24
Apr
2013
3
Orchid Vials

Extend Floral Life with Flower Water Vials

As a florist, it’s essential to use all possible methods of keeping your cut flowers fresh for as long as possible. Water vials are a quick, easy to use and inexpensive way to help your flowers stay beautifully hydrated and last longer. Here, we’ll review exactly what these little reservoirs do, the different options available, and how to use these flower vials creatively.

What is a Water Vial?

Water vials are small plastic cylinders shaped like a test tube, which you can fill with water to keep your cut flowers hydrated. Most vials have a shaped flexible cap which allows you to insert a stem while at the same time containing the water. This cap fits very snugly around the stem ensuring there is no leakage.

Vials are available in 8ml to 18ml capacities to accommodate all sizes and varieties of cut flowers. Specialty orchid vials are also available with long stems, either 15cm or 30cm in length. Vials with barbs on their ends, also known as anchor vials are handy for anchoring a flower into floral foam. Flexible plastic sachets called FLOSPAC are another alternative to using vial tubes.

Water inside vials can, and typically should be, treated with a floral preservative to extend the life of your cut flowers even further. When selling cut flowers in a vial, consider adding value by giving customers single-serve packets of preservative so they can keep the flower beautiful once they’ve brought it home.

how to use flower water phials

Once you’ve cut your stems, place each one into a vial which you’ve filled with water and flower food. Now you don’t have to worry about laying them flat, and you know your roses are going to stay beautifully hydrated.

Uses for Flower Vials

In warm weather flower vials are incredibly useful, allowing you to arrange individual flowers in rose boxes or arrangements, while preventing any dreaded day-end droop. And when warm weather meets high-volume selling periods like Valentine’s Day, they really help to maximise output while keeping the quality of your flowers intact.

Another popular use is for selling single cut flowers. Using vials in this manner allows you to offer your customers an inexpensive cut flower that is easy to transport and display. While having a plain vial is perfectly fine, it’s also easy to decorate and disguise the vial itself with wrapping paper or ribbon to create a prettier finish for display purposes.

Using vials in fresh or fake floral arrangements including boutonnieres, bouquets and centrepieces will ensure that the flowers last throughout the event. The vials are easy to camouflage within greenery or can be embedded into the arrangement disguised by ribbon or tape.

Different Types – Introducing Anchor Point Vials

Barbed, waterpick, or anchor point vials have a sharp end, and extra gripping power, making them perfect for embedding in materials. This really handy feature of anchor point vials means it’s easy to push them straight into your floral foam, giving particularily thirsty flowers extra water and food. Waterpick vials are also a great way to add a burst of floral beauty to a green plant. Living plants are a very popular gift item, especially around the holidays. While they’re certainly beautiful all on their own, adding a bright blossom flower or two can really make them pop. Simply place the desired flowers in a barbed vial and press the vial down into the plant’s potting soil. The barbs securely anchor the vial, and flowers, in place.

flower water phials

1. 8ml Anchor Phial 2. 12ml Anchor Phial 3. Small Orchid Phial 4. 18ml Phial 5. 8ml Phial 6. Large Orchid Phial 7. FLOSPAC Sachets

flower vials

Why Should I Use Orchid Vials?

Orchid vials are very unique. Since single orchid flowers don’t grow on long stems, using individual blossom flowers has frustrated florists for years. Orchid vials offer an ideal solution, creating an artificial “stem” for the fresh or fake orchid plant. Orchid vials give you the flexibility to place orchids in a cut arrangement, since they extend the orchid and make it a similar height to other flowers. Using this method provides the perfect exotic alternative to the traditional long-stemmed rose.

Using Orchid Vials or Flower Water Vials

Place your single orchid flower stem into your phial’s reservoir, and insert into your arrangement of blossom flowers and orchids as you would any flower or fake plants to make the most of beautiful orchid bouquet.

Vials and Phials – What’s the Difference?

You may see similar or identical products referred to as either flower “vials” or “phials.” Although this seems confusing, there really is no difference. Vials and phials are simply different spellings of the same word. Phial is an older spelling more common in Australia and the UK. Vial is simply a more modern spelling, used extensively in the US but also in Australia, and around the world. Regardless of what they’re called, vials and phials do exactly the same job – keeping your cut flowers fed and hydrated.

Ready to try them? Browse our selection of water vials and flower food.

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2 Responses

  1. Jan V

    I have been experimenting with the bohemian fresh flower crowns. The crown is not large enough to use vials. You artical mentions Flospac ~ could I apply Flospac to the stems and hope that it would keep them fresh for 6 to 8 hours. I can’t imagine how fresh cut flowers can last in hot summer heat without water. Please reply. I’m lost when it comes to this. Thank you so much

    1. Koch

      Hi Jan,
      Thank you for your question. Everything will depend on when are flowers being made and then used.
      If they are being made and used on the day of the function, then flowers would not need a water source for 6 to 8 hours. Keep flowers out of direct heat and wind. Misting the flowers with a very faint spray of water can help. Otherwise, if you are not comfortable with not having a water source, FLOSPAC would work well.
      We hope this helps.

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