How To Care For Your Flowers

Care and handling of fresh cut flowers make a remarkable difference in the vase life of the flowers. We are going to give you the secrets that we Pro’s know and use so that you may enjoy your flowers longer.

It all starts with something called “chain of life.” This term refers to the chain created as the flower moves from it’s place in the ground to your home or office. This chain is the most important element in how a flower will perform for you. There are many important processes that must be completed from the time the flower is cut at the farm to the time that you receive it. We will not delve to much into each process but we will describe the key points in time along the way. Each of these points have their care and handling requirements.

We’ll start at the farm where the flowers are grown in ideal conditions. In higher quality flowers the amount of light, temperature, humidity, fertilizer, ph levels, and irrigation are computer controlled. The growing medium is sterilized before use to prevent disease, fungus, and pest infestation. The ground below the plants is kept absolutely clean of anything other than the soil, no weeds, no cuttings, no leaves, nothing. All cuttings are removed to be sterilized and composted to be used to amend the soils.

At the right state of maturity the flower is cut and immediately put in water with a holding solution or “flower food.” These buckets are on carts that suspend from an elevated rail that when the buckets are full take the cart to the packing house which ideally should be cooled to around 40f degrees. This is where each flower is graded by size and length then packed into bunches. These bunches are then packed into boxes which have holes with flaps on each end. The boxes are taken into a cooler and stacked with one end against a wall with holes in it that correspond to the holes in the boxes. A fan system the pulls the warm air out of the boxes and pulls the cool air in. This is called pre-cooling. The flowers are now ready to be shipped worldwide.

The flowers are sold to importers who ship them to the country where they will be sold and then the flowers get to spend a day with customs where they are inspected. From customs the importers take the flowers to their facilities where they loaded into another cooler and the wholes in the boxes serve their purpose once again to re-cool the flowers.

The flowers are then sold to wholesale florists across the country, the wholesalers sell them to the flower shops.

The flowers are at this point quite water stressed and need some TLC. A reputable florist gets right to work re-cutting and hydrating the flowers; first processing them through a pulsing solution, then processing them through a hydrating solution and finally a holding solution. The flowers are stored in a cooler ranging in temperatures from 34-38 degrees with few exceptions depending on the cultivar. At this time the flower is ready to sell.

There are a few more steps to the chain (design bench to delivery), but from this point here are the do’s and don’ts

·        Only cut the stems with a sharp un-cerated knife blade. No scissors, pruning shears or anything that has a scissor action. Flowers have vessels just like we have blood vessels any tool which scissors shut will crush the stem before it cuts thus pinching the vessels closed making harder if not impossible for the flower to drink.

·        Keep the flowers in as deep a water supply as is reasonable. The hydrostatic pressure will help push the water up the vessels making it easier for the flower to draw against gravity.

·        Use only commercially available flower food from a recognized manufacturer ( ask your florist they have it)

·        Keep the water clean of bacteria, fluoride, and algae

By doing these few things and making sure your supplier of your flowers is a real florist with real knowledge of care and handling procedures, you can increase your vase life to as much as two or sometimes three weeks.

Len Beckett, AAF, AIFD, FSMD, CFD

Len Beckett is a floral educator who has traveled extensively to present education to the public and the floral industry for many years. Len is currently President of the North Florida Unit of Teleflora, Past President of Florida State Florists’ Association, and other positions of leadership within his community and the floral industry.