With any luck my sweetie will be bringing home a big beautiful arrangement of flowers for me on Valentine's Day - and I'll want to make sure they last as long as possible. Here are a couple of tricks to make sure your cut flowers stay fresh and perky:
The little packet of flower food that will most likely come with your flowers are bactericides that kill the bacteria, yeasts, and fungi. They work great, but if you are looking for the same results without chemicals, here are a couple of suggestions:
* Add a penny to your flowers. Copper is a fungicide and acts to preserve the water from too many yeasts and fungi.
* Aspirin is an acid and helps to kill bacteria overgrowth.
* Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar to 1 quart of water. The idea here is the same as with aspirin, since lemon juice and vinegar are acidic.
Other Guidelines To Keep Fresh Flowers Fresh
* Place cut flowers in cold water, not warm! Warm water dehydrates flowers.
* Placing cut flowers in the refrigerator for six hours before arranging them will triple their lifespan.
* Hot water–up to 110-200 F–is recommended to restore very wilted flowers (the hotter water is for the more wilted flowers).
* Except for when you are cooling flowers, when you want cold water to cover the stems of the flowers, there is no need to have the water go higher on the stems then six inches.
* Recut the stems every few days.
* Remove all leaves and foliage below the water line.
Information Source: www.care2.com
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