wyattramirez•19d agoMost Upvoted

Been using lemon-lime soda to keep cut hydrangeas from wilting and it actually works

I was at a wholesale supplier in Austin last spring and one of the older growers told me to add a splash of Sprite or 7Up to the water for hydrangeas. I tried it on a batch of 30 stems for a wedding order and they stayed perky for a full 4 days longer than my usual batch with just flower food. The sugar gives them energy and the citric acid keeps the water pH low. Has anyone else tried this or is it just a weird regional thing?

3 comments

3 Comments

haydenhayes19d ago

The real trick is that Sprite works because it has both sugar and acid, but you can actually get the same effect for pennies by using a pinch of powdered citric acid and a teaspoon of table sugar in the water.

mason.drew19d ago

I read somewhere that the carbonation actually raises the pH slightly in a way that helps some flowers open up faster. Never tested it side by side myself but made sense when I thought about it. Also heard the preservatives in commercial sodas are the same stuff florists pay extra for in those little packets.

nancyramirez19d ago

Oh nah I gotta push back on this one lol. The Sprite thing works but not just because of sugar and acid. There's something about the carbonation that helps the stems take up water better right after they're cut. I've tried the DIY sugar and citric acid mix on hydrangeas before and it was fine but not as good as the real soda. The bubbles help keep the water from getting stagnant too. Plus the preservatives in Sprite act as a mild antibacterial which the plain sugar mix doesn't have. I mean you do you but I'm sticking with the soda trick for wedding orders where I need those blooms to hold up.