Catherine--Welcome!

I can't believe you've been going to the expense of handing out 7-Up! Wow!

You can save yourself some of the trouble of the clear baggies if you buy a bulk box of 250 or so pre-measured packets.

If you qualify in your state to be a "retailer" (sales tax license, other state gov't mandated forms & fees), then you should be able to approach a flower supply wholesaler and get what you want there. They sell big buckets of dry preservative (look for Floralife & Chrsyal), with each brand also having the pre-made packets, and clear liquid versions of the powder, too. I THINK the box of packets is only in the $10-$20 range, if that much, and will save you a lot of time and headaches! You can also buy a big bucket of dry for yourself and your conditioning water for your flowers.

I've been using Floralife dry, & Chrysal packets for a few years, but I'm getting low, so I may try the Chrysal dry or liquid. No particular disappointment w/ the Floralife, just want to try Chrysal for a change. The forum member flowerfarmer uses the Chrysal, I think. She can give you more advice if she sees this post.

If you can't get supplies wholesale, you might try Johnny's Seed Catalog. They sell the powder & packets, some of each brand, but their prices are much higher than a wholesaler, plus shipping. You being in VA may have less shipping than me in Texas, but it still might be a lot. Rosemania.com also sells Chrysal products, but again, they're full retail. That would give you a start, anyway, and might be cheaper than a case of 7-Up!

Good luck, and welcome again.

Susi

The Spokane wholesale florist must just be expensive. Their prices about match Johnny's, the only difference being the shipping, which is about as much as it costs me in gas to go to and from Spokane.

I use Floralife Crystal Clear packets to hand out with bouquets, haven't tried anything else yet.

Jeanne

I don't know where you are in Virginia. But, Kealey-Johnson Wholesale Florist in Abingdon, VA would be a good source for the small packets of floral preservative which are good to hand out to the customers. Most likely one of their delivery trucks comes to your area. Our flowers are picked into a hydrating solution. They are put into Chrysal Processing Solution when the bouquets are made for market. And, we give the packets with the bouquets. The supplier where we purchase our preservatives has a two day special every month on items. It's generally a 25% discount on all items except fresh flowers.

I use Chrysal Flower Food, They have a great selection of food for all specialties. I buy it at my wholesalers but also have bought it on ubloom.com and flowerbuyer.com
They also have flower food drops. I love it!