Drooping heads? Keep your tulips fresh with these 5 quick tips
15/2/2024
Translation: machine translated
The joy of a new bouquet is often short-lived: the flowers quickly droop. To prevent this, all you need is a needle.
1578 was the tulip's big year of migration: the originally Persian plant arrived in the Netherlands from Turkey. Since then, it has blossomed there en masse and even has a well-known history as an investment. Even though it is no longer worth much today, the tulip is still one of the most popular types of flower - and also one that grows quickly. As a result, many bouquets lose their heads soon after purchase. However, if you receive a bouquet of tulips instead of roses for Valentine's Day, you could use the following hack:
The needle trick
Munich-based Saskia shows you how to prevent drooping tulip heads in a video. On her Instagram channel @besassique, she explains that the needle trick was a real game changer for her. The tulip is pierced in the centre below the flower. All you need is a clean, standard sewing needle. If you pierce the individual tulips directly after purchase, the heads will stay upright for longer.
Source: Screenshot/@besassique
The reason: When tulips grow, they pump their cells full of water. If you puncture the stem, you inhibit their growth as they are less able to supply themselves with water. This prevents them from shooting upwards and quickly drooping their flowers.
You can do even more to keep your tulip bouquet looking pretty and fresh for longer. The following tips will certainly help:
Cut correctly and shorten regularly
It is important that you cut the stems at an angle with a clean knife before placing them in the vase. You should not use scissors, as they bruise the stems and compress the flower's veins. As tulips grow quickly, you can regularly shorten them by a few centimetres to keep them straight for longer.
Remove the leaves
You should remove the lower leaves from the individual flowers. This keeps the flower water fresh for longer. In addition, the tulip will then use the water mainly for flowering instead of having to feed lots of leaves.
Clean vase
To ensure that there are no germs and bacteria in the flower water, you should wash the vase properly before use. You can do this with washing-up liquid and water. So-called cylinder vases are best suited for bouquets of medium length - as is the case with tulips: They have a straight or minimally tapered opening and provide support for the soft-stemmed flowers. If you are looking for one of these, you can of course also take a look at our shop. There you will find several models in different sizes:
Cool location
Tulips should not be placed near a heater or in sunlight - they don't like that at all. You should also avoid draughts. At night, you can move the bouquet to a cool location: This will also slow down growth.
By the way: You can also order tulips in our shop. The bouquets from Rutishauser Blumen come from Switzerland and consist of 14 individual flowers each.
Header image: Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock
Cat lady and coffee lover from up north. Always on the lookout for «News and Trends».