My local wholesaler swore by conditioning roses in hot water for 20 minutes before storage and I finally tried it last month after 3 years of thinking he was crazy

The blooms opened up way slower and lasted a full 5 days longer in the cooler than my usual cold water soak method, has anyone else actually tested this against standard hydration?

3 comments

3 Comments

craig.olivia2d ago

letting the stems dry" first also lets any bacteria dry out which is actually the bigger killer than temperature.

michael8032d ago

The real trick nobody talks about is that hot water works best when your roses are already a little bit stressed. My supplier taught me to only use hot water if the stems have been out of water for more than 30 minutes. If you do it on fresh cut roses that never dried out you actually lose a day or two of vase life because the heat shocks them too much. I tested this side by side with two dozen roses from the same bunch last summer. The ones that sat dry for an hour before hot water treatment went 8 days in the cooler. The ones I put straight from the bucket into hot water only made it 5 days. Timing matters way more than anyone admits.

the_faith2d ago

My buddy tried this same test with a local florist's advice and got almost identical results last spring. He found that letting the roses dry for 45 minutes before the hot water dip gave him an extra 3 days compared to treating them right away. The trick really is letting that slight stress set in first, otherwise you're just wasting the heat.