Have you been spoiled with a beautiful bunch of flowers today? Or do you regularly buy yourself a bunch, but do the flowers wither quickly? If you have a fresh bunch of cut flowers at home, you naturally want to enjoy them for as long as possible. These 6 tips can help you with that.
This is how you enjoy your bunch of flowers as long as possible:
1. A clean flower vase
Flowers should be back in the water as soon as possible after purchase. So find a suitable vase and make sure it is clean. One rinse with water is not enough! Wash the vase with soapy water, because bacteria from old flowers can remain in the vase and affect the new bunch.
Clean the vase with chlorine, or preferably with a (biological) cleaning agent. Fill the clean vase with cold to lukewarm water. Do not use hot water, this can damage the cells of the stem and prevent the flower from emerging.
2. Cut the flowers diagonally
The underside of the stem, where the flowers are cut off, can be compared to a kind of wound. If the stems are out of the water for longer than a few minutes, the wounds will grow closed and they will no longer absorb enough water. This is the reason that before you put them in a vase, you cut off cut flowers.
Do this at an angle, so that they can absorb as much water as possible through a larger surface. Also make sure that you use a sharp knife and certainly not scissors, because this can dent the handle again. Don’t be afraid to cut the flowers, like a dried flowers bouquet too short, a short stem will absorb a lot of water. With a long stem, the path from the water to the flower can sometimes be too long.
3. Make sure there are no leaves hanging in the water
Remove the leaves from the stems, preferably up to the top of the vase. Bacteria multiply easily on leaves, causing stems to rot and flowers to have a shorter life. In addition, it also looks a lot more stylish and ‘airy’ when the vase is not completely overgrown.
4. Mix the water from your bunch of flowers with a little soda
On the internet you can read many myths about how you can keep flowers alive longer by mixing the water with different substances. For example, a copper coin would keep flowers beautiful longer, but the cut flowers can also discolor.
Aspirin even has a negative effect: some flowers actually droop. What can help is a little soda in the water. Acids and sugars keep your flowers beautiful, but it is a lot more difficult to dose than regular cut flower food. And that’s still the best option!
5. Put the flowers in the right place
No matter how well you take care of your bouquet, they will wither in the wrong place. Evaporation takes place due to drafts, causing flowers to droop and heat can also be fatal for a bouquet. Furthermore, flowers last shorter in the vicinity of gasses such as cigarette smoke and gasses from ripe fruit.
6. Change the water regularly
Flowers love water, but especially clean water. Therefore, change the water regularly. You can send your plant gift to friends, family or relatives and it will be deliverd in 1 business day with Bloompost.
