Make Your Own Preservative for Cut Flower Bouquets
Store-bought bouquets usually come with a packet of floral preservative that will prolong the life of the flowers when it’s mixed into their water. You can easily make your own…
Store-bought bouquets usually come with a packet of floral preservative that will prolong the life of the flowers when it’s mixed into their water. You can easily make your own flower food for your garden’s cut-flower bouquets so they stay fresh longer, too. Here are some recipes:
1 tablespoon sugar plus ¼ teaspoon bleach per quart of warm water.
Another is:
2 tablespoons sugar plus 2 tablespoons of either lemon juice or vinegar per quart of warm water.
And another:
2 tablespoons white vinegar plus 2 tablespoons sugar plus ½ teaspoon household bleach per quart of warm water.
For all recipes, stir until the sugar dissolves, and let the water cool before adding the flowers. Dump the old solution and replace it with fresh solution every few days.
Read tips for cutting flowers from your garden.
Read 5 more quick tips for homegrown bouquets.
Read about designing and tending a cutting garden.
Image: "Blumenarrangement Frühling2014" by Geolina163 - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
