• Once cut, most flowers benefit from a sugar solution in their water.Design Pics/Valueline/Getty Images
  
  When you buy cut flowers at the grocery or florist, it is likely they have been treated with a flower food that contains sugar. Although flowers in the garden with intact root systems cannot use sugar as a nutrient, cut flowers can take it up through their open stems.
  
  If you cut your own flowers or buy them at a farmers market, you may want to use sugar in their water. Sugar has several effects on cut flowers.
  
  

Sugar Provides Nutrients

• Use a teaspoon of sugar for each quart of water.cristal-glass sugar-bowl and white sugar image by Maria Brzostowska from Fotolia.com
  
  Once they're cut and brought inside, flowers can't get their food from the sun. This is because of the low levels of light in most indoor rooms and also because we usually remove most or all of the leaves on cut flowers. The University of Massachusetts Extension office recommends using a teaspoon of sugar for each quart of water used for cut flowers. The optimal amount may vary according to the flower. Gladiolas may require more sugar, while zinnias may require less. Roses and hydrangeas may not thrive at all unless sugar is provided in their water.
  
  

Sugar Benefits

• Buds will continue to bloom if they are provided with sugar.flower bud image by wang dongmei from Fotolia.com
  
  For the longest possible vase life, flowers are often cut before they are in full bloom. This limits the unpredictable effects of wind and weather on the exposed leaves of mature flowers. Sugar allows the flower to continue developing once they have been cut.
  
  

Affects of Bacteria

• Use a few drops of bleach in the water for cut flowers.medicine dropper image by jimcox40 from Fotolia.com
  
  When a flower is cut, bacteria immediately start forming around its stem end, which has become accessible because of the break in the plant's natural protective barrier. According to the University of California (Davis) Department of Horticulture, the stem should be cut again to eliminate the bacteria. Sugar in the water provides encouragement to new bacteria and accelerates their growth. To retard bacterial growth, always use a few drops of chlorine bleach as well as sugar in the water for cut flowers.