Fresh Flower Care
Please be advised that our flowers are shipped direct from our farms. The flowers ship from our farms without water in a suspended state of animation. These instructions are for reference only and should not replace your currently used methods of fresh flower care. Don’t hesitate to call one of our account representatives if you should have any questions.
What to do when your flowers arrive
Roses intended form immediate use:
Cut 1 to 2 inches of the stem of each rose in a clean and sanitized work area. Place the stem of the roses in 105º F to 110º F water, (the containers can be filled to the desired 20-30 cm deep) adjust the PH to below 5.0 PH with citric acid or a rehydrating solution and keep the roses in the solution for 30 to 60 minutes until crisp. Add fresh flower food to a clean and sanitized bucket or container filled with clean water (the containers can be filled to the desired 20-30 cm deep) place the roses in the container and chill in your cooler.
Roses intended for long-term storage:
Roses should be stored, dry at 33-35º F. Roses intended for long-term storage should be packed in polyethylene lined cartons and pre cooled. They may be held for up to 2 weeks in dry storage if the temperature is maintained steady and close to the freezing point. Once you are ready to use these roses follow the step above.
Cleanliness
Use clean, sanitized containers. Clean all buckets and storage containers with a brush and antimicrobial solution. Rinse cleaned containers with a commercial cleaning solution and allow them to drain. White buckets are advised, as it is easier to see dirt in them. Always fill buckets and vases with solutions containing a biocide, which can be found in most commercial flower foods.
Recut the Stems
Even if the flowers are not wilted, it is important to recut them before placing them in fresh flower food. The dried ends of the stems and accumulated dirt, debris and microbes in the vessels can be eliminated by cutting off about one to three inches of stem tissue, either in air or underwater. Place flowers in fresh flower food. Flowers are living, breathing, growing organisms, and they need food to ensure adequate development, bright color, and long life. Fresh flower foods contain sugar to provide that food. Typically, the sugar is corn sugar (glucose), which is relatively inexpensive, but cane sugar (sucrose) works just as well. Microbes grow quickly in any liquid containing sugar, and as noted above, microbes can plug the water-conducting vessels in the cut flower stem. Fresh flower foods therefore contain ‘biocides’ intended to reduce the growth of bacteria in the solution. To ensure that these biocides are effective, it is important to use clean containers, and mix the flower food
solutions accurately.
Rehydrate flowers
Rehydration is the process by which water is supplied to plants after they have been held dry to restore their turgidity. For potted and bedding plants, rehydration should require no more than a thorough irrigation with good quality water and draining after the plants are removed from the tray or box. For cut flowers, ensuring proper rehydration is important for long display life and is more complex. In the past, wholesale and retail florists used special rehydration solutions that contained no sugar, and such solutions may still sometimes be appropriate for flowers that are obviously wilted or are difficult to rehydrate. The familiar practice of recutting flowers under water is no longer recommended as a general rule, although it can help speed up rehydration if steps are taken to avoid
contamination of the water.
Hydrate Foam Properly
Properly used, floral foams provide display life for flowers that is equal to that obtained in vase solutions. But it is important to remember the fine tubes through which the water has to move, and their susceptibility to blockage by air bubbles, microbes, and debris. Always hydrate foam thoroughly before using it in an arrangement, and always use an effective fresh flower food. Place the foam blocks on top of a sparkling clean bucket containing accurately mixed fresh flower food, and allow them to absorb the water and sink by themselves. DON’T push the foam under the solution to accelerate hydration of the foam, as this may trap air in the middle of the foam, and cause premature wilting of the flowers.
Recommendations
The simple way to ensure rapid and effective rehydration of all but the most difficult or desiccated flowers is to recut the stems and place them, IN THE COOLER, in a clean bucket containing a quality fresh flower food. Check that the pH of the fresh flower food is below 5.0. For badly wilted flowers a rehydration solution may be helpful, since the sugar in fresh flower foods does tend to reduce the flow of water in stems. Flowers with woody branches respond particularly well to low pH (3.5 is the optimal pH), and for some flowers (sunflowers, astilbe), a 10 minute “pulse” with a 0.02% detergent solution can be beneficial.
Rose Information
Pretreatments: Sugar containing pre-treatments are not particularly useful for roses. Rehydration: Rehydrate after
cutting, storage, and on arrival at the retail outlet with a rehydration solution. Commercial rehydration solutions are
effective, or you may use clean water containing 50 ppm hypochlorite, preferably below pH 5.0. This solution has proved safe, and is inexpensive, so the containers can be filled to the desired 20-30 cm deep.
Storage Conditions: Roses should be stored, dry, at 33-35ºF. Roses intended for long-term storage should be packed in polyethylene lined cartons and pre cooled. They may be held for up to 2 weeks in dry storage if the temperature is maintained steady and close to the freezing point.
Vase Solution Requirements: Roses should always be placed in fresh flower food solutions. The single most important factor adversely affecting the vase life of roses is the presence of bacteria growing at the base of the stems and in the bucket or vase solution. Consequently, effective bactericides are very important. Rose leaves may be damaged by fresh flower food solutions that contain more than 2-3% sugar. Most commercial fresh flower foods contain 0.5-1.5% sugar. |
