If you’ve received a bouquet for Valentine’s Day, a simple trick can help keep your flowers looking fresh for longer
Two simple ways to make bouquets last longer(Image: Getty)
With Valentine’s Day now behind us, it’s important to look after any blooms you might have received. Fresh flowers bring a wonderful splash of colour to any space, though you may notice they don’t quite match the longevity of those growing in your garden.
Home tips enthusiast and Australian TikTok creator Chantel Mila (who goes by Mama Mila online) has shared her straightforward method for extending the life of shop-bought flowers. The good news?
You’ll only need two everyday items likely sitting in your kitchen already. Here’s how you can use the technique on your own blooms, reports the Express.
How to keep flowers fresh for long
Add one tablespoon of sugar and two tablespoons of vinegar to the water(Image: Getty)
Start by filling your vase halfway with water. Next, add one tablespoon of sugar — either caster or granulated will do — followed by two tablespoons of white vinegar. Give everything a gentle stir to make certain the sugar has fully dissolved.
If the stems haven’t been trimmed yet, Chantel recommends cutting the ends at a 45° angle whilst underwater, ensuring they’re completely submerged, and stripping away any unnecessary leaves. This stops air bubbles from getting into the stems.
Sugar plays a vital role in maintaining flower vitality. The moment flowers are cut, they instantly miss out on the nourishment provided through photosynthesis, explains Teleflora.
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When sugar is added to the vase water, it breaks down and continuously supplies the flowers with essential nutrients they require, as they absorb the water gradually. That said, introducing sugar to flowers isn’t without its drawbacks.
Teleflora warned that sugar can also promote bacterial growth, which may cause your blooms to develop an unpleasant odour and hasten their demise. That’s precisely why it needs to be combined with vinegar to inhibit this proliferation.
Morning Flowers revealed that introducing sugar into flower vases helps replenish the nutrients blooms lose once they’ve been snipped. Their specialists also stressed the importance of regularly changing and topping up the water to prevent bacterial accumulation around the stems.
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.”
Vinegar must be deployed alongside another component, and should never be used alone. Gardening Know How noted that whilst vinegar quantities may differ, most experts recommend approximately two tablespoons each of vinegar and dissolved sugar per one-quart vase.
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