1. Clean a vase with a capful of bleach and warm water
to kill the bacteria harmful to the roses,
then rinse thoroughly with warm water.
2. Fill the vase 1/2 full with distilled water if
you have some, otherwise use tap water.
(Softened water is toxic to roses).
3. Put about 1/2 of the plant food that came with
the roses into the half full vase
(otherwise use half lemon lime soda and half distilled water)
4. Fill a container with water, then put the stem
of the rose under water, and with a sharp knife or
scissors, cut off about 1/2" of the stem under water at a
angle and keep submerged for
about 5 seconds to allow the rose to "drink" some water.
5. Trim
off only the foliage that might be submerged in the water (leaves
must never touch the water,
but only cut off to the water level), then put the rose in
the vase with water and plant food.
6. repeat steps 4 and 5 for each rose you have.
7. Check water level often and keep at least half full with water
8. Avoid placing the roses in direct sun light, near
a heating or cooling vent or
on a drafty area, or near fresh fruit (emits a gas that will harm
the roses)! Never
refrigerate the roses (a cool dark basement is a much better place
to store overnight.
Repeat the above steps every 2 days!
Tip#1:Keep roses away
from any exposed fruit, the gases from fruit is toxic to roses.
Tip#2:Keep roses away
from any cigerette smoke, the smoke is toxic to roses.
Tip#3: If the heads
of the roses start to droop over, there is an a pocket of air
in the
stems of the roses. This can be fixed if you catch it soon enough.
Just fill your sink
with a few inches of water, them place all the roses under the
water and then cut
the roses underwater one by one then keep them submerged for a
hour or two.
90% of the time, this will fix the droop, and extend the useful
life of the roses!