Fresh cut flowers can certainly brighten a room. Whether you just received a dozen roses from your husband or you simply bought a bouquet of tulips from a store, you can extend the life of flowers by using a very common kitchen staple – sugar. To be exact, you can keep flowers fresh with sugar water. Make a sugar-based flower preservative right at home to make any cut flowers last longer.
What You Will Need:
Option 1
– 3 tablespoons of sugar
– 2 tablespoons of white vinegar per liter of water
– Warm water enough to cover up to 4 inches of the flower stems
Option 2
– 2 tablespoons of sugar
– 2 tablespoons of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice
– ½ teaspoon household chlorine bleach
– 1 liter warm water
Directions:
1. Combine all of the fluids together.
2. Dissolve the sugar into the solution.
3. Fill the vase with the sugar water, making sure to submerge the stems up to 4 inches high. You’ll be surprised how long you can keep flowers fresh with sugar water.
4. Just don’t forget to change the water in the vase every other day.
How does it work?
Like a growing flower, a cut flower still needs nutrition to stay alive. When a flower is cut, the stem acts like a straw. When you put it in water, it will draw up the water through its stem and all the way up the stalk to nourish the flower. It is possible to keep flowers fresh with sugar water because plants do use sugar, also known as sucrose, as a source of energy. In fact, growing plants produce sucrose during photosynthesis when they are exposed to sunlight.
Cut flowers, on the other hand, are not able to manufacture enough sucrose because they are no longer receiving direct sunlight, but table sugar works well as a sucrose replacement. When you put cut flowers in sugar water, they will absorb the sugar through the open ends of their stems.
Using Additives
Cut flowers respond better when certain additives are put in the sugar-water solution. In the options above to make sugar-based preservatives, adding acid (vinegar or fresh lemon juice) to the solution will regulate the water’s pH level and also help the flower absorb water faster, while adding a biocide (bleach) will kill bacteria and microorganisms.
Want to Order Some Flowers?
A sugar-based flower preservative can make the life of cut flowers last twice or thrice as long. This is why most florists use preservatives with some form of sugar in it. Now that you know how to make cut flowers last longer, why not order a bouquet now? Use TalkLocal to connect you to some of the best florists in your area quickly, easily, and for free.
