Project on cut flowers…?
i’m doing a project to investigate the effectiveness of household products compared to commercially supplied flower food when prolonging the life of cut flowers.
what flowers generally die quite quickly – within several days?
yes i did mean DIE quickly…i want to finish the project as soon as possible!! thanks
Iris, gerber daisys, lilies and sometime roses. Daisy and carnations last a long time.
tulips, daffodills, hibiscus, sweetheart roses, lilies, gerber daisies
Assuming you know how to trim the flowers before putting them into the water, if you dont’ they will both die at the same time.
Most cut flowers will last a week or so, this time a year you could use tulips, daffodils, or any spring flower, You could also use any outside flower on plants like dandilion, they die very quickly. or if your using only commercial flowers from a flower shop it will skew your results because they already have it in the water when you get them. and there’s no telling how old they are in the first place, if they were cut at the same time and treated the same way from the get go. I would pick my own to get the best results , if you need more help just ask.
tulips would be a good choice
Cosmos is a short lived flower about 5 days, and it responds well to flower preservatives.
Here are some preservative ideas…
bleach – it kills bacteria that lives in the water but doesn’t kills the flowers. but bleach doesn’t work on all flowers like zinnias. 5 drops to a pint of water.
Lemon lime soda – it acidifies the water
Sugar
a penny – the copper comes off and it has an anifungal effect.
All in all bacteria, lack of sugar too feed the flower, and air getting into the vascular system of the flowers are the things that kill the flowers.
Try cutting the flower stems under water to prevent air in the flower stem. the air prevents water from properly hydrating the flower.
any flowers grown under hot-house conditions especially roses, when the house cools during the night they start to wilt, within a day or two they will die