If you’ve ever handled a cut flower, either at home or as part of your job, you will likely intuitively know that flowers need water to stay fresh. But have you ever stopped to consider whether that flower might need food too?

A flower may not be able to tell you that it’s hungry, unlike your cat can and does at 3am, or your dog does every breathing minute! But just like any other living thing, flowers need food and water to thrive.

But what should you feed cut flowers with? Well, basically, Flower Food.

Flower food is formulated to ensure 3 things:

1. That the pH of the vase water is optimal for flower uptake, meaning it’s at a pH level that helps cut flowers take up water most effectively.
2. To provide food in the form of sugar, not because flowers have a sweet tooth, but because sugar provides energy so the flowers can maintain their internal mechanism needed for buds to develop and open in a natural way.
3. To ensure the stems stay free of any blockage so the flowers can keep up with hydration and feeding.

So, now you know what flower food is, and what it does, let’s talk about what it’s not.

Flower Food is NOT:

Plant Food - I mean, yeah, flowers come from a plant, but cut flowers don’t have roots. So no roots, no plant food. Capish? OK.

Plant Flower Food - Seriously? Don’t be fooled by this one, adding flowers to plant food still doesn’t make it ok to use with cut flowers. No roots mean no plant food, even plant “flower” food. Sheesh!

Plant Food for Flowers - Nice try, but still NO. See how they tried to fool you into thinking that plant food is for flowers? Remember kids, NO roots, NO plant food.

Flower Fertilizer - Just, Wow! Persistent, aren’t they? Flower fertilizer is just another way of saying plant food for flowers. You can pretty it up all you want to sound sciency, but you guys know better than that, right? No roots, no fertilizer/plant food.

Mineral Salt Packet - Oh, trying to throw us curveball, are you? There are many things that are improved by a little salt, peanuts anyone? But cut flowers are definitely not one of them! And salt can be sneaky too, it can be found in places you wouldn’t expect, like softened water! Water softeners use salt to work their magic on hard water, but that means it’s not good for cut flowers. So ditch the salt, and use flower food and fresh water instead.

Floral/Flower Preservative - Oh brother! Where do I even start with this one? What are you trying to make? Floral twinkies? Need flowers that will survive a nuclear blast? I didn’t think so, so what are you trying to preserve? Cut flowers have a natural shelf life, but to prevent them fading too soon, flower food is the best way to help them live their lives to the fullest! So, celebrate them and feed them with flower food!