Be sure to remove it before it begins to pinch in and compromise the stem. They work fine if they are just slid in right along side of the stem and that way you don't have to worry about cutting off the circulation to the plant if you forget to remove one.

Dave

Mix just a bit of flour with water and wet small strips of newspaper. Wrap this 'paper mache' around the stems to essentially make the same thing. The above should work with paper straws, but I'd be worried about heavy plastic ones.

BTW, along the same line of reasoning, I used old pieces of black corrugated drain pipe (4") around young fruit trees. The bucks leave them alone come the fall rutting season. I slip a 2 x 6 scrap into the cut tube for a while and leave it out in the sun. After a bit, remove the wood and set it around the tree. It will return to its round form after a while. Depending on the tree's eventual girth, you may have to remove it in the future.

Do you have a bubble tea shop around you? They use these huge straws for sucking up the tapioca pearls and they'd be perfect for this.

Digdirt: since I have slit the straw on the side, won't it expand with the stem without constricting it?

Digdirt: since I have slit the straw on the side, won't it expand with the stem without constricting it?

That would be true only if plastics had the same expansion potential as living tissue which is not the case. As the stem expands the straw may expand slightly along the slit but it will reach its expansion limit long before the stem will so will constrict the stem and compress the healthy epidermis of the stem. Think about a rubber band around your finger and left in place.

Plus moisture is trapped beneath the plastic and that part of the stem that is covered doesn't dry out as there is restricted air exposure. Bacteria and fungi can grow there.

I agree the idea sounds good in theory and would work early on as long as the stem is narrower than the straw. But that won't last for long.

Dave