Easy 3-step guide to make supermarket tulips ‘last for two weeks’

Tulips look so gorgeous in a vase on your living room windowsill, and they can brighten up even the dreariest of spaces.

But if you buy them when they look as gorgeous as they can in the supermarket, they may not last as long as you want them to, so if you want tips to make tulips last for up to two weeks, you may want to listen up.

Flower enthusiast @louiburke said that when you get tulips, you need to make sure that “all the tulips are closed and at the start of their life,” which can be tough when all you want to do is pick out the most gorgeous blooming ones. But of course, they won’t last as long.

Then, you should “pull off the bottom leaves,” because if you don’t, the tulips will “die in a day” and the leaves will cause “bacteria build up”.

After that, you need to take a toothpick and poke a hole “just under the flower” as “this allows air to escape the stem as it drinks the water”.

It also “reduces them sagging all over the edge,” which is what you definitely don’t want to happen.

Next up, “take a knife, not scissors, and slice the stems on a 45-degree angle”.

Then, when it comes to your water, “add a teaspoon of sugar and some ice cubes”. Why? Because “tulips prefer cold water”.

Make sure your tulips are sitting in one to two inches of water, because this will “stop them from over-drinking and sagging over the edge”.

Every day, you should aim to “replace the water,” and if you follow all these instructions, your tulips should last you around two weeks. And most supermarket bunches cost around £4, so you’re really getting bang for your buck.

Keeping the flowers away from direct sunlight, heat sources, and drafts will help preserve them, as will avoiding placing them near ripening fruit since the ethylene gas released by the fruit can cause flowers to wilt more quickly.

Misting the petals lightly and regularly can provide additional moisture and help the blooms stay vibrant.

In the comments, someone said that they’d seen that “putting a penny in the water” would help.

The idea that placing a penny in water where the flowers are helps them last longer is based on the belief that copper has antimicrobial properties. The theory is that the copper from the penny can reduce the growth of bacteria or fungi in the water, which could otherwise clog the stems of the flowers and shorten their lifespan.

However, modern pennies contain mostly zinc with only a thin plating of copper, so they don’t release enough copper to impact the water’s bacteria significantly. Additionally, the effectiveness of this method is debated, and it’s not scientifically proven as a reliable way to make flowers last longer.

Fresh water, regular trimming of the stems, and a floral preservative are typically more effective for prolonging the life of cut flowers.