8 Ways to Temporarily Preserve Your Fresh Flowers
Many are wondering how to keep their flowers from wilting and on how to let them stay fresh much longer. Here are 8 simple ways on how to extend the life of your cut flowers.
1. SUGAR
Sugar acts as the primary food of your flower. This will surely help them last longer and it works better if mixed with vinegar or lemon juice. Just dissolve 3 tablespoons of sugar and add 2 tablespoons of vinegar per liter of lukewarm water. Pour the solution in a vase and make sure that it reached the stems up to 3-4 inches.
2. ASPIRIN
Add aspirin to your water. This aids in turning the water more acidic which will surely limit the growth of bacteria that shortens the lifespan of your flowers.
3. VINEGAR
Cut flowers are said to take up more water if the water is slightly acidic so many people are used to adding vinegar with a mixture of sugar to make the cut flowers last longer.
4. PENNY
Add a penny to the bottom of your flower vase. Plants need 17 major elements for normal growth like carbon, hydrogen and oxygen which can be found in our air and water. Aside from that they also need 8 other elements which are called micronutrients. Examples of these are iron, zinc and copper. Micronutrients are usually dissolve in water and absorbed by the roots. As an alternative for our cut flowers you can actually put a penny in the water and it might just give sufficient copper ions to extend the life of your flowers. Aside from that, a penny also acts as a fungicide.
5. BLEACH
Bleach prevents bacterial growth. To make your cut flowers last longer just add ¼ teaspoon of bleach per 1 liter of water. To help avoid having cloudy water you can also mix 3 drops of bleach and 1 teaspoon of sugar in a liter of water. These floral food recipes also work well in preventing molds from growing which will cause your flowers to die prematurely.
6. HAIR SPRAY
Aside from preserving your hairstyles, hair sprays are also good in preserving your beautiful flowers. Give a quick spray on the undersides of the leaves and petals.
7. SODA
Soda contains sugar that is a good source of floral food. The sugar provides nutrients for continual bloom development. Just add a cup of clear soda per half gallon of water.
8. VODKA
Vodka is also a good floral preservative. It interfere the plants ripening process. The alcohol of Vodka acts to inhibit the ethylene production of your flowers. Ethylene is a ripening gas emitted by plants that helps them mature and if inhibited could slow the wilting process of your flower.
