Fresh flowers bring life and vibrancy to any space but often wilt quickly without proper care. A home improvement enthusiast has revealed a quick and easy trick using only two common pantry items to help your blooms stay vibrant and upright longer.
Sophie, known as What Sophie Does on TikTok, recently revealed her favourite household hacks. She explains that when the plant food in your vase runs out, you can make a DIY solution with common kitchen ingredients. This easy mixture can keep your flowers fresh for several more days.
How to extend flower freshness naturally
The secret? All you need to do is add sugar and vinegar to the vase. White vinegar serves multiple household purposes beyond just cleaning tasks. Adding vinegar to your flower vase can modify the water’s pH balance.
According to Gardening Know How: “Those preserving cut flowers with vinegar are essentially lowering pH, which in turn, increases the acidity.
“This increase helps to create an environment that is less suitable for the growth of bacteria, which is often the culprit in the speed of decline in freshness of the flowers.”
Nevertheless, vinegar shouldn’t be used alone but rather as part of a mixture. Whilst most people combine it with sugar, household bleach can also serve as an alternative ingredient.
The inclusion of bleach serves to eliminate any bacteria lurking in the vase. Gardening Know How suggests that the proportions of vinegar can vary, but the consensus is that approximately two tablespoons each of vinegar and dissolved sugar should be used for every one-quart vase.
Sugar plays a crucial role in extending the life of flowers. By dissolving sugar in the water of the vase, it continually supplies the flowers with essential nutrients, as it draws the water.
Once the stems of flowers are cut, their capacity to photosynthesise and generate sugar ceases. Therefore, adding sugar to the water offers an indispensable food source for the flowers, aiding in prolonging their lifespan.