HERB-401 Lessons

 Year Four, Lesson Two 
Professions and Plants

Introduction
Hello, students, and welcome back to class. It's nice to see all your smiling faces. I hope that means you are just as excited for today’s lesson as I am! We are going to be discussing everything a budding apothecary might need to know about plants, with a specific look at the guidelines for storing plants for sale or use. We will also be covering some tips and tricks for preservation and potency as well as tools to help you bottle the products of finicky or delicate plants. 

Even if you have no desire to become an apothecary, or to work in an apothecary, it is important that you have a basic understanding of how to store plants properly. We have touched on the subject frequently, first talking about how to label plants properly, then discussing the rather specific needs of the Puffapod in your Second Year. However, we have been remiss in discussing some of the finer points. 

Cardinal Rules
To cover all the bases for storing plants as long as possible, we will need to go over some of the cardinal rules of preservation. These rules and considerations are important to storing dried, whole, or powdered plants, but they are more crucial when discussing fresh plants, as their shelf lives are much shorter. The main considerations to keep in mind are:

1. Keep the plant cool or cold.
2. Keep the plant in the dark.
3. Keep the plant dry.
4. Do not expose the plant to air.
5. Make sure the plant is clean.

As you can see, these are similar to the considerations made when preserving potions; cool, dark, dry places are recommended for those as well. As is the nature of all things, there are some exceptions that you will see shortly, but as long as you are following these guidelines, you will get the best smack for your Sickle.

Specifically speaking, dried plants will need to be kept in airtight containers, and tinted is usually better, though this need can be offset by storing non-tinted containers in a dark area, such as a cupboard with closing doors. Additionally, the plants should be stored at room temperature, or between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Before storing (and ideally, even before drying), diseased, withered, or damaged parts of plants should be discarded, as these parts can cause decay to spread throughout the entire stock of the plant even if all the other leaves in your container are perfect in every way. 

For fresh plants, you should first wash the herbs, making sure to remove any damaged, wilted, or diseased portions. Afterwards, dry them and make sure they are not damp upon storage, as this will cause them to mold, rot, or decay quicker. You can do this by hand, by patting them dry, or simply use the Quick-Drying Charm, Sharakus. Just be sure you do not use the Dehumidifying Spell, Arfacua, as this will dry your plant to the point that all the moisture is removed and the specimen is no longer fresh! From this point, there are two potential methods of preservation depending on the type of herb you are working with. If the plant is “tender,” or soft-stemmed, it should essentially be treated like cut flowers. To prolong their usefulness, you should trim the bottoms of the stems, place them in an inch or two of water, and store somewhere cool-- yes, I know I just told you moisture was bad for plants, but this is the exception! 

If the plant is “hardy,” or has a woody stem -- like vines, shrubs, and roses -- the plants should be arranged so that they lay lengthwise on thin cloth and loosely rolled into something resembling a tube. After binding/rolling your specimen/sample, the package should then be stored somewhere cool, like the arctic room of Greenhouse Four or the enchanted iceboxes in the Hogwarts’ kitchens, just like their tender-stemmed siblings.

The Sands of Time
One of the next most important things on an apothecary’s mind when storing plants for sale is how long they will last, as this is directly related to their profits. Once you remove a plant from the ground, whether in pieces or in whole form, you have started a countdown until the plant is no longer usable (at least in most cases). Therefore, the next thing we should talk about is the shelf lives of plants. While plants -- much like any perishable substance -- vary considerably in their longevity, there are some general rules of thumb that are very useful!

Dry as a Boneset
For example, specific parts of a plant will last longer than others. Roots and rhizomes are some of the longest-lasting parts of any plant, and these will generally stay potent for at least three years, and many can easily stretch up to five years without losing their efficacy. The next runners-up are the bark and seeds, which will usually last between two and three years. Last, we have leaves, stems, and flowers, which will last between one and two years, though some can fall slightly below this figure. It is important to note that these statistics refer to plants (and parts of plants) when they are whole and dried. Fresh and powdered plants last for a much shorter period of time, and we will get to the specifics of both in just a moment!

You are no doubt familiar with the concept of powdering various substances, as you will have used powdered and ground potions ingredients over the last few years. Powdering actually decreases the life expectancy of plant-based potions ingredients, which is why many witches and wizards must take their whole, dried plant and crush part of it before use in a potion, rather than keeping their entire stock in powdered form. After being ground up, roots will last the longest -- roughly two years -- and the same goes for rhizomes, more or less. With other parts, however, the life expectancy drops significantly. Ground bark, seeds, stems, and leaves will only last for six months to a year once ground, though there is wiggle room on both ends of the spectrum. Flowers, and more delicate stems or leaves (usually ones with natural oils in them like peppermint), will last even less than a year, usually in the window of three to six months. Because of these statistics, and the fact that they store in bulk, many apothecaries prefer to keep everything in whole form, as it is much more cost-effective. 

Of course, all of these figures regarding shelf life are to be taken with a grain of salt. If you have herbs in your personal stores that have passed these dates, even by a significant amount, this does not mean they have gone “bad.” Unless they have been stored improperly, they are fine to consume and will still do the job. However, they will not be as effective. This is sometimes remedied by simply adding more of the plant than you normally would. However, if using these herbs in a magical remedy, this is largely unrecommended until you have much more experience as a potioneer or herbologist, because doing so requires you to use your best judgement on quantities, which can be rather disastrous if done incorrectly, what with all the magical reactions. For herbal preparations that do not require magic to work and rely solely on a plant’s basic, non-magical properties, it is slightly safer to estimate. 

So Fresh, So Clean
Unfortunately, all the guidelines we have discussed are dependent on you drying your herbs first. However, there are many potions and preparations that call for fresh herbs, and fresh herbs have the shortest shelf life. There is still a general hierarchy of plant part lifespans to help you, though. Seeds stay fresh (and viable) for an exceptionally long time in comparison to other parts of the plant, coming in at quite a range of one to five years. Bark stays fresh second longest, in that it will rarely spoil unless you collect it while wet. When it hits the one to two month mark, though, it will start to dry out and no longer be considered “fresh.” Roots and rhizomes last roughly a month, then any greenery or flowers will last a few days to a week. When presented with these times, they might seem a bit lacking up against the figures for dried plants. Therefore, there are many, many tips and tricks that we will go over to increase the life expectancy of fresh plants, though the numbers will never be as impressive as their dried counterparts’. 

Spells and Potions for Storage
Now, the tips and tricks. We’ve already talked about the basics of how to store your plants, but there are other ways to extend their lives. This section will be a bit of a mixed bag, and we will be bouncing around a lot, as there are quite a few specific considerations, but each of these spells or potions are likely to be useful to you at some point in your herbological career.

First, in terms of helping tender, fresh herbs, some herbologists like to incorporate an Aquatima Potion, either mixed in with their water or as a replacement. This potion encourages a plant to soak up water to its maximum capacity and has useful nutrients that prolong the life of the herb for a week or so, but using this potion is not strictly necessary. Additionally, sometimes this potion can increase the humidity of the container your plant is stored in, causing leaves to be damp and rot before their time if they are particularly delicate.

If storing fresh seeds -- something that herbologists do quite frequently-- the Anti-Germination Charm is absolutely necessary in order to prevent the seed from starting to grow before it is even planted! The spell should be well within your level of ability as Fourth Years, and you can find its details below. Once the time comes for the seeds to be used, the spell can be lifted with the generic Effect-Cancelling Charm, though most apothecaries leave it to their customers to decide when that is appropriate and let them cast it themselves.

Next, we should talk about enchanting containers! To tint transparent glasses so that you can clearly see the plant within while still protecting it from excess sunlight, the Darkening Charm can be used to great effect. Also, I hope you have been practicing your Repelling Charm since Lesson Four of Year Two when we harvested Puffapods. This spell is absolutely crucial for plants that can potentially grow (or in some other way react) when exposed to a container’s surface, such as with Shatterfern, touch-me-nots, or jewelweed. Finally, in terms of bespelled containers, it’s high time we covered the Unbreakable Charm. It was mentioned in the same lesson as the Repelling Charm, but you simply weren’t up to performing the spell then. However, you should be capable now! 

Before I give you the spells’ details and you start placing the charm on every vial in sight, let’s go over some ground rules. Unbreakable Charms are particularly good for plant products that are in liquid form, like sap, essence of dittany, or liquid preparations, or plants that may release poisonous byproducts. The average plant, such as the lily or muña, will do just fine in an unbreakable vial as well, though the spell is not commonly used for an apothecary’s entire stock of containers. In fact, there are a few circumstances in which Unbreakable Charms should never be used. One such case is with plants or plant products that can explode when under pressure or when circumstances are “just right,” such as Bubotuber pus, Pyroberries, or any part of Gunpowder Gloriosas, to name a few. While it might seem counterintuitive to intentionally put reactive and explosive plants in containers that can break, it is actually preferable that they ruin their containers than attempt to explode, fail to, and pressurize their containers further. Opening an unbreakable container after a plant has exploded is decidedly unpleasant and can be very dangerous.

There are also some that avoid the Unbreakable Charm when storing rare plants that are able to grow in their containers, as they may need extra room, and it’s better that the plant has more room to grow if need be rather than endanger the wellbeing of the rare specimen. With those guidelines in mind, here are the spell’s details, should you ever need it.

Now, the Preservation Spell. This can be used in a number of ways and has quite a few variants, but we are going to be looking specifically at its use in herbology today. Praecentia keeps a plant in a coma-like state so that it does not decay over time. The wand movement is a figure eight, starting at the top. It is rather flowy and easier to cast when the wand is held loosely. The Preservation Spell will extend the plant’s shelf life for roughly ten months, regardless of what part of the plant is cast on. After the spell wears off, the plant’s normal shelf life will apply. Unfortunately, this spell cannot be re-cast on stored plants indefinitely until they are needed for potions use, as the spell has been found to leave part of the plant in this dormant state permanently, effectively dampening the overall potency. However, one use is in no way detrimental. This spell is commonly used on all commercially available plants, whether fresh, powdered, whole, or dried. If you need to use the plant before the ten months is up, don’t forget to use the Effect-Cancelling Charm, or the plant’s properties will remain dormant and ruin your brew. This is one of the most common reasons for dud potions, particularly among novices, hobbyists, and students.

Lastly, we have the Oxygen Repelling Charm. This charm has many applications, such as when putting out fires -- particularly those resulting from an overzealous salamander population -- or in metal-working. In our case, though, we will be using it to delay the onset of wilting and decay among plants -- especially fresh specimens. Interestingly, after much experimentation, it was found that this spell affects plants differently depending on their state. It will prolong the life of fresh plants or plant parts by a factor of five (so, if a root normally lasts one month, it would then last five months), it will increase the longevity of powdered plants by a factor of three (so leaves that last one year would then last three), and it will extend the lives of whole, dried plants by a factor of 1.5 (so bark that lasts two years would then last three). There is no need to deactivate the spell before an affected plant is used in potions and preparations, but keep in mind that it can be deactivated with the Effect-Cancelling Charm, so if you are lifting another spell (such as the Preservation Spell), it is best to recast Oxido Repello just in case it too was accidentally lifted.    

Quality Control
Finally, these preparations are all well and good, but eventually any plant will start to lose its efficacy no matter how many precautions you take. When that happens, how can you tell if the plant material you’re looking at is still high quality? For this, an apothecary can use his or her senses. The color of dried herbs should be very similar to that of the fresh herb. Their smell should still be strong, rich, and vibrant. Finally, many Muggle apothecaries or herbalists rely on a taste test for cases where they are not quite sure, and compare a dubious plants’ taste to a completely fresh one, as the plant must taste potent and fresh. However, because many magical plants (and non-magical as well) are not safe to consume for a freshness taste test, one final method has been developed. The Freshness Indicator will tell you without a doubt how fresh your plants are and is relatively easy to perform. The only downside is that it will give you the average freshness of an entire vessel, so if your barrel of rose thorns has a mix of potencies, the spell will report the average of that entire barrel. From here, you must resort to non-magical methods to help you sort out the unsuitable portions. A correctly performed spell will cause the target to give off a puff of smoke for each month of freshness remaining.

Closing
That does it for our whirlwind tour of storage and apothecaries, students! There’s so much more to starting and maintaining an apothecary, but this is at least a glimpse into the herbological beginnings and basics of the profession. Even if you have no desire to start your own apothecary, or work in someone else’s, these guidelines, tips, and tricks should help you immensely in your own pursuits. I hope you enjoy your practical assignment for this week as well as your standard quiz!

Original lesson written by Professor Venita Wessex
Additional portions written by Professor Liv Rowan
Image credits here, here and to Professor Wessex