How to Take Care of a Flower
There are many types of flowers and just as many ways to take care of them. Some of you want to bring the beauty of your outdoor flowers into your home but don't know exactly how. Or maybe you received a flower as a gift from a loved one and want to preserve it as long as you possibly can. Some of you want to grow your own flowers outdoors. Whether you have fresh-cut flowers from your own garden or you have flowers growing outdoors, you need to know what to do, what products to use, how to use them and how often to apply; this article shows where you can begin. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- For fresh-cut flowers:
- Vinegar
- Sugar or a floral preservative
- Flower vase
- For outdoor flowers:
- Miracle-Gro feeder
- Miracle-Gro liquid food or Miraclo-Gro Liquifeed
- Fungicide
- Insecticide
- Mulch
- Pruning shears
Instructions
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Fresh-Cut Flowers
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1
If you cut a flower from your garden, make a slanted cut to the stem with a sharp knife. If you've received the flower from someone else, cut 1 inch off of the stem.
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2
Immediately place the entire flower (including the stem) in lukewarm water to soak until the water cools. The water will cool in about one hour upon standing.
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3
Fill a vase full of water. This water needs to be cool.
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4
Drop the flower preservative into water. There is a natural alternative to floral preservative: Put 1 tsp. vinegar and 1 tsp. sugar into the vase of water.
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5
Place the flowers in a vase. If there are any leaves at the bottom of the water, take the flower back out of the vase and remove them, because these leaves will prevent beneficial water from flowing up the stem properly.
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6
Change water every two days to prevent bacteria growth. A rule of thumb: When you change the water, add 1 tsp. vinegar and 1 tsp. sugar or floral preservative to your vase water. This water needs to be cool.
Outdoor Flowers
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7
Fill the miracle-gro feeder with miracle-gro. If you have the liquifeed, just attach the feeder onto the hose and the liquifeed bottle into the feeder.
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8
After attaching the feeder to the hose, let the feeder fill with water. For liquifeed, just turn water on and start feeding; it is already premeasured. If you have some liquifeed left over after you finish feeding your flowers, detach it from the hose and store in a cool, dry place until the next feeding time.
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9
After the feeder is full, start feeding your flowers. When the color in the feeder starts to turn a light blue, this is an indicator that the feeder is running out of food. You need to refill with miracle-gro and start feeding again. Do this every 7 to 14 days.
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10
To prevent diseases, spray with a fungicide. Do this every two weeks.
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11
To prevent bugs from feeding on your flowers, spray with an insecticide. Do this every two weeks as well.
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12
Cover the base of your flower with 1 to 2 inches of mulch, such as pine straw (preferably pine needles), broken down blackened leaves or wood bark. Place mulch evenly around the flower so that it is sitting directly under the longest branch of the flower.
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13
During the summer months, water thoroughly every 2 to 3 days. In the fall, water twice a week. In winter, you don't need to water; just water before the freeze and your flowers will use this water all winter long. In spring, water every three days.
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14
Cut off any damaged leaves you see.
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1
Tips & Warnings
You can also use PlanTea (see Resources) for both your indoor and outdoor flowers. This is an organic fertilizer that is safe and easy to use. Save your faded blooms for the compost pile.
Do not expose your fresh-cut flower to sunlight. Do not allow your fresh-cut flowers to dry out; keep the vase full of water.
