Testing different home remedies that make your Valentine’s Day flowers last longer
Roses are red, violets are blue, and these water solutions can help those flowers in bloom.
Love can last a lifetime, while the flowers received as a symbol of said love certainly will not — but there are ways to extend the life of your Valentine’s Day bouquet.
A self-styled life hacks expert who posts as “The Gooch” on social media has revealed the best solution to keep fresh cut flowers alive for longer than water alone.
“We’re testing which things work best to keep your fresh flowers fresher longer,” said the Las Vegas-based former Ringling Bros. Circus clown in a video with now over 12.2 million views.
In the 7-minute clip posted just in time for the heart-shaped holiday, he set up an experiment to test the longevity of a single red rose in various water-based solutions mixed with a battery of secondary ingredients: sugar, bleach, Red Bull energy drink, pennies, popcorn kernels, 7 Up, alkaline batteries, denture tablets, aspirin and, of course, the florist-provided flower food packet, which itself contains sugar, bleach and citric acid.
“You wanna cut the ends off to fit your vase and make sure you take off the leaves,” he first advised.
Under the guidance of “a florist friend,” he shared that sterilizing ingredients such as bleach, denture tablets and those contained in conventional flower food help neutralize and kill harmful pathogens in the water.
The former circus clown let the flower science experiment sit out for seven days, with each vase wrapped in neon paper cylinders for a controlled environment, exposing the flower only from the top opening.
He checked the fresh water vase first which showed disappointing results as the flower head flopped over and had lost its vibrant color.
“Let’s check the aspirin [and] see how it’s going to be,” he said, which didn’t appear as alive as he hoped but stood strong. “The 7 Up looks sad,” he added of the next in line.
However, the denture tab solution showed what he thought would be a failure became one of his top contenders. “Whoa, that looks pretty amazing,” he declared. “That looks really good.”
The battery solution also sparked life into the flower, which appeared full of color even though it sat in corroded water.
Meanwhile, other mixtures he tried, such as sugar-bleach solution or Red Bull, did not perform well.
In the end, The Gooch found that tablets, popcorn kernels, flower food, pennies and batteries had the best results — and overall, the flower food and pennies best kept the flower in peak condition.
Viewers of The Gooch’s experiment reacted to the viral video by sharing their preferred plant solution.
“I do flower food, copper pennies (b4 1983) and ice cubes in the water. Replace water weekly. Flowers will last for 3-4 weeks,” suggested a watcher.
“The most impactful thing is to change the water every day (I’m a florist) — flower food has food (sugar) and a little bleach too to try and minimize bacteria, but clean water is the most helpful!” recommended a flower expert.
Joked one apparent gardener, “[The] ultimate trick is to leave them on the rose bushes, it’s hands down the best method.”
