We Tested Three Ways To Keep Hydrangeas From Wilting... Here’s What Happened!

Hi there,

One of the biggest questions we get at Farmgirl is how to prevent hydrangea from wilting. Hydrangeas are known for their lush, delicate petals which are a soft, beautiful addition to any flower arrangement. The catch on these classics? They often wilt quickly. Why? Hydrangeas are oh-so-sensitive to, well, just about any environmental factor that’s too extreme (minus water, these beauties L-O-V-E a big drink of H2O). Between not getting enough H2O, to being placed in too hot or cold of a space, to their stems getting clogged by their own sap (yep, that’s totally a thing), hydrangeas are quick to look blue (and we don’t mean in color!) if not cared for properly. The jury is still out on how to best take care of hydrangeas, but we were up for the challenge and tested three methods to see which led to the best, least wilted stem. 

Let’s get into it!

Let’s get nerdy (in metaflorical form)

We took what we know about hydrangeas – aka they need as much water as possible – and created three tests designed to help these delicate stems perk up and drink up as much as possible by increasing the stem’s surface area to do just that. To start, let’s talk about the control factors or, in other words, the things we kept the same about all three experiments. Each vase contained one pink hydrangea stem and one blue hydrangea stem, plus the same amount of fresh water. We also kept each vase in the same (room temperature) space, away from any windows or air vents, the entire time.

Now onto the tests themselves…

The Quadratic Formula. That thing we learned about in high school? Our freshman year math teacher would be proud to know we put our own spin on it here (at least in our minds, anyway). For this first variation of testing, we cut the hydrangea stems upward in two directions, creating a plus or X, to help increase the surface area of the stem. In a nutshell, the more surface area created for a stem, the more H2O the flower can absorb as it sits in its vase! (Pssst… this is why we always advise to give your stems a good trim upon arrival at a 45-degree angle!) After that, we dropped the two stems into a vase of fresh water and left it alone.

The Smash Method. For our next test, we broke out the wine bottle (we’re totally serious) to smash the ends of each hydrangea stem to (you guessed it!) increase the surface area and allow for a bigger drink of water. What can we say? We could have used a hammer, but we improvised. We gave the stems a quick 45 degree cut prior to smashing and then placed them into a vase with fresh water and left it alone.

The One With The Alum Powder. And for our last trick… we played with PH levels! After giving the stems a quick trim (at a 45 degree angle of course) we got the stems wet, dipped them into alum powder, and stuck them into a vase of fresh water and left it alone. Pssst… for curious minds like us, you should be able to find alum powder at any grocery store (it’s part of the onion family!).

The Results!

After what felt like ages, but was only 3 days, we saw one very clear winner. Buuuut, let’s get into the nitty gritty of our findings, as a true scientist would.

The Quadratic Formula. We very quickly noticed how oh-so-sad the blue hydrangea looked. If we’re being honest, it was pretty pitiful and not the vibes you’d hope for after only a few days. This stem would have definitely been a contender for trying to revive the hydrangea (which we can talk about another time). So the Quadratic Formula wasn’t our fave.

The One With The Alum Powder. To our surprise, the water looked pretty clear even after not having been changed for 3 days. Alum powder changes the acidity of water, so we think that has a lot to do with how good the water looked after this test. Although the water wasn’t in horrible shape, the blue hydrangea yet again wasn’t looking too hot and the pink stem was starting to brown a bit on its petals. Not exactly too hot to trot in our book!

And for our winner… drum roll please…

The Smash Method. The blooms looked the best, by far, out of our three vases! We saw a touch of wilting, but still nowhere near as bad as the other two. Given we didn’t change the water at all in 3 days, we expected at least some wilting and some cloudy water, which is a sign of bacteria growth and is totally normal after not changing the vase water regularly. Had we changed the water daily like we always recommend, we feel the results would have been even better. But the smash method definitely won!

So, there you have it! Our tried and true way to help keep your hydrangeas from wilting quite as fast. While we used a wine bottle to smash the stems, you can totally use anything you have around. If you want to test this method out for yourself, shop all hydrangea arrangements here and tag us on IG with your results!

xx,

Team Farmgirl