How Do Cut Flowers Stay Fresh For Special Events?

Have you ever stopped to admire the beauty of floral arrangements at a wedding, party, or special event and wondered to yourself, “How do they look so good?”

That’s a great question! If you think about it, these flowers have been through quite a lot – being planted, picked, transported, shipped, stored, sorted, and, finally, displayed. How do they maintain a fresh-facing appearance through so much logistical upheaval?

The secret to this process, as you may guess, is refrigerated storage. By keeping flowers within a carefully controlled environment that maintains a specific temperature, humidity level, water supply, and container size, they are able to maintain quality and beauty for days and even weeks of travel.

What Is The Ideal Temperature and Humidity Level For Storing Cut Flowers?

Temps between 33 and 35 degrees Fahrenheit are proven to be optimal for most varieties of flowers (although tropical flowers require warmer temperatures, around 50-55 degrees). Humidity levels around 90-95% is ideal in order to promote water retention in flowers.

Temperature control is the most important part of effective flower storage. Why is this? Flowers, like animals and plants and other living organisms, generate heat through their natural respiration processes. This thermal heat, when uninhibited, can cause flowers to age faster. By storing flowers at cool (but not freezing) temperatures, their “vase-life” is significantly longer.

How Can I Tell If My Flowers Have Undergone Proper Temperature Control?

There are so many participants in the floral supply chain–growers, wholesale distributors, transportation service companies, florists, flower shops, event planners, consumers, etc. Nobody can do it alone. That means that you have to find companies who you can trust to maintain the highest quality of service when transporting or preparing your flowers. If one person mismanages the temperature control of your flowers, they can quickly lose freshness, dying sooner, costing thousands, resulting in disappointment for all parties involved. 

Signs that flowers have not been vigilantly cooled or properly handled include:

• Signs of wilting or dying leaves
• Mold or bacteria growth
• Rotting or broken stems
• Dark or discolored petals
• Lots of flower debris floating around the flowers
• Discolored water
• Condensation on the plastic flower sleeves (this shows that temps have been too warm at some point)

Choosing a Portable Refrigeration Company For Cut Flower Storage and Transportation

If you are looking for a refrigerated, walk-in portable storage container for your floral business, look no further. Moon Refrigeration offers 20 and 40 ft electric “reefer” containers and 10 ft portable walk-in coolers and freezers. We’ll work hard to meet all your short-term and long-term needs, providing fast, reliable, and affordable service at a day’s notice.

Our mobile containers are some of the newest on the market– leading in world-class performance, energy efficiency, quiet operation and reliability. In fact, no refrigeration unit today provides full-load performance as well as our trusted Carrier PrimeLINE technology! What’s more, our containers can be placed indoors or outdoors, at dock level or ground level, and can maintain temperatures between -10F to +75F.

We proudly serve Louisville, Southern Indiana, Lexington, and the surrounding regions. As one of Kentucky’s largest full-service leasing companies, we can also offer you dumpster rentals, portable restroom rentals, trailer leasing, grease trap cleaning, and much more! Interested in getting started? Give us a call or visit our website today!