How to Care for Fresh Cut Wholesale Flowers

For those of us who love the beauty and fragrance of fresh cut floral arrangements around our home or workplace, it's a sad truth that at the moment a flower is cut, it starts losing its properties.

A good quality bouquet or arrangement must be able to keep a fresh look, for at least seven days. Few things can shorten or prolong their vase life. Perhaps the most important factor for buying
wholesale flowers is to choose a reliable and trusted source.

Most of the flowers are cut in the fields or greenhouses, and then transported over long distances - in some cases around the world - before they reach their final destination. In addition, they may have passed through several hands, bought and sold different times along the path. Farms in South America usually sell flowers to a distributor, which in turn sells them to the broker, then, the broker sells them to a wholesaler, who sells them to the florist who sells them to you. All this process happens after the flowers have been cut.

Ideally, this will be done efficiently and quickly, and flowers are kept in purified water, in clean buckets and at the proper temperature. Often, however, the process can take several days, and fresh cut flowers are transferred from the field in dirty buckets of water, or exposed to hot temperatures while sitting on the airport resulting in reduced vase life.

Wholesalers and retailers should ensure that fresh cut flowers are properly handled in every step, and that they move quickly through the supply chain. Below there are the some tips that will help you in properly handling wedding flowers.

Keep flowers away from fruits. Fruits release ethylene gas that causes flowers to age faster.

You should spray the flowers with a soft mist of water daily (with the exception of orchids) and remove any wilted flowers and dry leaves. Flower food contains a biocide that helps inhibit bacterial growth. Food is available at local florists. If you do not have a flower food handy, simply add a little sugar in the water.

Take care of flowers every day. Rotting leaves and flowers can make water toxic to the remaining flowers. Change the water every 2 days. Make sure you change preservative and/or flower food each time you change the water. You can also re-cut the stem for better water absorption. The coolest the room temperature is, the more the flowers will last.