Who doesn’t appreciate having stunning bouquets of fresh flowers adorning their home? They effortlessly add an elegant and inviting ambiance. Whether bought from a local florist or gifted by a visitor, cut flowers quickly find their spot in a lovely vase adorning the living space. Yet, without proper care, they wilt after just a few days, leading to a regretful disposal. Fortunately, there are some helpful tips that can extend their lifespan, allowing you to enjoy their beauty for longer periods.
It’s inevitable: after a certain time, fresh flowers wither or their stems rot. But, to enjoy a little more of their beauty, their freshness and their intoxicating scent, you can always circumvent the inevitable with natural solutions. Your current savior? Baking soda. Yes, he is on all fronts! This natural and versatile product, which we happily use to simplify various household tasks, also has the ability to extend the life of your floral bouquet, but also to intensify its fragrance.
Find out how to use it wisely so that it can enhance your pretty flowers!
How to maintain cut flowers from the market?
You’ve probably received a beautiful bouquet of fresh cut flowers for a birthday, anniversary or special day. Unfortunately, it is very likely that you will not benefit from it for long. In fact, cut flowers that you buy from the florist tend to wilt much faster than those you could pick from the garden.
The reasons are diverse. The most common is that they are flowers usually transported from flower plantations in refrigerated boxes over a long distance. Certainly, staying in a cold environment allowed them to flourish and remain beautiful, but at the same time it was also detrimental to their health.
By immersing these flowers in a vase of cold tap water, they can easily wilt the next day. To avoid this mishap, immerse them in room temperature water instead.
Also remember that the stem of each flower should be cut off by about two centimeters. In fact, the ends of the stems can dry out more quickly, because they do not absorb water well and rot easily. Which leads to the death of the flower. However, caring for your stem doesn’t stop with the initial cut. Every two days you need to cut it back by about a centimeter to prevent it from rotting. Also avoid leaving leaves submerged in water, otherwise they are invaded by bacteria and risk rotting.
Finally, remember to install the vase in a cooler place, without drafts or direct sunlight.
Extend the Life of Cut Flowers with Baking Soda
To maximize the life of your cut flowers, you will need baking soda on hand. Whenever you change your flower water, every other day or as needed, add a tablespoon of baking soda to the water and stir well.
This white texture powder has excellent cleaning and disinfectant properties, thus eliminating any bacteria that could harm plants. As a bonus, this natural product even intensifies the scent of flowers!
How to grow roses in pots?
Obviously, only a few of the 2,000 varieties of roses fit into the vases, especially the less bushy and prickly ones. In any case, you can choose the most suitable container following the criterion of the proportion between the length of the flowers and the capacity of the vase.
In general, a five-liter vase of water is enough if the roses you have chosen or received do not exceed 50 centimeters. If they exceed this height, then you will need a 12 liter vase. The first condition for a rose bush to be planted indoors is that the pot must be large enough, at least 50 cm deep for deep rooting. It must also have drainage holes to prevent the roots from rotting. For a good substrate, choose clay balls and organic fertilizer specially adapted for roses. Water regularly to avoid air pockets in the pot. Remember to prune the stems and remove small twigs.
How to grow roses in the garden?
Ideally, planting is done in autumn. Besides the choice of soil and the place where the plant receives light and sun, it is very important to pay attention to certain elements. First of all, the distance between plants: no less than 70 centimeters from each other, and even up to one meter for greater safety. Second, avoid planting rose bushes where you have just uprooted others because they are surely diseased. Always choose rich, light and well-drained soil.
Rose bushes resist cold well, but they need a lot of sun for beautiful, abundant flowering. So opt for a sunny location, and above all sheltered from the wind. Avoid areas where the soil is too humid and where water tends to stagnate. The roots of the rose bush hate being immersed in water, they even get sick from it.
