5 Ways To Keep Your Flowers Fresh For Longer
Spring is almost in the air and there is nothing like a bouquet of fresh flowers to commemorate the occasion. Even though flowers can stay fresh for up to a week, it can be so hard to bid farewell to your petals once they sadly begin to wilt.
With this in mind, Nick Drewe, trends specialist at WeThrift, has revealed five hacks that will extend the life of your flowers.
1 Vodka
Pic: Shutterstock
It turns out that our flowers like a boozy pick-me-up. When added to a vase, vodka helps to preserve flowers due to its ability to inhibit ethylene production. As a ripening gas, ethylene aids the maturation process of your plants and slows down the wilting of flowers. Alcohol is also an antibacterial agent, which further makes the spirit a rejuvenating drink for your flowers.
Simply add a few drops of vodka to your flower vase and watch them blossom as the days go on.
2 Sprite
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Known as the most effective way of keeping your flowers fresh, sprite (and other sodas) are your flowers’ best friend. This is because the drink makes the water in your vase more acidic, enabling it to travel up the stem more quickly. What’s more, the sugar acts as flower food.
Just put ¼ cup (60ml) of sprite into your vase – you’ll notice your flowers will also start to smell very sweet!
3 Apple cider vinegar and sugar
Pic: Shutterstock
An interesting combo – but adding apple cider vinegar and sugar to your flowers is just as effective as adding store-bought flower food to your vase. This is because the vinegar acts as an antibacterial agent while the sugar acts as additional flower food.
Simply mix 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and 2 tablespoons of sugar into the water in your vase before adding your flowers.
4 Copper penny
Ever heard of adding a copper penny to a fresh bouquet of flowers to extend its life? Well, now you have!
Dropping a penny into the middle of your vase works wonders because copper is a fungicide and naturally kills bacteria growth in your flower arrangement. After a couple of days, you’ll find that the blooms with the copper penny will have opened up quite nicely.
5 The fridge
Pic: Shutterstock
Last but not least, we have the fridge method. Due to the cool temperature of your fridge, it will slow down the ageing process of your flowers, which will delay the time they take to wilt and die.
That said, try putting your bouquet in the fridge every night before bed, typically for a duration of eight hours.
Nick Drewe adds: “In addition to all these great hacks, make sure you also follow the typical flower care tips to keep your petals thriving.
“This includes cutting the stems and pruning the leaves before you put them into the vase for the first time, watering them every two to three days, and keeping them away from direct sunlight, heat, drafts and fruits.”
Moira Chisholm
I'm the Health Editor on My Weekly and am always interested to hear what's new in this fascinating field. I also deal with the gardening, shopping pages, general features, our website content and the Ask Helen problem page. I have a special interest in Christmas content because I'm on the team for Your Best Ever Christmas Magazine, too!
