be grown anywhere to provide soft night lighting without bulky lights or wires. This wonderful fantasy could become a reality in the near future: a group of researchers from MIT wants to make it a reality. But how can you make a plant glow?
Biological glow (bioluminescence) is often found in the wild. Scientists at MIT have been able to make some plants glow using a firefly enzyme called luciferase. In insects it communicates with another chemical, luciferin, which causes a reaction that emits light. Researchers have figured out how to implant both of these components into plant leaves, which actually causes them to emit a dim glow.
Researchers believe they may be able to improve this response to the point where plants will be able to light up entire rooms. They believe that over time, glowing trees could replace street lights, saving energy and money. This is not the first such project: a few years ago, a startup called Glowing Plants launched a Kickstarter campaign to create plants that could glow in the dark using the same luciferase reaction. After 4 years and $500,000 raised, scientists found that in fact, breeding luminous plants is much more difficult than it seemed in theory, and therefore the project was closed. Although the researchers were able to get plants to emit light, it was too weak to be used for practical purposes.
At MIT the methodology is completely different. While the Glowing Plants team relied on genetic modification, in this case scientists simply want to integrate light-producing proteins directly into plants. According to their predictions, in the near future they will be able to increase the brightness of plants and improve the current method of implanting proteins. Currently, proteins end up in foliage after being soaked in a solution full of nanoparticles under high pressure, as well as in spraying and special painting.
Of course, currently, luminous plants would not be able to compete with the huge market for lighting technology. However, in the future, if the project is successful and manages to enter the market, many lovers of environmentally friendly technologies (and simply those who do not like to pay for light) will be able to appreciate plant lamps.