After you have invested so much time to grow beautiful cut flowers outdoors to be able to bring them indoors to enjoy we have the best ways to keep them looking beautiful indoors for longer with a few tips on How to Increase Cut Flowers Life Indoors.
This rose was not only beautiful to look at it also had the most amazing fragrance.
Tools needed for taking cuttings of your flowers
Sharpened clippers that have been cleaned to prevent bacteria from being introduced to flowers
Bucket to place your cuttings in immediately after cutting your flowers.
First steps on How to Increase Cut Flowers Life Indoors
Fill the bucket with tepid water to place your cutting in.
Take your cuttings early in the morning. This is when your flowers have absorbed water all night long in their stems which will help to increase how long your flowers will last indoors.
Now that you are ready to cut your flowers
Here are the steps to ensure they will last a long time indoors that you can take now.
When selecting flowers to cut, choose the flower stems that have flowers not fully opened this will allow you to see them open indoors and will allow the arrangement to last longer.
Make the cut on a diagonal allowing a few inches longer than the length you will use in the vase.
After cutting the flowers place them into the bucket of tepid water immediately to keep the open end of the stem from healing over.
By having the stems longer you will be able to make a second diagonal cut at the time of placing the stems in your vase to allow the maximum amount of water to be absorbed by the stem.
Time to arrange flowers in your vase
Trim off any leaves that are on the stem that will be submerged under water in the vase. This will help to reduce bacteria and fungus from growing, reducing the length of time your arrangements will last indoors.
Determine what kind of flowers you are arranging to know the best way to prepare the flowers to go into the vase.
For hollow stemmed flowers such as Lupine, Delphiniums, and Hollyhocks you should have the stems filled with tepid water and a piece of cotton ball or tissue paper placed in the bottom of the stem to plug it.
For flowers with sap such as Poppies, after making a second cut you should seal the stem by placing the end of the stem in boiling water for 20 seconds or holding over a candle flame to seal the stem.
For Dahlia stems you should place stems in hot water (not quite boiling) for 1 hour to seal the stems to get the maximum life of the flowers indoors.
For Woody stemmed flowers like lilac, roses, and azalea you should make a cut 1/2 inch from the bottom of the stem to split the stem and allow water to be drawn up the stem.
For Semi-woody stems such as Zinnia and Ferns you need to remove all leaves and foliage that will be submerged in the vase of water and make an angled cut to allow water to be absorbed.
Place floral preservatives in the water to keep the flowers fresh longer, or you can make your own preservative using 1 can of lemon-lime soda and 1 Tablespoon of bleach per gallon of water.
Lastly, you should replace the water every 3-4 days and not place arrangements in direct sunlight or near a heat vent.
Favorite Flowers to cut and bring indoors.
Zinnia
Roses
Dahlia
Lilac
Sweet Peas
Hydrangea
Cosmos
Daffodils
Now that you have a list of flowers to grow and cut to enjoy indoors as well as in your yard, and you know How to Increase Cut Flowers Life Indoors it’s time for you to get started growing a cutting garden it can be a great way to have companion flowers that attract pollinators to your vegetable garden.
