Stop flowers from drooping in vases by adding two key ingredients found in the kitchen (Image: Getty) This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Spring is the perfect time to decorate your home with fresh bunches of flowers from the garden, florist or supermarket. Whether you’re a fan of decorating your windowsills and tables with vases of fresh daffodils or tulips, you can perk up your rooms with a stunning pop of colour.
However, a common problem many flower-lovers face when placing fresh flowers in vases is that they wilt and droop too soon, resulting in a sad-looking display. To help revive flowers and give them a second chance of a beautiful bloom, there are two common kitchen ingredients you can add to the vase. Home hacks TikTok creator Chantel Mila, better known as Mama Mila, shared her simple hack for keeping shop-bought flowers fresher for longer.
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Adding sugar can provide essential nutrients for the flowers to blossom (Image: Getty)
When preparing to place your flowers in a vase, you’ll want to fill the vase halfway up with water. Then add one tablespoon of sugar such as caster or granulated before following with two tablespoons of white vinegar.
Give the water a little stir to ensure the sugar has dissolved properly. If you haven’t trimmed the stems, Chantel advised to cut the ends at a 45° angle underwater and ensure they’re fully submerged, and remove any excess foliage. This will prevent air from entering the stems.
Sugar is particularly important for keeping flowers alive. As soon as flowers are cut, they immediately begin to lose out on nutrients provided by photosynthesis, according to Teleflora.
By adding sugar in the vase’s water, it dissolves and helps to continuously feed the flowers the important nutrients they need, as it draws in the water over time. Research from the University of Massachusetts explained adding a teaspoon of sugar to vases will help to prolong the life of the flowers, as well as increase the number and size of open flowers, reported Homes & Gardens.
If the flowers haven’t perked up within three hours, add another teaspoon of sugar and a small amount of water to the vase. However, adding sugar to flowers can come at a cost.
Teleflora explained sugar also encourages the growth of bacteria, which can cause your flowers to smell and ultimately lead to their swift decay. This is why it should be paired with vinegar to stop this growth.
Morning Flowers explained that adding sugar to flower vases will help replace nutrients that flowers have lost after they’ve been cut. Its experts also pointed out that the water should be changed and refreshed often to ensure bacteria doesn’t build up in the flowers.
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 should be used in conjunction with another ingredient, and never by itself. 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.
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