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How Much Sunlight Does a Succulent Need?

Most succulent plants originate from locations that are dry and sunny, so they need a lot of bright sunlight to thrive. Most succulent plants are happy with 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day, although certain species require more or less than that.

In most homes, indoor light is not nearly as bright as even a shady location outdoors. A very sunny windowsill is still shaded on three sides by walls and the ceiling. Windows decrease the intensity of the sunlight that enters the room. Curtains or other obstacles may block the light from hitting the plant directly.

The Brightest Spots in a Home

For homes in the Northern Hemisphere, sunlight is most intense in south- and west-facing windows (the Southern Hemisphere is the opposite). East-facing windows receive the weaker morning sun, and north-facing windows are the darkest. The light intensity decreases as you move further into the room. There are very few succulents that can survive in the interior of a room, away from the window.

Are There Any Low-Light Succulents?

While all species of succulent do best in sunny conditions, there are a few types of succulent that can tolerate being in lower light. Some of the best succulents for lower light conditions are:

Snake plants (Sansevieria trifasciata)
Zebra haworthia (Haworthiopsis attenuate)
Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera bukleyi) and Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata)
Aloe species
Dracaena species

Symptoms of Insufficient Light

Succulents that aren’t getting enough light will get stretched out as the plant tries to get closer to the light source. They will grow slowly, and might develop yellow leaves that fall off over time. If the problem isn’t remedied, the plant is likely to die.

How to Provide More Light

The easiest way to give a succulent more sunlight is to move it to a sunnier location. However, some homes don’t have any place that is bright enough to allow succulents to thrive. In that situation, the best option is to purchase a grow light.

Grow lights are designed to offer the full spectrum of light that plants can use to create energy. There are a variety of options available, including energy-efficient LED lights that stay cool. Older grow lights were obvious because of their pink or purple color, but newer types look just like any other light bulb and blend in with any interior style.

Succulents will do well with 12-14 hours under a grow light each day, but they also require a period of darkness to maintain a healthy cycle. Using a timer on your grow lights makes it easy to give your plants plenty of light with minimal effort.

Should I Mist My Houseplant?

As we’ve covered, watering houseplants is essential for keeping them healthy. But did you know that getting moisture on the roots alone isn’t enough for most plants? If you want many species to look their best, you’ll need to mist their leaves as well.

What Houseplants Should I Mist?

Just like a gentle rain, misting houseplants has a cleansing, nourishing effect. It’s especially beneficial for tropical plants, which naturally grow in rainforests with high humidity, often over 40%. These plants tend to struggle when grown in places without moisture in the air.

Likewise, thinner leaves tend to need the most misting.

Note: Refrain from misting succulents, as you may cause them to rot!

How to Mist Houseplants

All that’s necessary to mist houseplants is a spray bottle filled with filtered water. Refrain from using tap water, as it might cause calcium deposits to build up on the leaves. Gently spray the plant so that you coat each leaf, taking care to get the undersides as well.

Ideally, you want to mist your houseplants at least once or twice per week. Do it daily if the plant is placed next to a heating or air conditioning vent — otherwise the constant air exposure may cause the leaves to shrivel and turn brown.

An easy way to increase humidity is to group plants together. Transpiration — the process through which plants lose water through their leaves — increases a room’s relative humidity, and plants can absorb water from each other.

Final Tips for Misting:

Room humidifiers are an easy way to keep plants moisturized.
If a plant seems dry and stressed, temporarily move it into the bathroom and take a hot, steamy shower to raise the relative humidity.
Along with misting, consider placing potted plants on trays filled with pebbles. Pour in water to cover the stones to create a humid microclimate for the plant.
Stop misting any plant showing water damage, including soft or blackening flesh or soil that never dries out.

Hydroponic Plants: An Introduction

Soil is a necessity for growing healthy plants, right? In the case of hydroponics, that’s not quite true. This growing system uses only water for plant cultivation. It’s often used in agricultural settings, but you can also apply the same principles for houseplants.

Hydroponics systems can vary considerably. What they all have in common is that they use a liquid fertilizer or water-soluble powder that’s dissolved into water to deliver food and oxygen directly to plant roots.

The system itself might include dozens of plants or consist of a single container. Some hydroponics systems have plants suspended in water continuously, while others anchor them in a growing substrate (rocks, net pots, or other material) that water floods or drips into at predetermined intervals.

The Benefits of Hydroponics

Why grow plants without soil in the first place? To start, it’s a way to encourage faster growth while cutting down on soilborne disease problems. Plant roots absorb nutrients faster from water, leading to truly robust growth.

You can also use hydroponics to propagate cuttings from existing plants. Once roots start to form in the water, you can transplant the cuttings into potting soil.

What Plants Can I Grow Hydroponically?

Not all houseplants do well with hydroponics. The right species need to have relatively small root systems and don’t produce long vines. Some plants that tend to thrive include peace lilies, Chinese money plants, philodendrons, coleus, lucky bamboo, and spider plants. However, home-scale hydroponics is most often used for herbs and vegetables.

Consider getting started with a hydroponics system in your kitchen to grow fresh herbs and salad greens for dinner. These plants are frequently harvested, giving you a chance to continue perfecting your growing skills as you start over with a new batch.

It’s easiest to invest in a home hydroponics growing system (especially if starting from seed). However, if you’re using cuttings, it’s also possible to use whatever containers you already have on hand. Choose a shape that allows the plant to stand upright, such as a vase or bottle. Clear glass is the traditional choice, although opaque containers are less likely to grow algae.

Ideally, you want to use well water or rainwater. If tap is the only option, let it sit overnight so that the chlorine and other chemicals dissipate. Move the plant to a sunnier location, and change the water every few days to keep it fresh. You should start noticing root growth within a few weeks.

At this time you can keep the plants in water or transplant them to potting soil if you prefer.

How Does Potting Material Affect Your Plant?

Growing healthy plants involves choosing the right growing medium for success. A standard bag of potting soil won’t work for all varieties, so you need to know the specific needs of each plant type to choose the right growing mix for their needs.

Is Potting Soil the Same as Gardening Soil?

Despite its name, potting soil isn’t actually soil at all. Rather, it’s a blend of different materials designed to support and nourish a plant. In contrast, gardening soil is made from the decomposing plant material and natural rocks and minerals that have broken down over time. It also tends to be less nutrient-rich and is prone to fungal issues.

So, while gardening soil works well for outdoor plants, it pays to be picky for indoor varieties by choosing planting mixes that minimize problems in the long run.

Components of Potting Soil

The right soil mix is rich in nutrients but still allows for proper drainage and provides plenty of space for roots to develop. Here are some of the most popular options available today.

Peat moss: Harvested from peatlands, peat moss is the partially decomposed sphagnum moss that died thousands of years ago. It's cheap, lightweight, and offers excellent drainage.
Limestone: Pulverized limestone helps neutralize high pH levels, especially in potting mixes with lots of peat moss.
Sand: Designed to add some weight and drainage to potting soil, sand is often added to cacti and succulent blends.

Coconut hulls (coir fiber): This natural material is a byproduct of the coconut industry and works similarly to peat moss.
Perlite: Tiny shards of heated volcanic glass, perlite keeps potting soil from getting too dense and heavy.
Vermiculite: Another volcanic material, this lightweight material works like perlite but also holds moisture in the soil.
Pine bark: This material doesn't offer much in the way of nutrition, but it adds soil structure and creates air space for roots.

Note: Most pre-made potting mixes will include a blend of multiple material types to get the best attributes of each.

Pay attention to the planting labels that come with your houseplants. Most will specify whether a specific soil type is needed or whether you can work with an all-purpose potting soil.

RFP for Bird Description

RFP for Bird Description

Bird Description – Content Creation

V.0.3.0-20220425

What's this content for?

This writing task is to create general introduction of birds. On each bird’s content page, this is the first section directly talking about the birds, it is a “first impression” section. Try your best to make this section interesting and accurate, draw the first impression of the bird to the audience.

We don’t want this content to list physical information or scientific descriptions like many bird watching sites do. The most important thing is try to narrow the distance between unfamiliar birds’ names and the amateur readers.

Requirement

一、General Requirements:

Word Count: Each description should consist of around 50 words. But it is OK to run slightly longer if all the information is important.
Pattern: We’d like to have our description consisted of 2 parts. Start with (1) a one-sentence introduction to species (type of bird, habitat, approximate size, and/or distinctive features), then (2) detail 2-3 facts about this species.
Interesting: Other than general introduction, each description should consist of 2 or 3 facts in different directions. Some facts are considered to be interesting (Goto section 2. what is an interesting fact?), try to include as much as possible.
Avoid Formulaic Expression: Try to change the choice of content and expression in the facts section appropriately, preventing similar content with a similar structure from appearing repeatedly within one working set.
Avoid simple listing: including but not limited to geographical distribution and habitat. Try to use generalized terms, e. g., we should use “Northeast Asia” instead of “Japan, Korea, Inner Mongolia, and Russian Far East”. A simple listing of more than 3 items (countries, habitats) at one time is NOT ALLOWED.
Specific: Try to find the most characteristic facts about the target bird to build the description. Avoid information that lacks distinctiveness.
Balanced: Do not let any single fact take up too much space in one description.

二、What is an Interesting Fact?

Facts that are related to our daily lives or importance to ecosystems are considered interesting (Dos):

Practical uses like food (common poultry), pet (common commercial pets), hunting, clothing and fashion, etc.;
Symbolic uses in art, music, literature, etc.;

Name story;
Most …. (world records in any direction)
Notable behaviours for amateurs; (like an Australian brushturkey hatches its eggs with a mound, common cuckoo lays eggs in the nest of other birds, etc.)

Preferred habitats and nesting environments, a.k.a. “where can you find them”;
Harm to garden plants, crops, etc.;
Importance to the local ecosystem;

Is it an endangered species? Why is it threatened?
Invasive that threatens local ecosystems and biodiversity;

How to attract it to your garden (if it is a popular species).

2. These facts are considered NOT interesting (Not Suggested):

Simply mention the place of origin or distribution (only in some limited conditions will it be considered as interesting, such as when it is highly endangered and the distribution is why is it endangered; or declare the usage in a native garden, etc.)

Morphological description and measurements. (unless it is very uncommon in the animal world, or directly related to its usage, behaviour or so.)

3. Do not mention these pieces of information (Don’ts)

Please DO NOT discuss the edibility of species other than common poultry. DO NOT discuss the pet use of species other than the commercial ones that have a mature artificial breeding system. Unless you are trying to state the threat of poaching.
Scientific synonym, alternative common name. These names are listed in our system in another section, please DO NOT mention them unless there’s an interesting name story behind it.
Taxonomy information is neither interesting to common readers nor can it be wrong (because of the taxonomy system that has changed frequently recently), please DO NOT mention it here.

Special Attentions

Use common names instead of Latin names whenever possible
Italicize any Latin words that appear (e.g., genus names, etc.)

Sample Descriptions

1. Light-vented Bulbul | Pycnonotus sinensis (42 words)

Light-vented bulbul is a medium-sized, noisy songbird, commonly seen in the urban and suburbs. It adapts well to the urban environment, so its range is spreading quickly as urbanization progresses. Light-vented bulbul causes damages to the crops in China and South Japan.

2. Northern Cardinal | Cardinalis cardinalis (53 words)

Northern cardinal is a common medium-sized songbird, named for the male’s vivid red color which resembles a cardinal’s red robe and cap. Northern cardinal is territorial, the male sings to defend its territory. And interestingly, it always mistakes its images on reflective surfaces as another invading male and will fight his reflection relentlessly.

3. Red-billed Leiothrix | Leiothrix lutea (46 words)

Red-billed leiothrix is a medium-sized babbler. It is an excellent singer, extremely active, and often in small groups. But it always flits around in the understory of the forest, secretive and difficult to see. Its bright red beak is rather significant hence it gets the name.

RFP for Fish Description

Fish Description – Content Creation

V.0.3.0-20220505

What's this content for?

This writing task is to draw the first impression of a specific fish to the audience. Try to narrow the distance between unfamiliar fishes and people, reducing alienation.

This section is the first section directly talking about the characters of the fishes, so it is a “first impression” section. Interesting is in the first place, making an impressive and unique impression of the target animal is the key.

Try to echo the audiences’ memory of these fishes, according to the scenes that we encounter on a daily basis. Reduce ichthyological description and measurements unless it is characteristic.

Requirement

一. General Requirements:

Word Count: Each description should consist of around 50 words. 40~60 words ideal. It is OK to run a bit longer when facts mentioned are important or interesting, but the upper limit of this content is 90 words.
Avoid simple listing: including but not limited to geographical distribution and habitat. Try to use generalized terms, e. g., we should use “Northeast Asia” instead of “Japan, Korea, Inner Mongolia, and Russian Far East”. A simple listing of more than 3 items (countries, habitats) at one time is NOT ALLOWED.
Interesting: Each description should consist of 2 or more facts in different directions. Some facts are considered to be interesting (Goto section 2. what is an interesting fact?), try to include as much as possible.
Avoid Formulaic Expression: When describing the facts, try to change the choice of content and expression appropriately, preventing similar content with a similar structure from appearing repeatedly within one working set. Overly formulaic content (>50% content is written in the same form) will be rejected.
Specific: Try to find the most characteristic facts about the fishes to build the descriptions. Avoid general information that lacks distinctiveness.
Balanced: Do not let any single fact take up too much space in one description.
Referencial: List all the websites you referred to in the comment box.

二、What is an Interesting Fact?

1）Facts that are related to our daily lives or importance to ecosystems are considered interesting (Dos):

Cultural and Historical Value: Traditions and customs about this fish, its record in historical events, myths, legends, etc.;
Culinary Use: Is it widely eaten? How do people cook them?
Aquarium Use: Is it an ornamental fish? Why is it attractive?
Economic Value: World trade, tourism, health benefit, biotechnology use, etc.;
Fishing Value: Is it an important target of recreational fishing?
Ecological Value: Its importance in the local ecosystem;
Toxicity & Hazard: Is it toxic? Carrying viruses? Will it sting or bite the swimmers?
Name Origin: Why the fish is so named, the stories behind the fish name;
Record Holders: The fastest predator, the largest filter-feeder, the fish lies most eggs, the fish first domesticated…. People like this topic!
Interesting Behaviors: any behavior that you think is attractive. E.g.: anglerfish lures prey with its light glande, Sardines group together when they are threatened, etc.;
Preferred habitat: a.k.a. Where can you find them.

2）These facts are considered NOT interesting (Not Suggested):

Morphological description and measurements are not suggested. (unless it is very uncommon in the animal world, or directly related to its name story, usage, etc.)

3） Do not mention these pieces of information (Don’ts)

Exact range it distributes; (we will talk about it in detail on another section)
Scientific synonym, alternative common name. These names are listed in our system in another section, please DO NOT mention them unless there’s an interesting name story behind it;
Taxonomy information is neither interesting to common readers nor can it be wrong (because of the taxonomy system that has changed frequently recently), please DO NOT mention it here;
DO NOT describe edible use unless it is a commercially cultivated/captured fish;
DO NOT mention medical use;
DO NOT mention general behaviours/characteristics consisting of a large group in this section.

Special Attentions

Use common names instead of Latin names whenever possible;
Italicize any Latin words that appear. (e.g., genus names, etc.)
There is a certain percentage of aquatic animals other than fish (frogs, seashells, jellyfishes, etc.) that exist in our list. Write a description of them in the same way.

SomeUseful websites

How to Find an Ideal Plant on the Market

You’ve decided on an indoor plant variety. Great! The next step is bringing it home. There are many places to purchase houseplants, including big box stores, local nurseries, and even online. Generally, it’s best to make your purchase in person so you can inspect the plant beforehand to ensure it’s in good condition.

Here are eight guidelines to follow while plant shopping to ensure you come home with the best variety.

1. Avoid Impulse Shopping

It’s never smart to buy a plant just because it catches your attention. Purchasing a species that’s not suited to your home is a quick way to waste money. Instead, have an idea for the type of plant you want and where it will go before going shopping.

2. Read the Label

Though brief, plant labels give you the most vital information necessary for plant care. You’ll get a quick summary of lighting and water needs and possibly an overview of how large the plant will get in the long term.

This gives you a sense of whether the plant will be low maintenance or require extra attention and whether it’s a variety you can commit to.

3. Is it Root-Bound?

Plants that sit on store shelves for weeks on end have a tendency to get root bound. This happens when the pot is too small, and the roots start to grow in circles, compromising their ability to take in water and nutrients.

Rootbound plants are also likely to experience transplant shock when you move them to a bigger container. For an easier transition, choose smaller plants with less-prominent root systems.

4. Avoid Wilting or Yellowing Leaves

Store shelves are stressful conditions for any plant to grow, meaning that you will likely encounter plants with signs of stress like wilting or yellowing leaves. While they may perk up again once they’re in your home, why take the risk? Purchase only plants that appear to be in perfect health so that you aren’t fighting an uphill battle to get them back to full strength.

5. Choose Buds Over Blooms

While flowering plants make a big impression on store shelves, you’re better off buying plants that only have buds, not blooms. This lets you enjoy the flowers for longer at home before they inevitably drop off. Plus, it reduces the risk the flowers will fall off from the stress of moving to a new location.

6. Inspect for Signs of Pests and Disease

Store plants spend their early lives in close quarters, meaning that a problem can spread quickly from one pot to the next. Look closely at the leaves of your potential purchase to see signs of disease or pest damage. This may look like chewed leaves, small egg clusters, webbing, and unexpected speckling or spots.

7. Check the Soil

While most nurseries use high-quality potting soil, this isn’t necessarily a given. Inspect plants closely before purchase to see if you’ll need to switch it out. Note that there are soil types suited for different plants, meaning you’ll need a different mix for your palms than your cacti and succulents (more on this later!).

8. Consider Plant Size

Choosing the right plant size is an important consideration. Too large, and it could overwhelm your space, but too small, and you’ll wait forever for it to get up to size. When in doubt, it’s usually best to go small. Smaller plants are typically cheaper, and they also tend to be more adaptable to transplanting and suffer less stress when their environment changes.

Follow these tips, and you’re likely to come home with a happy plant that’s well-suited to your space.

A Beginner’s Guide to Houseplants

Are you ready to switch up your home décor? Maybe it’s time to introduce some houseplants. It’s normal if the process feels overwhelming, especially if you’re making the transition from fake plastic plants to the real deal. The good news is that everyone can discover their own green thumb with a bit of patience and willingness to learn.

Before we dive in, let’s look at the benefits of keeping plants in the first place.

Why Do People Keep Houseplants?

There are plenty of reasons to add plants to your space. Not only do they add life and color, but they can also boost your mood, improve indoor air quality, and help reduce stress. Adding a plant to your home puts some personality in an otherwise sterile space and can even act as a natural noise buffer to keep things quieter.

Plants Make Us Happier, Period.

Have you ever noticed how a walk in the park can make you feel better, no matter what your mood was like before? Spending time in nature has numerous benefits, from reducing mental fatigue to improving cognition.

Unfortunately, not all of us can make it outdoors every time we need a brain break. However, indoor plants offer many of the same benefits. Research shows that exposure to nature in any form has a calming effect — and the benefits improve if you can interact with it. So, touching and tending to your houseplants will help you feel more grounded in your space.

Want to increase the benefits? Keep houseplants in your office! Research shows that the presence of plants can improve work performance and staff well-being while reducing sick days.

What Homes are Best Suited for Plants?

Unless you live in total darkness all the time (and we’re not judging if you are!), there’s likely a houseplant that will thrive in your space. All plants need water, nutrients, and light, but the amount of each and their tolerance for variance will differ wildly.

This means that choosing the right varieties needs to come down to more than style. If you put a full-sun jade plant in a dark corner, for example, the plant will struggle. For this reason, you need to thoroughly evaluate your space so you can choose varieties that work with what you have (more on that later!).

Popular Houseplants are Popular for a Reason: Here's Why

If you’re brand new to indoor plant care, it’s best to start with tried-and-true varieties. Here are a few that fit different common indoor conditions.

Low-maintenance plants: peace lily, pothos, spider plant
Low-light plants: cast iron plant, ZZ plant
Plants for pet owners: Pilea Peperomioides, bird’s nest fern
Flowering plants: orange orchid, anthurium
Plants for small spaces: African violet, snake plant, air plant

RFP for Reptiles and Amphibians’ Description

Reptiles and Amphibians’ Description – Content Creation

V.0.3.0-20220429

What's this content for?

This writing task is to draw the first impression of a specific snake, frog, or other reptile & amphibian to the audience. Try to narrow the distance between unfamiliar animals and people, reducing alienation.

This section is the first section directly talking about the characters of the raptiles and amphibians, so it is a “first impression” section. Interesting is in the first place, making an impressive and unique impression of the target animal is the key.

Try to echo the audiences’ memory of these animals, according to the things that we encounter on a daily basis. Reduce herpetological description and measurements unless it is characteristic.

Requirement

一. General Requirements:

Word Count: Each description should consist of around 50 words.
Avoid simple listing: including but not limited to geographical distribution and habitat. Try to use generalized terms, e. g., we should use “Northeast Asia” instead of “Japan, Korea, Inner Mongolia, and Russian Far East”. A simple listing of more than 3 items (countries, habitats) at one time is NOT ALLOWED.
Start with a general describe: size (large or small), venomous or not (especially for the snakes), and main distribution area. (e.g.: The common watersnake is a species of large, nonvenomous snake that originates in North America.)
Interesting: Each description should consist of 2 or more facts in different directions. Some facts are considered to be interesting (Goto section 2. what is an interesting fact?), try to include as much as possible.
Avoid Formulaic Expression: When describing the facts, try to change the choice of content and expression appropriately, preventing similar content with a similar structure from appearing repeatedly within one working set. Overly formulaic content (>50% content is written in the same form) will be rejected.
Specific: Try to find the most characteristic facts about the animals to build the descriptions. Avoid general information that lacks distinctiveness.
Balanced: Do not let any single fact take up too much space in one description.

二、What is an Interesting Fact?

Facts that are related to our daily lives or importance to ecosystems are considered interesting (Dos):

Notable behaviour for amateurs; (e.g.: rattlesnakes making a loud noise with its rattle, Suriname toads rise eggs embedded on females’ backs, etc.)

Preferred habitats, a.k.a. “where can you find them”;

Is it dangerous? (Venomous? Poisonous? Aggressive to humans or pets?)

Resamblance to some dangerous species.

Symbolic uses in art, music, literature, etc.;

Name story;

Most …. (world records in any direction)
Importance to the local ecosystem;

Invasive that threatens local ecosystems and biodiversity.

Food, especially cultivated species. Do not encourage forage wildlife.

Pet, especially commercial breed species. Never encourage hunting wildlife.

Conservation status and why it is endangered.

2. These facts are considered NOT interesting (Not Suggested):

Morphological description and measurements are not suggested. (unless it is very uncommon in the animal world, or directly related to its name story, usage, etc.)

3. Do not mention these pieces of information (Don’ts)

Exact range it distributes; (we will talk about it in detail on another section)
Scientific synonym, alternative common name. These names are listed in our system in another section, please DO NOT mention them unless there’s an interesting name story behind it;
Taxonomy information is neither interesting to common readers nor can it be wrong (because of the taxonomy system that has changed frequently recently), please DO NOT mention it here;
DO NOT mention general behaviours/characteristics consist in a large group in this section, like the metamorphosis of frogs.

Special Attentions

The relative size (large, moderate or small) of an animal depends on our daily cognition.

E.g., the typical size of a snake is generally considered lesser than 1 m (39 inches), so if a snake could grow significantly longer than 1 meter (>1.2 meter or so), we would say it is a large snake. And a snake shorter than 0.6 meter will be a small snake.

Of course, you can also use “giant” or “tiny” to describe it, which still depends on our daily cognition. But please be a little conservative when using these words.

Frogs, lizards, salamanders, or any other gourp would have their own typical size.

We can generally believe the relative size descriptions of most sources like wikipedia.org or any other specialized databases. If there’s any conflict between different databases and you can not decide, you can choose not to describe its relative size.

Use common names instead of Latin names whenever possible;
Italicize any Latin words that appear. (e.g., genus names, etc.)

Sample Descriptions

Nerodia sipedon (common watersnake) [57 words]

The common watersnake is a species of large, nonvenomous snake that originates in North America. It is a common snake found in its range and is often found swimming in the water or hunting aquatic animals among plants at the water’s edge. It defense itself vigorously when threatened and will bite repeatedly if it is picked up.

The Science Behind Why Onions Make You Cry

There are many theories as to why raw onions cause you to tear up when you cut them. This article explains the science behind the chemical properties of onions that can make you cry.

The reason why onions make you cry begins with the way in which these plants grow. As is the case with many other plants in the Allium genus, onions absorb a significant quantity of sulfur from the soil, drawing it through their roots and storing much of it in the bulbs that we have come to recognize as a popular ingredient in many dishes. When an onion bulb is intact and undamaged, its cells are able to contain the sulfur the plant has gathered from the earth. Meanwhile, separate cells hold a wide range of other chemical compounds, including enzymes.

When you cut an onion to prepare it for cooking, your knife’s sharp blade slices through the bulb and ruptures its cells. As each cell breaks open, it releases any chemical mixtures it had within it, allowing those chemicals to blend with others that were previously held in other cells. When that mixture happens, new chemical compounds come into being.

Among the chemical compounds that form from onion cutting, one called syn-Propanethial-S-oxide is most responsible for your tears. This airborne compound is a combination of the sulfur that the onion has absorbed and stored with various enzymes present in other onion cells. Known as a lachrymator, syn-Propanethial-S-oxide is a volatile eye irritant capable of stimulating the lacrimal gland that produces the water that makes up your tears. Moments after syn-Propanethial-S-oxide forms, it rises from the cut onion through the air until it reaches your face.

When syn-Propanethial-S-oxide contacts your eye, yet another chemical reaction occurs. This time, the syn-Propanethial-S-oxide reacts with the water present on your eye’s surface to create an acid. In response to the acid, the lacrimal glands in your eye produce reflex tears. Reflex tears are those that arise from irritation rather than as an emotional response, and in the case of cutting onions, they are meant to flush the syn-Propanethial-S-oxide-based acid from your eye. During the entire process, the volatility of the chemical reaction taking place on the surface of your eye can also cause an uncomfortable burning sensation.

This tear-inducing effect is a consistent trait of many types of onions, and some suggest that this phenomenon may be a beneficial survival adaptation. The idea goes that when an animal in the wild attempts to chew the bulb of an onion plant, the resulting tears and burn would be enough to deter them, giving the onion plant a greater chance of living on and reproducing.

Those interested in reducing the amount of crying they do while cutting onions should know that not all onion varieties are equally capable of causing you to cry. For instance, the type of onion commonly known as a yellow onion contains more sulfur than white onions, red onions, and others, making them more capable of irritating your eyes. Regardless of which variety you cut, chilling your onions before you cut them can slow the chemical reactions that lead to tears. However, other somewhat popular methods for reducing onion tears often prove to have minimal effect, if any at all.

Crying is a bothersome aspect of cutting onions that there is not much we can do about. But at the very least, we can understand the real reasons why onions make us tear up. To summarize the process in a straightforward way: Onions store sulfur in their bulbs. The sulfur mixes with other chemicals when an onion is cut, then those new chemical compounds rise through the air and irritate your eye. After that takes place, it’s only natural for your eyes to respond by crying.