How Does Aspirin Affect Cut Flowers?

Fresh-cut flowers are beautiful and refreshing to have in your home. There are many things you can do to try to make fresh-cut flowers last longer, including adding aspirin to the water. There are many theories as to why aspirin helps cut flowers last longer. There is a chance that aspirin increases the diameter of the vessels that carry water up through the stem to the flowers by reducing inflammation, much like aspirin's anti-inflammatory properties work in humans. Aspirin may also retard the growth of fungi and bacteria that can rot the stems of your cut flowers prematurely.

To extend the life of your cut flowers, add a single aspirin to the vase and fill it with water. If it is a small vase, you can just use half an aspirin. Crushing the aspirin will help it dissolve more quickly, but this is not necessary, because it will eventually dissolve on its own. You can also dissolve the aspirin in a smaller volume of warm water before adding it to the vase to get it to dissolve more quickly. You can also add a little citric acid (found in citrus soft drinks), which will impede the growth of bacteria. A penny in the water will slow fungus growth.

It is important to refresh the water your cut flowers are sitting in. Bacteria can grow and cause the water to foul, which will reduce the life of cut flowers regardless of whether there is aspirin in the water or not (although bacteria will grow more slowly if the water contains aspirin). When you refresh the water, wash out the vase with warm water and make sure to add another aspirin when you refill it with fresh water. It is also important to slightly trim the ends of the cut flowers before putting them back into the vase, because the stems have a tendency to heal and soak up less water over time.