How To Keep Your Cut Flowers Fresh

Is a copper penny the right choice to keep cut flowers fresh? Or is the little packet of flower food? An aspirin? What water temperature is best? What is the trick that will triple the lifespan of cut flowers? Often folk tips are based on good science. Learn about what works and what doesn’t, and why, to keep your cut flowers fresh, here.

Copper Penny, Aspirin, and Other Alternatives to Chemical Flower Food - The little packet of flower food are bactericides that kill the bacteria, yeasts, and fungi.

Here are tips of reaching this same goal without the chemicals:
* 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.

From an email received July 2008