How to Keep Cut Flowers Fresh: A Guide to Making Cut Flowers Last Longer

Whether you grow flowers at home and sell them at the market, or, you just love cut flowers, learning how to keep cut flowers fresh IS important. Surprisingly, it's not just as easy as cutting the flowers and planting them in water, there is actually a science behind it.

Having a fresh cut bouquet of flowers in your home brings a certain joy and brightness, but unfortunately, they just don't last that long! Today, we'll share some tips and tricks with you on how to keep cut flowers fresh for longer.

How to Make Cut Flowers Last Longer

#1. Cut the Flower Stems the Right Way

If you just received a bouquet of freshly cut flowers, you may not realize that you actually need to cut a little bit of the stem off. Use gardening shears and trim about one or two inches of the stem, at an angle. By cutting the stem at an angle, you're ensuring that the stem can adequately take in water since they won't be sitting flat in a vase. This goes the same for cutting flowers straight from the garden – use gardening shears and cut an an angle. Repeat the cutting every few days to ensure longer lasting, fresher flowers.

#2. Prune The Leaves

Prevent bacterial growth and make your bouquet look much better by removing any leaves below the water line. Certain flowers, such as roses, have guard petals which are the two or three outermost petals of the flower. Remove these petals to allow the flower to really open up. Afterwards, check your flowers every other day, and remove any spent petals or leaves.

#3. Water Correctly

One of the most important aspects to keeping cut flowers fresh is to give them water! Use a clean vase and fill it with room temperature water. Then, add in a packed of flower food and stir well. If you don't have flower food, there are plenty of things you can replace that with – see below! Place your correctly cut flowers in the vase with water, and be sure to change the water out every 2-3 days to keep the water fresh and the flowers fresh as well.

#4. Avoid Direct Sunlight

Try to avoid placing your freshly cut bouquet near direct sunlight or appliances which generate heat. This will cause the flowers to wither much quicker. Instead, place them in a cooler area with indirect sunlight, and away from fans, open windows, and heating/cooling vents. This may cause the flowers to dehydrate quickly. Additionally, cut flowers should be kept away from fruit, as fruit releases small amounts of ethylene gas which can make your cut flowers last less.

#5. Home Remedies for Making Cut Flowers Last Longer

Surely you've heard of people adding in certain things to their flower water to make them last longer. But, which ones work best?

• Apple cider vinegar and sugar
• Aspirin
• Bleach
• Coins
• Flower food
• Fridge
• Hairspray
• Soda
• Vodka

We've tested each one of these methods by adding room temperature water to the vase, using the same type of bouquet, and adding each one of the home remedies. We then changed the water and the remedy every 2 days, and did this for a total of 7 days.

Best Result:

The best result was the fridge! Placing your flower vase in the refrigerator every night before bed kept the flowers as fresh as they were on day 1! I guess flower shops DO know a thing or two. If you've ever been in one, you'll see the flowers are being store in some type of refrigerator!

Second Best Result:

The second best result was soda! Add about an ounce of soda to your flower vase (stay away from dark sodas such as cola), and be amazed at how fresh your cut flowers stay!

Worst Result:

The worst result for us was the hairspray. This trick did not work at all, and to be honest, it can't be too good for the flowers. We recommend you not use hairspray to keep flowers fresh – it simply does not work!

Have any other ways you like to keep your cut flowers fresh? Tell us in the comments below!

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