Flower Care

When your flowers arrive, or you get them home just a little bit of TLC goes a long way, to achieving maximum enjoyment and longevity..

Following these simple steps will ensure your flowers will look their very best.

 Start with clean vases or buckets & good fresh water.

*Make sure your buckets vases and vases are scrupulously clean!

*One of the largest deterrents to fresh cut flower life is bacterial. Bacteria and fungi are everywhere ready to enter the cut surface of the stem and multiply. Prior to actual decay symptoms, cells of the water-transporting tissues can become blocked with microorganisms, inhibiting water uptake.

When the flower is growing its root system takes care of the filtering and cleansing when its cut it needs our help.

* Fill them one third to half full

*  Use luke- warm (100 – 110 degree) clean water as most flowers take in warm water more efficiently than cold.

  *Use the “flower food” sachets provided, the sachets will increase the life of cut flowers and should always be used. They have been formulated scientifically and developed to carefully balanced mixtures of what your flowers need once cut.

 *Don’t be tempted to overdo the dosage or use a home recipe or folklore to “help things along” as this can be more detrimental than just using good clean fresh water.

* Re-cut the stems at an angle removing at least on inch of the stem, cut with good sharp cutters , the angled cut increases the area the stem has to take up moisture and nutriments, also prevents the stem from sitting flat against the bottom of the vase or bucket, stopping it from drawing up the maximum water it can.

* Leaves that will be below the water line in the container must be removed. Leaves sitting in water will deteriorate and rot. Decaying leaves will reduce the life of your flowers.

*. DO NOT remove all leaves along the stem length, the flowers require the leaves as part of their water uptake.

*Always be “gentle” during the removal of leaves, gashes or breaks in the stem surface are “open wounds” where bacteria can enter. Try using a soft, but effective plastic rose thorn stripper, a must have if you have lots of bunches to de thorn. Available from the accessories  list.

 

Do’s:

  • Always uses a clean vase and quality water.
  • Always use the fresh flower food provided.
  • Always re-cut your flowers initially.
  • Always remove the leaves below the water line.
  • Always check the water daily and top it up.
  • Remove any flowers that with time look less than pristine, as this will keep the remaining flowers looking fresh.

Don’ts

  • Never use a “homemade” substitute for flower food such as aspirin, soda pop, or bleach.
  • Never remove all foliage from the stem
  • Never place your flowers with or near fresh fruit or cigarette smoke as both produce *ethylene gas which will shorten flower life.
  • Never place flowers in direct sunlight, near a heater or open fire, or near any other source of excessive heat.
  • Never use flower food in crystal or metal containers as the acid in the flower food will react with metal (including the lead in crystal)

*Check the water level daily and replenish as needed. If the water becomes cloudy, it should be completely exchanged for fresh. As the water level gets low, you should re-fill vases with fresh water made with the correct “flower food sachets”

*For the longest vase life after your flowers are arranged, it is recommended that every three days, you re-cut the flower stems ,  rinse the lower portion of the stems to clean them, clean the vase, and add new floral preservative / food and water solution in the vase.

*Ethylene:

Ethylene is an odourless and colourless naturally produced gas produced by cut flowers, foliage, ripening fruit, vegetables, bacteria, and decaying plant material. Ethylene is also produced by the burning of hydrocarbons (car exhaust and tobacco smoke).

 Ethylene can cause rapid wilting, colour fading, blossom drop, bloom shattering, and the early death of cut flowers. While ethylene is always present in the atmosphere, it is important to be aware of and remove your cut flowers from sources of high levels of ethylene. Always remove old and wilting flowers from arrangements. Keep vases and storage buckets clean and free of decaying plant material and bacteria. Change vase water every third day and use a commercial floral preservative / food. Keep floral arrangements away from ripening fruit, vegetables and tobacco smoke.