Many associate a bouquet of fresh roses with the image of a beautiful woman. This is luxury and grandeur, tenderness and beauty, gathered together. But, unfortunately, cut flowers wilt very quickly. How to extend the life of roses and how to care for them? Read about it in our article.
A bit of history
Rosa is known to man from ancient times. She aroused sincere admiration among the ancient Greeks and Romans. Numerous legends, poems and songs were composed about it in the Middle Ages. The monks grew various varieties of roses in their gardens. For many centuries, this flower symbolized beauty, so it is compared with the image of women who were admired.
For a gift, gardeners selected specimens of the best species and puzzled over how to extend the life of roses after they are cut from the bush.
How to cut a rose?
It depends on the cut flowers how long the roses will stand in a vase. To do this, adhere to the following rules:
- First, you need to examine the flowers growing on the site and select stems whose buds will soon bloom and acquire a color corresponding to this variety.
- If for cutting you liked thick-double roses, you should look carefully and choose stems on which loose buds grow. They will bloom when they are placed in a vase with water, but they will not be tight, they will wither, and there will be no beauty from such a flower.
- It is recommended to cut three stems from each bush, no more.
- When cutting, the stems must not be deformed, otherwise vessels that conduct moisture can be damaged.
- For pruning, use a pruner or sharpened garden knife.
- Better cut roses early in the morning or late in the evening. At this time, plants contain a lot of moisture and substances necessary for nutrition.
- Cut roses well in cloudy weather, but not in rainy when a lot of moisture gets on the petals. They will quickly deteriorate from this.
Preparing a Cut Rose
The life span depends on how to prepare the rose before putting it in a vase with water. To renew it you need to do the following:
- First, the package is removed from the flower or bouquet.
- Then the stems are placed in water for a couple of hours. You can use a bathtub or a large enameled bucket. This is necessary so that the plant absorbs moisture. Water should not get on the flowers, otherwise they will rot.
- The next step is pruning stems. This is done with a disinfected knife, without removing the stem from the water. So the air will not get inside. The cutting angle should be sharp.
- Part of the stem, in the future immersed in water, should be cleaned of thorns and leaves. This will prevent their rot.
How to prepare water for cut roses?
It depends on the quality of the water for how long the flowers in the vase will stand. It is important that the cut roses stand longer in the form in which they were placed in the vase. Therefore, the composition of water and its temperature play an important role. Numerous observations show that high-quality water extends the life of flowers for a period of a month or more. Roses retain their beauty and even grow a little. Loose loose buds bloom. Adult flowers will please their beauty for a long time.
But to achieve this, you need to ensure proper care for cut roses. Start with water. Better if it is distilled. If this is not possible, well or filtered water should be used. Tap water is not good. First, it must be defended for several days, then boil and cool to room temperature.
The purity, freshness and transparency of water should be impeccable, without any sediment after settling. A vase also needs to be prepared. It is thoroughly treated with detergents and rinsed well with running tap water. If this is not done, water for roses will quickly become worthless, and the flowers will wither.
Temperature mode
Cut roses do not like a sharp temperature drop. Therefore, the presented bouquet should not be brought directly from the street into a warm room. Flowers should be gradually accustomed to the new microclimate. At first they can be put in the coolest room in the house. Only after some time, necessary for the adaptation of the flower in the room, you can begin to process the slice.
How to store cut roses at home? To do this, do not place flowers near heaters or fans. They should not be exposed to direct rays of the sun. They should not be placed on the TV cover or battery grill. All these sources emit heat, and the flowers have to give up moisture, as a result of which they dry.
In order to preserve the cut flowers for a longer time, the temperature is considered to be eighteen to nineteen degrees of heat. At night, the flowers will be more comfortable in a cool place, they need to be moved there. Water temperature is influenced by seasonality. In summer, you can use cool, but not cold water. In winter, roses in water at room temperature feel much more comfortable.
What to add to the water?
Cut flowers need top dressing. What to add to the water for cut roses? Good nutrition is sugar with vinegar. They are added per one liter of water per tablespoon. Flowers live in water with these additives until bacteria appear that multiply very quickly. As a result, the water becomes unusable and the flowers die. Propagation of harmful microorganisms is a characteristic process for a liquid.
The following tools will help him stop:
- Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid): half a tablet per liter of water.
- Citric acid - the application is similar to aspirin.
- Alum - a small crystal is thrown directly into a vase of water. It is an antimicrobial agent of natural origin.
- If there is nothing, you can add a few tablespoons of vodka to the water.
When buying roses, you should be interested in the growing conditions. In the case of exposure to flowers of chemicals for rapid growth, you can add a few drops of bleach to the water with roses, which will replace aspirin. The bouquet will remain unfading for a long time.
How to revive a quickly withered rose?
The plant fades due to a lack of moisture, which evaporates as soon as the flower is cut. This process is, of course, reversible for a short time. However, the flower will not fade so quickly. How to extend the life of roses in a vase? To do this, put the flower in solution. It is easy to prepare it yourself: dissolve a teaspoon of saltpeter in a liter of water.
Everyday care
The cut flower needs daily care, which is as follows:
- First you need to choose the capacity. For a bouquet of three to five roses, an elongated vase with a narrow neck is better. For stability, the foundation must be heavy. A wide vase is more suitable for a magnificent bouquet.
- How to extend the life of roses in a vase? Flowers are better preserved if they are placed in opaque vases. In this case, the microbes will not multiply so intensively.
- Pour so much water into the vase so that the stems are immersed in it for only a third of its length.
- Every day you need to change the water in the vase and each time add a little nutrients and disinfectants.
- How to extend the life of roses? To do this, changing the water, thoroughly wash the vase, wash the stems and update the slices.
- Regular spraying is mandatory. Just do not let water get on the flower petals and inside the buds.
What do roses not like?
Cut roses do not like close proximity to other types of flowers. Although some people like assorted bouquets. Roses prefer solitude. If roses just cut from a bush can be reanimated, then weakened flowers will not. If they wilted, they would not be able to give their former freshness. You can only slightly improve their appearance. How to extend the life of roses? To do this, put flowers on a newspaper and spray their stems well. Then the flower or the whole bouquet is completely wrapped and put in cool water for three hours. This procedure is performed at night daily.