If you’ve been feeding your plants vodka in a bid to help them grow healthier, gardening experts reveal that it may not be having the desired effect
There are all sorts of crazy hacks on the internet to help you with your gardening – and while some of them work, there are others that simply don’t work.
An expert has just issued a warning for those using vodka to grow their flowers that they could be doing more harm than good. It sounds wacky, but feeding your plants vodka has become a popular gardening trick on TikTok. Typically, the creators mix the spirit in with the plant’s water to dilute it, then leave it to soak in the soil. The idea is that since vodka is an antibacterial agent, it will kill any harmful germs on the stems, which will in turn will allow the plant to grow stronger and healthier.
It can also prevent your plants from growing too tall and weakening the stems. This is because it inhibits ethylene production, the gas that causes plants to mature and grow. However, according to the flower experts at Eflorist, this hack may not work as well as you think. In order to test their effectiveness, the team used two bouquets, with one containing just water and the other containing a vodka dilution.
So, does it work at all?
In order to make the experiment fair, the plants were left for a week without any extra flower care or maintenance being conducted. The results were then judged by comparing photos of each bouquet from day one to day seven. When it came to the vodka-water test, the team discovered that there was barely any difference between the bouquets. They added a teaspoon of vodka to the flowers every three or four days, but it had a negligible effect.
Eflorist said: “The results of this hack did show some improvement for some flowers in the bouquet, but overall, the flowers did not have a significant enough improvement to be considered a working hack.” Instead of resorting to this unconventional hack, Eflorist have recommended taking care of flowers by placing them in a clean vase (that has been washed thoroughly with dish soap and warm water to remove any bacterial residue).
You should also cut two to three cm from each stem, and remove any leaves that fall below the water line. To refresh your flowers, you can re-cut the stems every two to three days, before placing them back in a clean vase of fresh water. Another tip to prolong their longevity is to keep them away from fruits, draughts, direct sunlight, heat sources such as radiators, as these can severely damage your plant’s health.