Fresh flowers can brighten up any room, however, you may find that they wilt very quickly when not kept in the correct conditions. One home hacks fan shared a simple solution made with just two kitchen ingredients that can help keep flowers blooming and avoid wilting.
Sophie, who goes by What Sophie Does on TikTok, shared some of her favourite cleaning and home hacks in a recent video. When it comes to flowers placed in vases and you’ve used all of the food provided, you can make a homemade solution with two kitchen ingredients. These can keep flowers blooming for days.
How to keep flowers fresher for longer
When it comes to flowers placed in vases and you’ve used all of the food provided, you can make a homemade solution with two kitchen ingredients. All you need to do is add sugar and vinegar to the vase.
Vinegar has a number of uses around the home, but it doesn’t have to just be used for cleaning purposes. By adding vinegar to the vase, it can alter the pH level of the water.
Gardening Know How explained: “Those preserving cut flowers with vinegar are essentially lowering pH, which in turn, increases the acidity. This increase helps to create an environment that is less suitable for the growth of bacteria, which is often the culprit in the speed of decline in freshness of the flowers.”
However, it’s important not to use vinegar on its own but as a part of a combination. Most people use sugar, but it’s also possible to use household bleach, too.
The addition of bleach helps to kill any bacteria lingering in the vase. Gardening Know How explained that the ratios of vinegar will vary, but most agree that roughly two tablespoons each of vinegar and dissolved sugar should be used for each one-quart vase.
Sugar is particularly important for the longevity of flowers. By dissolving sugar in the vase’s water, it helps to continuously feed the flowers the important nutrients they need, as it draws the water.
Once flower stems are cut, their ability to photosynthesise and produce sugar is halted. So, by adding sugar to the water, it provides an invaluable food source for the flowers, helping to keep them alive for an extended period of time.