4 tips for keeping tulips fresh in your vase for as long as possible

4 tips for keeping tulips fresh in your vase for as long as possible

You need to cut and care for tulips correctly to keep them in the vase for a long time. We’ll show you what to do with these messengers of spring to keep them fresh.

Along with roses, tulips are among the most popular cut flowers in USA. No wonder: tulips come in many shades of color and bright flower shapes, and are spring messengers par excellence. A few simple tips on how to care for and cut tulip stems will help you keep your bouquet of colorful tulips for a long time to come.

1. cut tulips correctly

If you put your tulips in water immediately after buying them, they’ll soon start to droop. To avoid this, first cut them properly:

• Always use a sharp knife, not scissors, to cut tulips. Scissors can crush the stem and make it even harder to absorb water.
• Make sure your knife is perfectly clean. This way, the cut won’t get dirty later on.
• Place the knife at least three to four centimetres above the end of the old stem and cut the stem at an angle in the direction of growth.
• By cutting at an angle, you increase the surface area of the cut. This allows the flower to absorb water and nutrients more quickly and transport them to the flowering stage.
• Place each beveled tulip in a vase filled with fresh water immediately after cutting.

2. the right vase for tulips

Tulips are unusual in that they continue to grow unperturbed in the vase even after being cut. For the tulip vase, therefore, it’s best to choose a container that’s as tall and slender as possible, to support the still-growing stems at the sides.

Cut tulips will thank you if their vase is perfectly clean. This prevents germs spreading to the plant through the cuts. You can use vinegar essence to clean the vase. After cleaning, rinse the vase thoroughly with hot water before placing the tulips in it.

3. not in good company: tulips and narcissi

Tulips and daffodils bloom at the same time of year, heralding the arrival of spring. Nevertheless, you should never combine them in a vase. The tulips would suffer and die quickly. This is because cut narcissi release a substance into the water that obstructs the cell pathways of tulips, preventing them from absorbing water and nutrients. See also: Daffodils in a vase: why it’s best not to mix them with other flowers.

4. the right water for tulips

• Like almost all cut flowers, tulips prefer soft, low-limestone water. If your tap water is rather hard, you can run it through a limescale filter or descale it with baking soda.
• The ideal water for all plants is fresh, natural rainwater from your rainwater tank, if you have one available.
  If you add a little fresh lemon juice to the water, you lower the pH, which is good for tulips. Lemon water also has an antibacterial effect and prevents the growth of germs.
• Nevertheless, you should change the tulip water regularly, preferably every twelve hours. Tip: never replace the tulip water completely, but always leave a little of the old water in the vase. Completely fresh water stimulates tulip growth, but shortens their lifespan.
• To prevent rotting, remove wilted flowers from the vase. Then re-cut the remaining tulips and place them in the refreshed water.
• The water level is also important for tulips in vases: juicy stems rot quickly if they’re too deeply immersed in water. So fill your vase only five to six centimetres. This is more than enough for the plants.

A bunch of tulips in a vase grows best at room temperature. In case of doubt, it’s better to place the bouquet in a place that’s too cool than too warm. Spring flowers fade faster at temperatures above 18 degrees and in direct sunlight.