Is this as good as the floral packs? We don't usually have soda in the house unfortunately, but that's very interesting! No dilution necessary?

This is interesting as I did not know that at all.

nice to know!

Great idea! Have heard various versions of this method in past, but don't remember any details. Is there a ratio of 7 Up to water, or is it straight up?

Last year at the Botanical Garden where I work we tried all the different methods of keeping cut flowers fresh. It was a Valentine's Day project. Plain water with a little chlorine added worked better than all the other ones (penny in the water, floral preservative from the florist, aspirin in the water, and yes, seven-up...); there were a few others but I've forgotten them.

Do you think it has anything to do with the types of flowers? I know Skiekitty grows lots of roses and they do like a little sugar depending on their needs from what I've read...

That's possible. And we tried this on red roses, yes, since it was Valentine's Day.

I always put a little chlorine in the water and it seems to help, I know when I forget the flowers don't last as long.

A little chlorine meaning a few drops in a vase?

I'm asking all these questions because I've been getting plenty of bouquets this spring, and I've had to change the flowers more frequently than I think is usually necessary...

extranjera said:I always put a little chlorine in the water and it seems to help, I know when I forget the flowers don't last as long.

DO give the ratio!
I would like to try both.

I will ask at work what the ratio was.

When I was a floral designer the most important thing we learned was to cut the flower stems while they are submerged in water. This prevents the air bubble from forming in the stem - the air bubble prevents uptake of water. Over at the wholesale store we had a special 'sink' with a stem cutter attached and held an entire bunch of stems at a time and chopped the entire bunch at an angle. Pretty scary equipment.

Here is a link with several options to keep cut flowers looking good, the 7-Up is mentioned.
http://thebestgardening.com/ke...

AHA!
The sweetness is to feed the flowers and the bleach is to kill any bad guys in the water.
Now THAT makes sense!

I use about half a cap full of bleach in a fairly large vase, less when it is smaller. I've heard that the bleach keeps the stem from closing up with mold or rot so the water exchange lasts longer. Don't know if that makes sense or not. I do know that using the bleach and changing the water every couple days the water never stinks and the flowers last longer.