Flower Hacks: What works, and what doesn’t?

For many homeowners, adding a bouquet of flowers to their decor is an important part of creating a bright and inviting environment. Yet, without the proper care, flowers can sometimes wilt earlier than we’d like them to - leaving us having to get a new bouquet earlier than we planned.

Here at Eflorist, we take pride in our 7 day freshness guarantee, providing that the proper flower care routine is followed.

But, for those wondering ‘how do i keep flowers fresh?’, many may find themselves turning to popular viral flower hacks to make flowers last longer such as putting vodka in your vase, or even adding copper coins to name a few.

As such, the team here at Eflorist conducted an experiment with these viral hacks to find out once and for all which one’s will make flowers last longer, and which one’s won't.

To make the experiment fair, we trialled these hacks on two bouquets, one bouquet containing only water (left bouquet) alongside another bouquet that we conducted the hack on (right bouquet). We also didn’t follow any of our recommended care advice on either bouquet, to see the true effects of these popular flower hacks.

Continue reading below to see the results:

Which hacks make flowers last longer?

The Vodka Hack

Day 1 - Day 

Vodka hack

Standard flowers (left) - Vodka flowers (right)

The vodka hack is an unusual method to help assist flower growth, but it can produce some benefits for your bouquet. Using vodka for this helps to inhibit ethylene production, a gas that plants emit, to keep them healthy and stop maturing or wilting.

To carry out the hack, simply add a teaspoon of vodka into the water of your flowers, and continue to add every time you change your bouquet's water (once every 3-4 days).

The results of this hack did show some improvement for some species of flowers in the bouquet, but overall, the flowers did not have a significant enough improvement to be considered a better method than using standard flower food and fresh water.

The Copper Coin Hack

Day 1 - Day 7

Copper coin hack

Standard flowers (left) - Copper coin flowers (right)

A common old wives’ tale was that a copper coin inside a vase of water was all you needed to help the growth of your flowers. This is because the copper in the coins contains a natural fungicide that can prevent any bacterial growth, preventing your flowers from dying early.

But while this hack might have been useful at one point in time, the results of the experiment showed that this did not have any significant benefits to the growth of the flowers, and actually, resulted in many flowers dropping prematurely.

How to conduct proper flower care

The experiment highlighted the importance of performing proper flower care and maintenance routines on our bouquets - as these key steps are needed to ensure your flowers last as long as possible. 

As such, we’ve put together a list of the top flower care steps you should take to ensure your flowers last as long as possible:

  • Placing your flowers in a clean vase is crucial for the longevity of your flowers. Make sure to clean it thoroughly with dish soap and warm water to remove any residue that could harbor bacteria.

  • Snip 2-3cm from each stem, and make sure to remove any leaves that may fall below the water line.

  • Then, to refresh your flowers, re-cut the stems every 2-3 days and place them back in a clean vase of fresh water.

  • Keep flowers away from fruits, draughts, direct sunlight, heat sources such as radiators, as these factors can affect the health and growth of your bouquet.

 

For more information on flower care, check out our hints & tips guide