How to keep your Valentine's day flowers fresh for longer

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — As you admire your Valentine’s Day flowers, you might be thinking “how can I make these last longer?”

That’s a question lots of people ask during this time of year as Valentine’s Day is the number one holiday for florists and for floral purchases.

Sometimes cutting the stems at an angle every couple of days isn’t enough to make flowers last longer and adding the flower food packet immediately isn’t what you should be doing.

Whichever way you decide to keep your flower fresh for longer, you’ll need a sharp knife or pruners because a dull knife could crush the ends of the stems, not allowing any water through.

You also should make sure to keep the flowers away from direct sunlight and keep them in a dry and cool place.

There are a lot of different ways to keep flowers fresher for longer but these four hacks are tried and true methods that will make your Valentine’s Flowers last for days.

4 ways to keep your Valentine’s day flowers fresh for longer

Keep your water clean and replace it every few days

Once you get your Valentine’s day flowers the first thing you should always do is cut the stems diagonally with some nice and sharp scissors, knife, or pruners.

Next, you’ll add some water, and it’s recommended by florists that you add lukewarm water, nothing too hot or too cold. Once the water looks a little murky or cloudy, take the flowers out, recut them a bit, and add some new fresh water.

Cleaning the vase once you dump out the old water also helps get rid of any residue from the old water.

Make your own flower food with baking soda or vodka

If your flowers didn’t come with flower food, it’s no big deal because simple ingredients you might have around your house can do the trick.

Products like household baking soda, bleach, or vodka can be great flower food dupes as they can also help extend the life of your flowers by preventing bacterial growth.

Other products like aspirin and vinegar or Sprite and sugar can help naturally feed the flowers. For products like bleach, vodka, vinegar, Sprite, and sugar you only need a few drops or a teaspoon, but with baking soda and aspirin, you need a tablespoon or less.

Don’t add flower food right away

Lots of people make the mistake of adding flower food as soon as they put their flowers in a vase. That can waste the usage of the flower food and you won’t get as much life out of the flowers if you had waited a couple of days.

Instead, wait four to five days, then cut your stems about a half inch or so and add the flower food to some clean and fresh water.