Let’s compare three viral flower hacks. I was surprised by the results, were you?
The pin prick method is where you prick the stem of the flower below the bloom. It’s theorized that the pin prick allows air in the stem to escape because tulip stems are hollow. It also helps water flow up to the stem into the bud.
The copper penny method is when you drop a penny into the vase of water. Copper is a fungicide so the theory is that copper penny will naturally kill the bacteria and fungi that grows in your vase. Killing the bacteria will help lengthen the lifespan of your flowers. The trick here is to use a penny minted before 1982 in the United States because it has 95% copper.
The Sprite and bleach method is when you add 1/4 cup of Sprite and a cap full of bleach into your vase. The sugar in the Sprite is said to act like flower food and the bleach is meant to kill any bacteria in the water.
Initially, I thought that the Sprite and bleach hack would be the winner for longevity of bloom and cleanest water. However I found that the high sugar content caused the blooms to open and mature the fastest and even caused the water to look the murkiest. I also spotted mold on the stem. If you look closely, the stems in this bouquet was bleached white while the other three remained green. The stems were also the most wilted by the end of the week.
The copper penny method worked well but finding a penny in Canada or even an old American penny before 1982 can be tricky. The blooms lasted the second longest in the group of four. But I was surprised how dingy the water looked. It was still clear but it took on some colour, perhaps from the dirty penny. The stems were still crunchy and the flowers stood up the tallest.
The pin prick method is the winner for my experiment. Their peak bloom happened a little later than the rest and as a result they were also the last to wilt. The stems were still firm and crunchy but I did notice they were bending more than the coppery penny method. But the water was the clearest amongst the four groups.
Let me know which method you think won! Was your initial hypothesis correct?
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