Chistmas tree care

[upnorthtmh]

I have my Christmas tree out in my 3-season porch, that I have closed down for the winter. I decorated the tree and put water in the tree stand, but it froze. Will my Christmas tree be ok until after Christmas is over?

[DTro]

I would think you should be ok, but I would try to either get rid of the frozen water and give it fresh stuff, or thaw it out. Your tree will need moisture and it won't get it from ice.

[Powerstroke]

If your tree is in a 3 season porch then it will continue to freeze. That also means that the tree is frozen and therefore won't be absorbing any water anyhow cause its tissues are frozen. Frozen dry tree is what you will ahve in a 3-season prch. If you want it to stay moist and not dry out than it has to be in warmer temps.

[Ryan_V]

what else can you do to help keep the tree going for the season?? we always cut our own tree down. It also seems like we always ending up loosing all the needles to the carpet?? I stopped at the garden center and picked up some stuff to add to the water that makes gel to hold water, he said this is the cat's meow, we'll see how it works, any other ideas??

[DTro]

Quote:

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what else can you do to help keep the tree going for the season?? we always cut our own tree down. It also seems like we always ending up loosing all the needles to the carpet?? I stopped at the garden center and picked up some stuff to add to the water that makes gel to hold water, he said this is the cat's meow, we'll see how it works, any other ideas??

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Tune into the Discovery Channel Wed night.

Mythbusters will be testing all the methods to see what works best.

[draled]

your tree will be fine, just keep it below 40

[fishinchicks]

Mythbusters found that the tree covered in hair spray looked the best, and lost fewer needles compared to other methods. It was a fun show to watch!

[DTro]

For those that missed it. They tested a a bunch of trees with different "myths"

They had:

A control with nothing

Plain water

Soda water (7-up)

Water with Aspirin

Water with Viagra

Water with Bleach

Water with fertilizer

Flocked with hairspray

Flocked with polyurethane

Each tree had it's own "needle catch" and they ran the test with added treatments for 6 weeks. Then evaluated needle loss and appearance.

The worst tree was with the fertilizer, not even close with this one. Basically lost all it's needles.

The best was flocked with hairspray.

I just love that show

[Surface Tension]

Ok I know one tip that wasn't mentioned.

Most tree farms cut and bundle trees weeks in advance. You can get an indication how long a tree has been cut by looking at the cut end. A fresh cut tree will be smooth, a tree that isn't fresh cut will be rough on the cut end.

To help the tree wick up the water cut an inch or so off the old dry end. Keep water in the stand at all times and situate your tree away from heat registers.

Merry Christmas.