Keeping Hydrangeas Fresh – Dipping Cut Hydrangeas In Boiling Water Or Alum (2024)

FAQs

Do you put hydrangeas in boiling water? ›

BOIL WATER AND DIP EACH HYDRANGEA STEM INTO IT

Yes, boiling water! Hydrangeas produce a “sap” that clogs their stems and blocks water from traveling up it to those gorgeous blooms. The boiling water helps to do away with the sap. Put boiling water into a cup.

Use the Boiling Water Method: Boil water and pour it into a cup. Stand the stems of the wilted hydrangeas in this water for 30 seconds. Immediately put into room temperature water (this usually means back into the arrangement). If the blooms are not too old, within a couple of hours they will have completely revived.

REPLACE WATER EVERY OTHER DAY

Replacing the water in the vase or containers that hold hydrangeas will keep them fresher longer! Also, give hydrangeas a fresh cut and dip them in boiling watern or alum before putting them in the fresh water!

Dipping cut hydrangeas in alum is one of the most popular methods of preventing wilt. Alum can be found in the spice or baking aisle of most grocery stores. After cutting, simply dip a small section of the hydrangea stem into the alum powder before putting the flower in a vase.

Arrange in Vases of Water

It may seem counterproductive, but drying hydrangeas in vases of water helps preserve their color. Place cuttings in vases or other clear containers and fill with water until several inches of the stem are submerged. Do not overcrowd the vases.

Remove the wilted hydrangeas from your arrangement and re-cut the stems on a 45-degree angle. Make a vertical slit in the incision and hold the stem upright in the boiling water for about 60 seconds. Place the hydrangeas back in your floral arrangement and they should revive themselves in an hour or so.

Revive Hydrangeas With Warm Water

"This is why a tired-looking bloom can be revived with a quick dunk in warm water," she says. All you need to do is submerge hydrangeas bloom-down in a bowl of warm water for 30 minutes to an hour, taking care not to leave the arrangement submerged for too long.

Add 1/4 cup of sugar to room temperature water. This helps to feed the hydrangeas' stems. Add a few pumps of hand soap to the water. Soap helps to keep bacteria way.

You might be able to revive less-wilted blooms in just an hour or two, so check on them a few times while they soak to see if they're back to looking their best. If you notice that they're still looking wilted after a few hours, leave them to soak overnight to see if that does the trick.

Once you've cut the stems, you'll need to get your hydrangea in water as quickly as you can. Fill a clean vase up with 3 in (7.6 cm) to 5 in (13 cm) of lukewarm or room temperature water. Do not crush the stem ends, as this can prevent your hydrangea from hydrating.

How long will hydrangeas last after being cut? ›

For lasting arrangements (about two to three days for fresh cut flowers), take our advice and gather blooms in the morning. Pick ones that are open and colorful. Mature flowers with a slightly papery feel will hold up best. Immediately place the stems, cut at an angle, in a bucket of water.

When a hydrangea is cut, displayed in a vase, and looking quite lifeless, turn the flower upside down and completely submerge its head into a bowl of water overnight. “Hydrangeas are one of the only flowers that actually absorb water through the petal,” the florist said in the video.

How? By dipping the bottom half-inch of the cut stems' ends into the fine white powder before placing into a water-filled vase. As a result, the hydrangeas will draw more water from the vase, and you're left with happy blooms for days.

Small pots can dry out too quickly and restrict root growth. To revive hydrangeas water them generously, apply a mulch of compost and protect hydrangeas from direct sun and too much wind. Prune back any frost damaged or sun burnt growth to promote healthy growth.

Cut the stem on the Hydrangea bloom as long as possible, immediately place the stem into your bucket of water and cut the Hydrangea to you desired length in the water and on a 45 degree angle. This will allow the hydrangea to drink more water.

To dry the blooms, simply put your picks in a vase filled with a couple inches of water and place the vase out of direct sunlight, anywhere the air circulation is good. The water doesn't rehydrate the hydrangeas; it simply keeps them from drying out too quickly and turning brown.

Before putting your flower in the vase, one option is to dip the cut stem into powdered alum then place into ice cold water. This causes the hydrangea's vascular system to tighten up and helps the hydrangeas remain full.

If you're growing hydrangeas, use coffee grounds to affect their color. Coffee grounds add extra acidity to the soil around hydrangeas. On a chemical level, this increased acidity makes it easier for the plant to absorb naturally occurring aluminum in the dirt. The effect is pretty blue clusters of flowers.

If they start to droop after a few days, cut the stem again and change the old water out to hot water once or twice a week. You can also mist the blooms daily – hydrangeas are one of the very few flowers that can actually drink water from their blooms!

Hydrangeas need more water than most garden plants and will begin to wilt quickly without it. To ensure that Hydrangeas thrive, water deeply two to three times a week in the summer. Be sure to water in the morning or evening so that water does not evaporate as quickly as it would during the heat of the day.

Do you water hydrangeas from the top or bottom? ›

The hydrangea should be watered thoroughly at least 3 times a week. Always water the plant all the way around the container, not just in one place. Water should come out the bottom of the pot.

Hydrangea macrophylla, ones with pink and blue ones, are affected by the pH of the soil. A pH below 6 is best for blue flowers; above 6 encourages pink ones. Adding Epsom salts to your plant increases the amount of magnesium in the soil.

DON'T do it! Lemon water will act like acid rain if poured onto plants and can do more harm than good.

Dunk the heads of the hydrangeas right under the water. Leave them for at least 15 minutes or submerged overnight.

Tip One - Ice Bath for Cut Hydrangeas

Fill a tub with ice water and let the hydrangea stems soak for a bit before arranging them. This helps cool them down and helps with the shock to their system!

Use vinegar diluted with water in a ratio of 20 parts water to one part apple cider vinegar. Water the plants along their base. Try not to get the vinegar-and-water solution onto the leaves, because it can burn the foliage.

Hot water might be also considered as a means to kill bacteria or unclog the stems of a fresh cut flower to allow greater water absorption and preserve the blooms for longer, Gaumond says, which is where this boiling water tip may have begun growing.

But did you know that it helps prolong your blooms too? Especially a bloom with a woody stem, such as hydrangeas or roses. Florists often freshly cut the stems of these flowers, and dip the edge into alum powder before placing the stem in water. This helps the flowers draw more water.

Does boiling water revive cut flowers? ›

For restoring wilted stems, hot water (110 degrees Fahrenheit) is recommended. For woody or badly wilted stems, very hot water (180 to 200 degrees) is better. Florists then move them into a refrigerator.

Aluminum Sulfate Concerns

If over-applied, it can be toxic to hydrangeas, causing root damage. Instead of aluminum sulfate, elemental sulfur, sphagnum peat moss and ammonium sulfate all are good soil acidifiers that lack the toxic side effects of aluminum excess.

Drench with aluminum sulfate immediately after planting. A solution of ½ oz (1 Tbsp) per gallon is a good start. Be sure the plants are well-watered before applying the aluminum sulfate to prevent burning the roots. Drench again in 10-14 days then test the soil pH.

Although a soil test is necessary to reveal how much modification your soil requires, a good rate of application to start with is 1 tablespoon of aluminum sulfate dissolved in 1 gallon of water. Drench the plant's root zone with the solution in March, April and May.

If you want pink hydrangeas, crushed eggshells may be one way to get them. Eggshells will slowly break down and reduce the acidity of your soil—making it harder for hydrangeas to absorb aluminum.

No, not really. The vinegar will quickly dilute in the soil, especially if it rains or is irrigated, not making much of a pH difference. Plus, for your hydrangeas to change colors, they need a pH change sustained over a long time.

Though vinegar can be fatal to many common plants, others, like rhododendrons, hydrangeas and gardenias, thrive on acidity which makes a bit of vinegar the best pick-me-up. Combine one cup of plain white vinegar with a gallon of water and use the next time you water these plants to see some amazing results.

Once you've cut the stems, you'll need to get your hydrangea in water as quickly as you can. Fill a clean vase up with 3 in (7.6 cm) to 5 in (13 cm) of lukewarm or room temperature water. Do not crush the stem ends, as this can prevent your hydrangea from hydrating.

Put hydrangea in very hot water – boiling temperature. Nearly all flowers like warm to very hot water. Never use cold water. The only exception to this is bulb flowers, like tulips.

How do florists keep flowers fresh? ›

While the ingredients vary depending on the manufacturer, most contain sugar to feed the flowers, acid to maintain the pH levels of the water, and a bit of bleach to reduce the bacteria and fungi in the vase water. All three help extend the life of the flowers.

Use hot H2O is a last resort.

Hot water might be also considered as a means to kill bacteria or unclog the stems of a fresh cut flower to allow greater water absorption and preserve the blooms for longer, Gaumond says, which is where this boiling water tip may have begun growing.

Sugar increases fresh weight of the flowers and prolongs the vase life. Use 0.5 - 1% Floralife (concentration of sugar not specified). 2% sugar solution doubles the vase life of the cut inflorescence. Some sugar in the vase solution increases the number and size of open flowers as well as prolongs the vase life.

Watering in the morning will help prevent hydrangeas from wilting during hot days. Add mulch underneath your hydrangeas to help keep the soil moist and cool.

Spray: Once your hydrangeas are fully dried, spray them down with aerosol hairspray (sorry, aerosol spray just works better than the pump spray kind…it just does). I used to think that this was to coat the flowers so that their color would be preserved a bit longer.

The plants begin to produce fuller and healthier blooms. If your hydrangeas just aren't wowing you like they should, give baking soda a try. And while you're at it, try baking soda in the rest of your garden!