Give your flowers a extra boost to stay fresh and last longer with two simple items (Image: flyparade via Getty Images)
A brilliant way to inject a burst of colour and freshen up your home is with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. However, warmer temperatures and intense sunshine can accelerate the lifecycle of flowers, leaving them wilting and withered before you’ve had a chance to truly appreciate them.
To give your fresh bouquet a welcome burst of vitality and extend their lifespan, home hacks expert and TikTok sensation Chantel Mila, widely known as Mama Mila, has revealed her trusted technique. In a video from June, she shared her preferred hack utilising two common kitchen cupboard essentials to get the job done. All you’ll require is some white vinegar and sugar.
This method works equally well for supermarket-bought bouquets or those assembled from freshly cut garden blooms.
Chantel wrote in the video’s caption: “All you need is two pantry staples to make your flowers last for double as long. I’ve tried many different methods, and this one is my go-to. It’s so easy and affordable but keeps your flowers fresh!”
To begin, fill your vase halfway with water. Next, add two tablespoons of white vinegar, which acts to inhibit bacterial growth within the water, reports The Mirror.
Follow this by adding two tablespoons of sugar, whether caster or granulated. Gently stir the water to ensure the sugar has fully dissolved.
Sugar can help provide food for the flowers in the vase, nourishing them (Image: Getty Images)
Should the stems remain untrimmed, Chantel recommends cutting the ends at a 45° angle underwater and ensuring they are completely submerged. Finish by stripping away any surplus foliage from the stems.
Sugar proves particularly vital for maintaining flower longevity. The moment flowers are cut, they instantly start losing nutrients supplied through photosynthesis, according to specialists at Teleflora.
By introducing sugar into the vase’s water, it dissolves and assists in continually providing the flowers with the essential nutrients they require, as it absorbs into the water gradually. Nevertheless, incorporating sugar into flowers can present a drawback.
Teleflora noted sugar also promotes bacterial growth, which can result in your flowers developing an odour and ultimately hastening their deterioration. This is precisely why it ought to be combined with vinegar to prevent this proliferation.
Morning Flowers highlighted that introducing sugar to flower vases will assist in replenishing nutrients that flowers have forfeited following cutting. Its specialists also emphasised that the water ought to be replaced and replenished regularly to guarantee bacteria doesn’t accumulate in the flowers.
Gardening Know How noted: “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.”
Vinegar ought to be utilised alongside another ingredient, and never on its own. Gardening Know How noted that the proportions of vinegar will differ, but most concur that roughly two tablespoons each of vinegar and dissolved sugar ought to be employed for each one-quart vase.
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