So, you brought home a flower bouquet and, as usual, having typed in a vase of water, put this "beauty" there. But on malicious intent, already in the evening or on the second day you noticed how your "flower gift" began to wither. Of course, this sight is not at all charming. Right now we will try to find out the basic rules for your bouquet to stand much longer than its allotted time.
First of all, remove the gift wrapping from the flowers, remember that cellophane promotes steaming of flowers. Then you need a very sharp knife blade or a special garden pruner to prune the tips of the stems of each flower. But here it is worth remembering such a nuance that it is necessary to cut off the ends of the stem exclusively under water. Neglect of this advice is fraught with the fact that the stem of the flower during the cutting process will get air and this will speed up the tying of flowers. This undercut can be done under running water from a tap or by typing water in a bowl. After that, the bouquet should not be immediately put in a vase. Dial into a deep and spacious container of pre-settled and slightly warm water and, for about 40 minutes, put your flower bouquet down there. Make it necessary so that the stem completely, by the flower itself, was in the water. This will help your flowers to adapt to a dramatic change in the so-called "landscape". When it's 40 minutes, take out the flowers and carefully look through them so that there are no wilted or wrinkled leaves, if there are any, whether you like it or not, remove them immediately. These leaves take a large amount of moisture on themselves and thereby deprive the flower of it. Especially it concerns huge flowers (peonies, roses, lilies). If the flower has a very thick stem (chrysanthemums, gladioli, dahlias), then before plunging it into the water for "addictive", so that it stands for a long time, it is necessary to "ruffle" its cut. If they are flowers of a bush (lilac) - beat a cut with a hammer. To do this it is necessary, approximately, with 5 centimeters of a stem, beginning from a line of a cut. Before dipping into the vase, such roots must be pruned and slightly rastrebit (it is possible for 3-4 parts), and the branchy stem is slightly scratched with a needle. It is the scratching of the stem that helps to stay in the water for a long time in carnations, asters, daisies and irises.
If the flower stalks produce milky juice (poppies, chrysanthemums, gerberas), their cutting line must be burned on fire or by lowering the cut into very hot water, with a time of 30-40 seconds. In the latter case, avoid getting the vapors on the flower itself and its foliage. It's easy to do, wrapping flowers with paper and tilting them away from the outgoing fumes. Only after these procedures a bouquet can be safely put in a vase of water.
In case you do not want to wait long for the buds to bloom, you need to drop about three drops of camphor alcohol into the vase of water (about 1 liter of water). But if you want the flowers to "stand" and not dissolve your bud, then in addition to caring for the cut root, it is recommended to pour a half teaspoon of sugar and one fourth of the activated charcoal into the water (per liter). Coal will help fight bacteria that can appear in the sweetened water. By the way, it is not recommended to sweeten water for bouquets of lilies of the valley or cyclamen, since these flowers negatively relate to sweet liquid.
From nutrient solutions in order for the bouquet to stand for a long time, we recommend adding one tablet of such a medicine as usual aspirin or pour a half teaspoon of table salt onto a liter of water.
When after a certain time you still noticed that your bouquet has begun to fade a little, repeat the procedure with repeated cutting of the stems along the cutting line and, putting in the tub not very cold water, put the flowers in it for the whole night. This method works best for all varieties and types of roses. Already in the morning, again cutting the line of the cut of the stem, return your bouquet to the vase. By the way, do not forget that all the cutting of the stem, as we said at the beginning of the article, should be done exclusively under water.
Also take note of such features of the colors listed below. A bouquet of gerberas will stand longer if you put their stems not deep into the water, roughly typing in a vase one third of the water and pouring in a pinch of salt. Never put such a bouquet in a draft, remember, these flowers do not like when the wind turns them around. To prolong the life of the call, it is recommended to prune their stem, and cut the table salt in the cut line. A bouquet of carnations can be preserved if a pinch of boric acid is added to the water. But lilies will feel great if you first dip the end of their stem into boiling water for about 1 minute, and then remove their stamens. All this will prolong the life of such a bouquet. The gladiolus bouquet will last longer if its stem is scratched with a needle, but dahlias "live" at your home a couple of extra days, if you add a half tablespoon of vinegar to the water per liter of standing water. If you were presented with a queen of flowers - a rose, then, in order for a bouquet of roses to stand and rejoice your eye for as long as possible, trim their stem, then free it from wilted or broken leaves and extra thorns. The cut line can also be burned. Only after this you can safely put them in the initially standing water (30 minutes) and add an aspirin tablet.
If you decide to please yourself by tearing a flower bouquet at your dacha and bringing it home, before you cut flowers, remember that in order for them to stand longer, you need to take into account the level of how the bud blossomed. It is best to cut flowers with a half-open bud, at this level they will stand much longer than fully open. And finally, it should be added that it is not necessary to tear flowers during the day, the best time for picking the bouquet is early morning. Observing all these rules, you can admire your bouquet for a long time. Good luck!