Flower food home remedies... Do they work?

If your looking to care for your flowers using simple home remedies, you should understand the full truth about them. Sure, home remedies can supply some nourishment to a flower, but that doesn’t mean it is a good supplement for flower food. Fresh cut flowers are like babies—they need food and water to survive and attention from harvest to final vase.  Proper conditioning involves providing a balance of 3 basic ingredients: nutrients to feed the blooms and water absorption promoters and a pH regulator to make the flowers drink most efficiently. Without conditioning, flowers have a significantly shorter vase life (50% shorter!). Home remedies are based on bits and pieces of truth and flower needs, but commercial formulations provide a balanced combination of the “right stuff”. Flower food home remedies… Do they work?

Soda
Provides sugar to feed the blooms, but also feed bacteria actively developing in the solution.  Bacteria will ultimately clog stems and stop water uptake leading to poor hydration.

Bleach
Does supply a short-term bacteria control, but provides no nutrients for flower development and does not lower pH.

Pennies
Copper was a common fungicide years ago, but since 1942, there has not been enough copper in pennies to provide any residual effect.

Pin in the neck of tulips
No scientific proven effect and results in a wound by which bacteria and Botrytis can enter.

Vodka
Provides nutrients, but does not lower the pH and contains nothing to check bacteria.

Aspirin
Lowers the pH of the solution, but provides no nutrients to feed the flower and does not control bacteria.

While home remedies do have some potential benefits, they should NOT be viewed as an effective replacement for flower food. Floral nutrients provide flowers and plants with the proper mix of nutrients, pH correctors, and clarifiers they need to keep fresher longer.