Adding fresh blooms is a small, but effective trick to refresh your home. Here’s how to make flowers last longer to keep your home looking bright and fresh all year!
No matter the season, we love flowers, but we are feeling the floral love, even more, this spring. Now that you have spring cleaned your home and prepared your indoor plants this spring, it’s time to beautify your home without making any major changes. Yes, it’s possible with a vase of fresh blooms!
With the right care and love, flowers can continue to blossom longer. From pruning to watering, learn how to make flowers last longer.
Step 1: Wash the Vase Thoroughly
The first step on how to make flowers last longer is carefully washing your vase with hot water & a small cap of bleach. This is to ensure that there are no bacteria present when you place the water and flowers into the vase.
DON’T DRY WITH A TOWEL: Leave the vase to dry naturally by positioning it upside down.
Step 2: Condition the Water
Similar to your indoor plants, tap water is suitable for fresh flowers too. However, you need to condition your water for it to be ideal for thriving flowers.
SOFTER STEMS: For flowers like tulips, fill the vase just under halfway with tap water because soft stem flowers prefer a more shallow drink.
WOODY STEMS: For flowers like roses with woody stems, they prefer a deep drink, so it’s best to fill the vase up to 2/3rds full with tap water.
It’s best to put warm water rather than cold water because flowers take warmer water in more efficiently. Additionally, leave the vase water to settle. Let the larger air bubbles escape since air bubbles can get stuck in the bottom of your flowers’ stems which can prevent their water uptake.
Step 3: Use Flower Food
Add a flower food sachet to your flowers’ water and dissolve it by stirring. Flower food is a mix of bleach, citric acid, and sugar. It’s one of the secrets on how to make flowers last longer since it balances the PH of tap water, eliminates harmful bacteria, and provides flowers with the energy to let them live longer. A flower food sachet is suitable for 1 liter of water.
MAKE YOUR OWN FLOWER FOOD
- 1 teaspoon of clear unscented household bleach
- 1 teaspoon of household sugar
- 2 teaspoons of lemon/lime juice
Mix all ingredients with a quarter cup of warm water and stir the mixture until fully dissolved.
You can also replace your vase water every day if you can’t make your own flower food at home.
Step 4: Prepare Your Stems
It’s really simple to prepare your flowers before putting them in the vase.
MEASURE: Measure the right height for your flowers to be cut by placing them next to your vase.
CLEAN: Remove any leaves that will fall below the waterline since these leaves will introduce bacteria into your clean water.
CUT: Using sharp scissors, shears, or a knife, cut the stems at an angle to create a larger opening at the base, which means more water uptake.
PLACE INTO WATER: Once your flowers have been cut, place them immediately into your vase to avoid sucking up surrounding air and dust.
Step 5: Keep Your Flowers in a Cool Location
Keep your flowers away from sources of heat, such as direct sunlight, drafts from doors or windows, fruit or vegetables, household appliances, or radiators. Fruits are known to release ethylene gas as it ripens which causes browning and wilting to cut flowers.
Step 6: Check Regularly
It’s important to check your flowers every 2-3 days to make sure that the quality of your vase water is not cloudy.
CLOUDY WATER: If if it is slightly cloudy, change it with fresh water, and don’t forget to condition your water.
CLEAN WATER: If the water is clear, add fresh water, and remove any floating leaves with a clean spoon or fork. Avoid using your fingers.
You can also cut at least an inch from the bottom to remove clogged stems.
Double or even triple the life of your flowers with our simple steps on how to make flowers last longer!
Help your houseplants get back in shape with these spring gardening tips from our favorite green thumbs! Check out our Plant Care blog to learn more about different houseplants and tips on how to keep your plants alive and healthy.
Whatever houseplant you choose to transform your home into a lively oasis, you’ll definitely need a stylish planter to display your plant baby in. No matter what your style, there’s an Omysa planter that will be perfect with your garden and home’s décor. From ceramics to fiberstone, check out Omysa’s Shop and add it to your cart!
