cut flowers not opening?

I have never had daff problems before. It was a surprise that it could even happen! I've always just cut them straight across about 3cms up and put them in water. This is enough! I don't know why I was taught straight across for daffs to be honest!
Tulips (and Gerberas) I trim then wrap up reasonably firmly in newspaper and dunk the lot for a minimum of a couple of hours in a cool place in a deep bucket/tub of water. This give the stems time to firm up and for them to settle in an upright position.

I cut other stems diagonally (above a knuckle in case of a pink or a carnation) and remove any leaves below the water level.

With roses and woody stems my parents (usually dad) used to do a cut up the stem for an inch or two as well - or bash them at the bottom - but a florist once told me this can let bacteria in so i have stoppeddoing this... Maybe that's why my dad used to put a little vinegar in with the roses.

If roses are drooping the "barely off the boil" water treatment was also used in my childhood michelleblane.

Unless I'm really out of time I do let my cut flowers sit in a cool place for a while before bringing into a warm room.

Why did I have this problem with daffodils this year?
I have had at least a dozen bunches. All the others have been lovely!

Cut too early. Staff shortages???

Daffodil failure has happened to me a couple times this year. I’ve never had this problem before. Strange.

Whenever I have bought supermarket flowers and they don’t open at either before the dates specified on the wrapper ( usually 5 or 7 days ) I take them back! Never a problem to have them replaced. 😊

Yes same happened to me twice recently with some daffodils I bought from Sainsbury’s. Can’t remember this happening in previous years. I won’t be wasting money on any more.

I had 2lots of Flowers By Post from my 2 daughters. They opened out after a couple of hours on water and a week later are still going strong. I also had flowers from a friend 2 weeks ago and they are still lovely too.

I bought a bowl full of daffodil bulbs only one opened the rest didn’t total waste of money.

Off the subject, but has anybody else had problems with bananas recently? Ours have split their skins and never reached the magic ripe moment before going brown.

Sorry, that should be "aspirin" not "aspiring"!

michelleblane

Nanie, that certainly works for droopy tulips. I stopped buying tulips because they always droop. Now I put copper coins in the bottom of the vase and they are perfect. Another tip I read was for roses. Trim the bottom and plunge into hot water. This works a treat too.

A friend told me to push a pin through the width of the tulip stem, slightly behind the flower. I've found that this alway stops them drooping though I don't have any idea why. It even perks up tulips that are already drooping.
I think that the worst fresh flowers to buy are roses, so many of them don't ever open from the bud and if they do they often have drooping heads within a day or two. I always follow the instructions, cutting the stems and using any flower food that is provided.
I've heard people recommend a dash of bleach, a small amount of sugar or an aspiring but I don't know if anything really works for flowers that have been forced or frosted.

Good tip re a coin in the tulips 🌷 thanks.

Nanie, that certainly works for droopy tulips. I stopped buying tulips because they always droop. Now I put copper coins in the bottom of the vase and they are perfect. Another tip I read was for roses. Trim the bottom and plunge into hot water. This works a treat too.

I have had daffodils which withered away without opening, and others which were beautiful and lasted over a week. I treat them all the same - cut off the ends and leave in deep water for a day.

Not sure if this is the case with your daffodils -- they should not be cut until the membrane starts to brown. Also, the bud should feel a bit squishy, like a marshmallow.

I have had this happen in the past and agree, it is annoying because you've spent the money but cannot enjoy the flowers - even worse if they were an expensive gift.

Recently, I bought a bunch of closed daffodils from Tesco, really pushed the boat out at 99p per bunch and they were beautiful. I trimmed the stems as soon as I got them home and then re-trimmed them and changed the water every other day. They lasted almost two weeks.

Hi,
I saw tip on tv which was to put a 2 pence piece in bottom of vase. Not sure if works but worth am try.

So, these were bought Sunday, stems cut when I arrived home and placed in cool water. This photo was taken Tuesday afternoon. You can see they withered without even opening.
Too bad since I love daffs. I think I will talk with the florist at the store.

I always cut an inch off the bottom, plunging them straight into deep water, I have done it with two bunches this e ening and they are opening already.

I've had a single bunch not open. They were from Sainsbury's. All others have opened fine.

I don't remember this ever happening before.

I’ve had this with daffodils this year. It’s very rarely happened in previous years but this time, it’s been about a third of bunches that haven’t opened properly.

I’ve just been on a visit to family in the US. Bunches of daffodils bought from their supermarket but which came from Ireland opened perfectly despite their long journey!

I think these are beyond saving... I will try to post a photo later. I will mention it to the florist (at the grocery store), but I'm not really hopeful that they will have any response. It's really disappointing!

Pushed too hard, too fast, and picked too early. A bit like many fruit and veg- unripe when you buy, and then goes over, missing the ripe bit in between!

I was bought a lovely pot rose recently which is withering away. Also two cases of daffs are not opening, disappointing,

Not sure if this is helpful, but I bought some daffodils a few weeks ago and they weren’t opening so I gently peeled off the membrane that seemed to have dried around the petals, and it worked!

I think someone like Monty Don has shown us that this works when roses have been weather damaged…worth a go?

Googling "cut daffodils not opening" brought up this:

Ideally you will recut every day or two under water to keep the vascular system open. Sometimes the daffodils will not have been properly stored or shipped and they don't open. Other flowers shouldn't be arranged with cut daffodils as they have a gummy substance that clogs the vascular system of other plant material