Lifestyle: homemade flower food?

Self-tutoring about maintaining cut flowers: the tutor mentions a discovery.

The following is according to my understanding.

When I was a kid, I recall someone putting a cut flower in a vase with some water, then adding some sugar. They did the same for the Christmas tree, which was live. I asked them why, and they said the sugar fed whatever cut plant’s stem was in the water. It made sense.

Years later, I noticed that cut flowers from a florist would come with a pouch of flower food. I’ve always wondered what was in the flower food; today I found out.

It seems homemade flower food can be made from a litre of water, two teaspoons of lemon juice, a teaspoon of sugar, and a teaspoon of bleach. The bleach surprised me, but it turns out that it’s used to disinfect the water. Apparently, a big threat to a cut flower is bacteria or fungus infecting it.

Since bleach is basic (alkaline), the acid in the lemon juice likely brings the pH back to an acceptable level.

Interesting, eh?

Source:

thespruce.com: How to Make Your Own Flower Food

thespruce.com: Average pH Level of Bleach, Borax, and Other Common Cleaning Supplies