How to Extend the Life of Fresh Cut Flowers
Giving fresh cut flowers makes everyone feel special. Those that receive the flowers definitely feel wonderful, but those that give fresh flowers feel special too. Flowers can help say “I love you,” “Thank you,” “Get well,” “I’m sorry” and “You’re special” in ways that language alone cannot communicate. A bouquet or vase of fresh cut flowers can help express emotions. How powerful is that? The trouble is that fresh flowers don’t last.
Can you lengthen the vase-life of flowers with proper treatment? It seems like a simple question. But if you search on the web there are dozens of opinions, many presented as fact. But which is correct and which is useless information? Here is the answer, presented by a professional florist with 30 years of experience. These techniques are based on both university research and first-hand experience.
Preserving the life of fresh cut flowers begins the minute you take delivery of them. Place the stems in water without delay. As soon as possible cut the stems back inch at an angle. Use a sharp knife, not shears or a serrated knife. This cut will get rid of air bubbles in the stem. Air bubbles can prevent the uptake of water. The angled cut exposes additional stem to water to allow the flower to soak up water more easily. In the meantime carefully clean the vase with a 10% bleach solution.
Water alone however is not the perfect liquid to increase the life of fresh cut flowers. They require more. Homespun preservative solutions run the gamut from aspirin to copper pennies to sugar to bleach. Additions involve various flavors of soda, Listerine, corn syrup, lemon juice and more. Is there any truth to these solutions?
Flowers need acidic water for two reasons. fresh cut flowers take up acidic water quicker, and acidic water slows the growth of microbes that could block the stems. A number of of the homemade ingredients help make the water acidic. Studies have found that water with a pH of 3.5 works best
Fresh flowers also want carbohydrates in the form of sugars. |Several of the homespun ingredients such as sugar, corn syrup or lemon-lime soda, do supply sugar, but in widely varying quantities. Different flowers however, require varying amounts of sugar. Some like their water on the sweet side, while others not so much. So what is the answer?
The answer to all the above issues is to use the packets of floral preservative that typically comes with fresh flowers. Such commercial preservatives are formulated to contain everything the flowers require. Mix the packet into warm water (100-110 degrees) according to instructions on the packet. Move the flowers into the warm solution and put the vase in a cool spot. Keep the flowers out of direct sun and as cool as possible. Change the preservative solution every other day. Snip inch off the stems whenever you change the solution if possible.
There you have it the secrets of extending the vase-life of your fresh flowers. Never mind what other websites say. You know better now. Charles Osborne is the proprietor of A-Bow-K, a top florist in Tampa. A-Bow-K is family owned and operated, and has been helping express emotions in Tampa and the nearby area for 30 successful years.
