love to feast on them which just guarantees quick contamination in vase water. This remedy is too one sided to be effective for normal leaf and flower development.
Vodka/Gin: Cut flowers and plants, like many people, can only tolerate small concentrations of alcohol, up to eight percent. The solution needs to be diluted and overall is an incredibly pricy and not very effective way to look after flowers… keep it for yourself!
Containers Scrubbing buckets is a very unappealing job but has to be done to avoid the spread of bacteria – bleach is OK as long as you rinse it. A specially formulated bucket cleaner is far safer. Try to avoid using metal pots
since the ions in the metal reacts with flower food and nullifies the benefits. If you use metal buckets, drop a smaller plastic one inside and use that for the water – you keep the funky look but the flowers will last as well. Be gentle when putting your
flowers into vases – dropping them in from a great height simply bruises the stems, making it difficult or impossible for them to receive the water and nutrients they need.
Water You’re in a shop not a lab so it’s impossible to keep water at absolutely perfect temperatures and pH levels. But there are things you can do to help. Check your water with A pH tester to see how acidic or alkaline your water is. For the majority of flowers, the best pH level is 3.5 to 4.0. Using flower food will ensure your water is at its
optimal pH level. Water hardness can have an effect on the quality of your flowers – natural well water can have high calcium levels due to limestone deposits, which can harm flowers. Do not use water from a water softener for flowers as the salt content can be detrimental to them.
Temperature While water temperature levels do differ for each variety, the optimum is cold - up to 10°c - because it enables the flowers to take up water more easily, develop less bacteria, speeds up the cooling down process which slows down development of flowers, making them last longer. However tropical flowers are an exception to this and they should ideally they should be stored at about 18°c. It is a common myth that
hot water can hydrate roses and increase their shelf-life. WRONG. Hot water is far too aggressive for flower stems and it damages their cells causing discolouration. Proper use of a hydration solution specially made for flowers is far better.
Stems Always cut at least 3-5cm off all stems with a clean sharp knife or very sharp scissors. Research has shown that if more than 50% of the vessels which take in water at the bottom of the stem have been blocked then the flower will become limp due to insufficient water intake. Cutting this much from the end ensures most of these blocked vessels are removed. However we discovered it’s a
myth that cutting stems on the straight means they will seal up when sitting on the bottom of the bucket… its more about the cleanliness of the cut not the angle. So whether you cut at an angle or on the straight is a personal preference but - and it’s a big but - if your knives or scissors are dirty or blunt that can have a huge impact so make sure you keep them as clean as the buckets. Use secateurs to cut woody
stems – NEVER hammer them. Be careful not to smash or pierce the stems, or use blunt scissors, as this destroys the stem structure and inhibits water uptake, and causes bacteria to multiply
>>
Are you keen to promote your products to every UK buyer?
Would you like to see your ad here? F&wb Spring 2013 87
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100