So you want to be a master plant collector? I know how it goes.
You got into some college botany courses or took a look through a museum
collection and were intrigued by the legacy that plant collectors before you
left behind. Well who can blame you? Your plants will long outlive you in the
ranks of whatever prestigious institution you so graciously donate your
collection to. I’m here to get you started on your journey towards greatness by
familiarizing you with the process of using a plant press to flatten and preserve your
vegetation so that it can be mounted onto paper and immortalized. Let's get started.
This is a plant press:
A press is quite simple in theory. It is roughly 18 inches
long by 12 inches wide. Sizes can vary, but it is wise to use a plant press
that is the same size or smaller than the paper onto which the plants will
later be mounted. The meat of the press consists of a stack of alternating
cardboard, newspaper, and blotter paper. Each of these three components should
be the same size (18”x12”). If you don’t know, blotter paper, or bibulous
paper, is a thick, highly absorbent paper used to absorb excess liquid
substances. One sheet is as thick as roughly 10 pieces of paper and feels
pliable and soft. It is useful when pressing especially thirsty plants. On
either side of the stack is a ¼” plywood board and the whole pile is circled by
two polyethylene straps (or poly straps) with clamps. These straps are 2 inches
wide and the clamps are able to cinch the whole pile together quite tightly.
Now that you understand the parts of your press, it’s time
to use it. First, collect your plant.
Once you’ve come back inside, arrange your plant so that it
fits inside your newspaper. Make sure you are using a full page of your local
daily newspaper and not the middle pages, which are half the size when folded.
When placing plants inside the press, there is an important
pattern to the order of components. The plant goes inside the newspaper. If it
is a particularly wet plant then another layer of newspaper is advised and blotter paper should be placed on either side of the newspaper. Cardboard then goes on either side of the blotter paper. Again, the order is: cardboard, blotter paper, newspaper, plant, newspaper, blotter paper, cardboard. This is repeated for each plant until the press is filled.
Once the press is full, the plywood is replaced and the clamps and straps are used to press the layers together as tightly as possible. It is advisable to stand or kneel on the press when you are cinching it down.The finished product is a tightly bound plant press with some flattened plants inside. It can be left to dry on its own over the course of 2-3 weeks, or the process can be expedited in a special plant dryer, which takes 2-3 days.
Here's a few examples of how your finished product could turn out.
Happy collecting!
