Lesson 6
Vase water — what to add and what NOT to
Cut stems lose their connection to roots. They can no longer make their own sugars OR defend themselves from the bacteria that grow in standing water. Vase water has two jobs: feed the flower, and stop the bacterial slime that blocks the stems.
The home recipe (per 1 litre of cool fresh water):
• 1 teaspoon of sugar — replaces the sugars the stem can no longer make.
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice OR clear (white) vinegar — lowers the pH; water moves up the stem better in slightly acidic water.
• 2–3 drops of household bleach OR a clean copper coin — kills the bacteria. THIS is the part most home arrangers skip and it makes the biggest single difference.
Change the water EVERY 2 days. Re-cut 1 cm off the stem each time (the cut end blocks within 48 hours regardless of additives).
Commercial flower food sachets (Chrysal, Floralife) are this same recipe pre-mixed. Convenient, not magic. Either works equally well.
What NOT to put in vase water (despite the internet): aspirin (no effect on cut flowers — the salicylic acid story is plant-not-cut-stem science), full-fat lemonade (too much sugar feeds bacteria faster than it feeds the flower), pennies dated after 1992 in the UK (no longer made of real copper), or vodka (alcohol damages soft stems).
What to add to vase water — the rule (per 1 litre)
- 1 teaspoon sugar — food.
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice OR white vinegar — pH.
- 2–3 drops household bleach OR a real copper coin — bacteria.
- Change water every 2 days; recut 1 cm off stems each time.
- Cool water, never warm — warm encourages bacteria within an hour.
- Skip aspirin, lemonade, post-1992 pennies, and vodka. None help.