Top tips to help you care for cut flowers

So you’ve got a beautiful bunch of flowers in your home. You’ve set them up in your favourite vase and you’ve placed them in the perfect spot in your home. What now?

Without proper care, the flowers will quickly wilt and die. Thankfully, there are some things you can do to care for your flowers. This will ensure your flowers stay pretty and healthy for longer!

1. Use flower food

First of all, make sure that the vase is always filled with water that contains flower food. You can find out more about the kind of flower food you need for your flowers from online services, where professional researchers can help you research the particular type of flowers you own.

These flower foods can be purchased at any good florist, and simply need to be mixed with the water in the vase. These foods should not be diluted any more than is suggested on the packet, as this will reduce the amount of nutrients the plants receive throughout the day.

If you notice that the flower food solution has become cloudy, it is important that you replace it with a properly-mixed solution. To avoid the plants being damaged by the bad mixture, consider re-cutting the stems from the bottom, removing between one and two inches using scissors or a sharp knife.

2. Keep in a cool place

Be sure to keep your flower arrangement in a cool part of your home, until you are able to deliver them a good flower food solution. Water will keep your plants alive for a couple of days, but once you have used a flower food solution, they will be able to withstand different temperatures. The cool temperature will keep your flowers alive until they are getting the nutrients they need to stay alive.

3. Thoroughly clean your vase

Before placing your plants in a vase, it’s important to make sure that it is thoroughly clean. Remember that the plants will be sucking up all the water you place in the vase, and if the water contains any impurities or nasty bacteria, then it could quickly kill them off.

To clean your vase, simply wash it in your kitchen sink using a detergent or other antibacterial cleaning solution. Rinse the vase out thoroughly to ensure that it contains no more cleaning solution, and then dry it before adding water. If you want to make sure that you’re cleaning your vase right, there are plenty of websites which have in-depth how-to articles on a variety of topics.

4. Care for the stems

The stems on your flowers are what allow them to live, which is why it’s so important to take good care of them! When you get your flowers, it’s important to check which kind of stems they have. If you are unfamiliar with the differences, you can use online resources which have great how-to articles that help you fully care for, and understand, your flowers.

For woody stems, split the bottom inch. This works on flowers like lilacs, and it allows them to absorb plenty of water. For more “milky” stems, like poinsettias, be sure to avoid placing them in the same vase as non-milky-stemmed flowers. The milk in the stems can be harmful for other kinds of plants.

With flowers that have hallowed stems, like a dahlia, be sure to fill the stem with water and then plug the hole with your finger. Slowly submerge the stem into the water, to ensure that water stays inside of the stems at all times.

Take these four tips into consideration, and you’ll have beautiful flowers for longer than ever!