Home Remedies No, Flower Food Yes!

Home remedies… no matter what chore you’re doing around the house, somebody’s grandmother had a secret family recipe for doing it faster and better.  This includes cut flower care; we’ve all heard of one or more home remedies to make flowers last longer, usually something you add to the vase water. But we have to ask – and no offense to granny – do these really work? For answers, we turn to the latest Floralife® piece for Floriology: “Homemade Remedies: No Substitute for Flower Food.”

“We have all heard somewhere along the line that when you have a vase of fresh flowers you need to add a little something to the water to make them last. Copper pennies, aspirin, soda, white wine, bleach and lemonade are among the most popular home remedies.”

That’s some list of additives, and quite varied! But not totally without merit: the article points out that lemonade, with its sugar and citric acid content, actually resembles the main ingredients of professional cut flower food. Unfortunately, the dosages of these ingredients are inadequate, and can actually cause problems such as bacteria growth. Therefore…

“…home remedies are quite ineffective because none of them contain all the necessary ingredients to feed and nourish the stems.”

And Floralife® knows this because we thoroughly tested all of these home remedies in our labs. So, if home remedies aren’t the answer, what is? You guessed it: Flower Food. “Only formulated commercial flower foods contain all the correct ingredients in the right proportions to enable flowers to last longer.”

Science Approximates Nature

The article then goes on to describe the way flowers receive hydration and nutrition – from their roots and with photosynthesis. And how, after cutting, we must step in to provide those vital elements. Nature’s ability to find that delicate balance between so many variables is what flower food must approximate, in a way that home remedies can’t.

In fact, flower foods provide three key elements: a Nutritional Source, Hydration, and a Stem Unplugger. Each of these work together to keep nutritious, lower-pH water flowing freely to the blooms, helping to increase vase life and user enjoyment.

Of course, there’s much more to the story of Flower Food and its benefits. So be sure to read the original article. And save your home remedies for whiter, brighter laundry and streak-free windows!