It isn’t a good sight when cut flowers begin to wither and die away, not to mention the mess created. Here are tips to revive wilting flowers.

How To Revive Wilting Flowers

Flowers are the most inexpensive way of making the house look beautiful to anyone. They are also the perfect first time gift for anyone, from a prospective mother in law, a hurt girlfriend or even an ailing grandmother or a boss who has just got married. However, like most naturally occurring beautiful things (except gold!), they are highly perishable and begin to wilt quickly. When that happens, they turn soggy and messy and even begin to stink in some cases, which also mean that the whole purpose of keeping them at home or gifting them would be defeated. It is when they begin to wilt that one begins to think as to why they are considered such an item of beauty when they do not last more than a few days and always leave behind a mess. The problem is most of us forget to change the water in the vase we store them or keep the vase close to unwrapped fruits and vegetables, which produces ethylene, a chemical responsible for shortening the life of flowers. In addition, we do not cut off about an inch of the stem of flowers when restoring them, which only serves to decrease their life. However, here are some tips about how to revive wilting flowers.
 
Tips To Preserve Cut Flowers
 
Preserve It Right 
For this method, you will need floral preservative, a sharp knife and a vase or any similar container. Fill your container with warm water at about 45 degrees centigrade and add floral preservative to it. Next, hold each flower by its stem under lukewarm running water. With a sharp knife or shears, cut the stem at an angle of about 45 degrees, while the stem is still kept under the running lukewarm water. In the meantime, remove any leaves inside the vase and immediately set the stem of the flower into the container with warm water and preservative. Place the re-cut flowers in a cool spot for about an hour or so, after which you will need to move them to a place that is out of direct sunlight and away from both cold and hot sources. Remember also to keep the flowers well away from unwrapped fruits and vegetables—they produce ethylene, which will shorten the life of the flowers. Add water with preservative into the vase as the levels keep going down, and change the water every two to three days.
 
Easy And Quick 
Many of us may not have access to floral preservative or it may be too expensive for us. For those who cannot find or afford a floral preservative, here’s is a simple and easy way to revive wilting flowers. For this method, all one needs is household detergent and tepid water. Remove all the flowers from the vase temporarily and clean the vase out if needed. To a container full of tepid water add a tablespoon or so of household detergent. Fill the vase with this mixture and return the flowers to the vase.
 
Some Tips 
Here are some tips to increase the life of cut flowers at your home: 
  • It is a good practice to keep your vase of flowers nowhere near direct sunlight and away from any heating or cooling vents.
  • As an extension of what is already said, in case you wish to place the flowers in a refrigerator before unpacking, make sure they are kept away from the fan of the fridge or the vent from where the cold air enters your fridge. This will only cause them to dry quicker than they should.
  • Every few days remove the flowers from the vase, drain all the water out, rinse the vase with lukewarm water and household detergent, and then refill it with lukewarm, preferably with floral preservative. Make sure to cut about an inch off, of the stems when placing them back in the vase.
  • If you plan to keep your flowers wrapped before you present them to recipient on the next day, it is advisable to unwrap the stems and place them in a vase of water, or place the whole arrangement in a cool area such as a garage or basement. For all practical purposes, the ideal temperature for preserving flowers is about 3 or 4 degrees centigrade—a few degrees above freezing point.

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