I’m a florist… the home remedies to keep your cut flowers last longer – and the ones that will kill your bouquet
A PROFESSIONAL florist has shared their opinion on popular home remedies to keep your cut flowers last longer.
A bouquet of fresh flowers can do wonders to your home, instantly brightening up any room – but unfortunately, the joys don’t last for long, as the blooms begin to wilt just a few days later.
Fortunately, there are countless inexpensive ways to make them last longer – but just how effective are they?
Sharing their expertise, the gurus at ProFlowers spoke to The Express and revealed their thoughts.
“There’s no need to keep asking yourself how to make flowers last longer.
”Surprisingly, you might have a few things lying around the house that can help you enjoy your bouquets.
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“These home remedies include apple cider vinegar with sugar, aspirin, fridges, soda and a few more.”
To make your life easier, the experts decided to put these theories to test – and here’s what they found.
Apple cider vinegar with sugar
For this remedy, it is recommended to mix two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and two tablespoons of water into a vase before adding the cut flowers.
The mixture is said to be effective since vinegar acts as an antibacterial agent while the sugar acts as additional flower food.
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However, when put to test by the florists, this did not prove to be particularly effective.
The experts noted: ”Although apple cider vinegar and sugar didn’t take the title as the worst result, it did come in a close second.”
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Aspirin
For this method, you’re supposed to mix one crushed aspirin into your vase filled with fresh water.
The tabled of aspirin is believed to lower the pH level of the water, which allows it to travel through the flower faster, preventing wilting.
Unfortunately, the gurus were not so convinced by the results.
”Aspirin might be the solution to a headache, but it’s not your best bet for keeping your flowers fresh.”
Fridge
Another method the plant pros decided to put to test was putting flowers in the fridge every night for eight hours.
“Flowers are said to thrive in cooler temperatures. It is thought that the low temperatures help slow the ageing.”
At the end of the experiment, they found that floral bouquets prefer to indeed stay nice and cool.
“The bouquet that went in the fridge overnight came in first place and is the best home remedy to make flowers last longer.
”This bouquet was looking healthy even on day 10.”
Bleach
There are also many who believe that adding a quarter teaspoon of household bleach will help a bouquet of fresh flowers last longer.
“Bleach will keep your water from getting cloudy as well as help fight bacteria,” the florists said.
”The bleach did indeed keep the water in the vase from getting too cloudy, although it didn’t stand out in keeping the bouquet fresh.”
Soda
This remedy involves pouring a quarter cup of soda in a vase full of water – and you might want to incorporate this in your routine from now on.
The flower gurus found that using soda worked very well and the trick even came in as their “runner up trick to making flowers last longer”.
“In fact, even on day 10 the soda bouquet was looking just as healthy as day one with the only difference being the flowers opening up more.”
Vodka
Some flower fans add a few drops of vodka in a vase before placing their stunning bouquet inside.
The popular spirit’s ability to inhibit ethylene production – a ripening gas that helps plants mature – is claimed to slow down the wilting process.
“This proved true and although vodka didn’t take the cake as the best way to keep flowers fresh longer, it did come in as third runner up.”
Coins
With the coin method, the copper is believed to act as an acidifier, fighting the bacteria growth in your arrangement.
On day of the experiment, the flower pros found that the blooms with the copper penny “opened up nicely”.
However, they noted: “In fact, it may have caused the flowers to open too quickly resulting in a few wilting flowers by day seven.”
Hairspray
The experts warned: “Whatever home remedy you decide to try to keep your flowers alive, it should not be spritzing the petals with hairspray.
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“We recommend avoiding doing so at all costs.
”The hairspray came in last place being the worst way to make flowers last longer.”
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