Budget Buster...Christmas Tree woes

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

I am so frustrated right now I could cry. We always get a live, cut, tree for Christmas. Last year, our tree didn't do so well. I guess it started to rot, and our entire house was filled with this awful smell. Luckily, this didn't start until the 26th, but we had to do a spur of the moment take-down at midnight one night because we were having house guests the following day.

Fast forward to this year. We waited a week longer to put our tree up and have done everything we normally do. Dh announces tonight that our tree isn't drinking anymore, and he thinks he can smell the tree, down by the trunk (as in that rotting smell). I'm hoping it's just the water. The upper branches still smell nice, and we aren't losing needles. We are just so paranoid about what happened last year.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to save our tree? It has been in water since it got here. We did a fresh cut before putting it up. The base is always filled with water, which is the tree preservative in it. The vents by the tree are closed. We always get our trees from a nursery, thinking we'd have a high quality tree (and certainly paid for a high quality tree).

I don't know why we are getting jinxed by trees suddenly, after all of these years. I did see $35 Costco trees last weekend. They were all bundled so you couldn't really see them well. I guess we could always go get a cheap tree to make it through....but the thought of taking this one down and putting a new one up is overwhelming.

Thanks for letting me vent. This has just been one of those weeks. My holiday season had been pretty stress free until now. This has been an expensive year for Christmas decorating. The company we always pay to hang our lights sent out a new guy, who took more than twice as long (yes..by the hour). Our regular Christmas Tree stand wasn't open this year, so we ended up paying more at a new nursery. New lights on the house, new garland to replace old ones............and now a new tree????? Please tell me it isn't so.

 

[RangerPooh]

Sorry t hear about your tree problem. We've never experienced anything like this. Do you perhaps "flock" your tree and that could be the problem? What kind of tree is it, pine, fir, cypress? Could it be the perservative that you have put in the water? Perhaps try syphoning it out with a baister and add fresh water to the base to see if it helps.

 

[3boymthr]

I was thinking the same thing. The problem may not be the tree but the water. I'd siphon out the water and put in fresh every day.

 

[Swimalie]

Is the tree still drinking water? Can you tell if the water level is going down every morning?

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I spent my morning taking out all of the old water....boy did it stink! My entire family room now smells because I must have "activated" the smell I put in all fresh water, so we'll see what happens. I will now be covered in sap all day

My dh takes care of watering the tree, so he was the one who said he didn't think it was drinking at all...the water level was staying the same. I know trees drink less and less the longer they are inside, but it should stop drinking this early.

Someone asked...it is a frasier fir. It's the kind we always get, and have had great luck with until last year. The needles still seem good and strong; certainly not an excessive amount have fallen.

Although I cringe at the idea, I spent time last night looking at prices of fake trees. That's certainly not going to be in the budget this year, but I'm so frustrated with our luck lately. If need be, I guess we'll suck up the cost of a second tree (definitely will go with a cheap one). But the thought of all that time it will require to redo everything.... I wouldn't mind losing needles, but the smell of a rotting tree inside is the worst!!


Of course..my husband is saying we don't need a tree. "We'll be just as happy gathering around an empty spot, holding hands, while singing "Yahoo Doray (or whatever they sing in the Grinch)" I somehow don't see our kids buying into that one


Thanks, again. I'll keep you updated if I see any progress. Come on tree...you can pull through!!

 

[iwrbnd]

You sound like me! My husband loved getting real trees and for years I dealt with them dying before Christmas. The ornaments would fall off because the limbs were wilting and I would have dead needles all over which would break my vacuum. It was awful. I finally put my foot down and demanded a fake tree. That was 8 years ago and I've never regretted it! Good luck, though! I tried every advice people gave me to keep the dang things alive and nothing ever worked!

 

[ceecee]

Someone once told me to put sugar in the water, never tried it but we've not had problems. We get a freshly cut tree and it lasts for 3-4 weeks without a problem. Did you cut the stump after you got it home. The guy with the nursery where we get our trees will do it there or he tells you to do it when you get home otherwise the sap blocks the tree from drinking. We date and keep the piece we cut off, they're in our rock garden.

 

[RadioFanatic]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I spent my morning taking out all of the old water....boy did it stink! My entire family room now smells because I must have "activated" the smell I put in all fresh water, so we'll see what happens. I will now be covered in sap all day

My dh takes care of watering the tree, so he was the one who said he didn't think it was drinking at all...the water level was staying the same. I know trees drink less and less the longer they are inside, but it should stop drinking this early.

Someone asked...it is a frasier fir. It's the kind we always get, and have had great luck with until last year. The needles still seem good and strong; certainly not an excessive amount have fallen.

Although I cringe at the idea, I spent time last night looking at prices of fake trees. That's certainly not going to be in the budget this year, but I'm so frustrated with our luck lately. If need be, I guess we'll suck up the cost of a second tree (definitely will go with a cheap one). But the thought of all that time it will require to redo everything.... I wouldn't mind losing needles, but the smell of a rotting tree inside is the worst!!


Of course..my husband is saying we don't need a tree. "We'll be just as happy gathering around an empty spot, holding hands, while singing "Yahoo Doray (or whatever they sing in the Grinch)" I somehow don't see our kids buying into that one


Thanks, again. I'll keep you updated if I see any progress. Come on tree...you can pull through!!

year before last, I bought a 7 foot fake tree, with lights, after christmas at Target for 75% off - I paid about $30 for it. It's a great tree; and my dh, who I had to beg to do this because he is a stickler for real trees, even likes it! It's a snap to put up and makes life so much easier!

 

[crispychicky]

Sorry to hear your having such problems with your tree!

First off, It can't be the tree itself rotting that you smell. It takes months (probably years) for a tree to begin to decompose. And when it does, it just smells like earth, not rotten food. I agree with the other posters that it's probably something in the water...or in your tree stand. If changing the water doesn't make a difference, I'd get a new tree stand. Maybe there's some funky stuff (bacteria?) in the bottom from last year that got stirred up and is growing again. Ideally, you should also cut off an inch or so from the stump of your tree so it has a clean cut to take in new water. But, that may be totally unreasonable if it's up and fully decorated.

Good luck! I hope the rest of your Christmas goes smoother. Don't give up on real trees. They're so beautiful and do smell wonderful (usually!).

 

[Swimalie]

We're going out of town this year for Christmas so we bought a living tree. It is decorated with 1 piece of ribbon and will be planted before we leave in our side yard. it doesn't smell the same nor does it look the same but every year we'll be able to look at it grow outside and enjoy it. Maybe you could do the same? We did this 3 years ago when we went out of town and we love looking at our former Christmas tree grow nicely. And to make up for the lack of pine smell, I bought some pine scented cleaner (not Pine Sol) and have been using it. It smells great.

I've had real trees all my life (39 years) and have never had a tree rot. I've bought them from nurseries, cheaply from Lowe's and cut them myself. Maybe you should try going some where else for your tree and give it one more year.

 

[EcbLovesMickey]

You can use 1 part Sprite to 3 parts water. The sugar in the Sprite feeds the tree while the citric acid helps kill bacteria (which are what is so smelly in the water). HTH

 

[tinker&belle]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I spent my morning taking out all of the old water....boy did it stink! My entire family room now smells because I must have "activated" the smell I put in all fresh water, so we'll see what happens. I will now be covered in sap all day

My dh takes care of watering the tree, so he was the one who said he didn't think it was drinking at all...the water level was staying the same. I know trees drink less and less the longer they are inside, but it should stop drinking this early.

Someone asked...it is a frasier fir. It's the kind we always get, and have had great luck with until last year. The needles still seem good and strong; certainly not an excessive amount have fallen.

Although I cringe at the idea, I spent time last night looking at prices of fake trees. That's certainly not going to be in the budget this year, but I'm so frustrated with our luck lately. If need be, I guess we'll suck up the cost of a second tree (definitely will go with a cheap one). But the thought of all that time it will require to redo everything.... I wouldn't mind losing needles, but the smell of a rotting tree inside is the worst!!


Of course..my husband is saying we don't need a tree. "We'll be just as happy gathering around an empty spot, holding hands, while singing "Yahoo Doray (or whatever they sing in the Grinch)" I somehow don't see our kids buying into that one


Thanks, again. I'll keep you updated if I see any progress. Come on tree...you can pull through!!

I am allergic to real trees and break out in hives decorating a real tree, so we have an artificial. I hate not having a real one (I love the smell!) but having hives for a day or two makes it not fun. You get used to the artificial tree. If you get one, get it the day after christmas for the best price and most selection left. We love the ease of having the prelit!

 

[PatriciaH]

Ugg... the same thing happened to us last year and the year before. I tried the sugar and the Sprite but it still got rotten smelling. Like puke-awful! It had never happend before or up north. I hate fake trees-they are full of lead and bad chemicals but we got a 5 ft. one for $17 at Target last year and it is so much easier. It looks great too.

 

[swilshire]

When we get a live tree, we buy it at the tree farm Thanksgiving weekend and take it down after New Years. I've never smelled anything odd. Never changed the water. Never used a preservative.

It might be worth buying the gallon jugs of water at the store and seeing if that makes a difference. They aren't real expensive.

Sheila

 

[HunnyPots]

I could have written your post myself last week! We did all the right stuff too but two weeks after putting it up, it was so dry and dead that branches were drooping and ornaments had started falling off. We even tried pulling it out and making another cut in the trunk and that did no good either. It was a goner. On Sunday, I decided enough was enough and I pulled the plug. Luckily, we still had a small artificial in the attic so I put that up and did what I could to make it look good. It does look better than "the corpse"!

I've since learned that even though a tree can bear the title, "fresh cut", it may have been cut in October! So by the time they hit the lots the week of Thanksgiving they look good but they're really pretty far gone. An no amount of sugar in the water or "tree preservative" will keep them fresh through Christmas.

Live and learn. We will either go back to artificial every year or cut ours fresh from the farm, although I don't really care for the type of tree that grows around here. I will never buy another "fresh cut" tree from a pre-cut seller though, no matter how good they look.

 

[PatriciaH]

Yep, we used to cut ours down fresh in MA/NH, but here we have to get them from a lot. I guess they are older than they say!

 

[fatuhiva]

I've never had a tree rot either. Is the tree actually getting soft & mushy (rotting) or is it just drying out?? If it's just drying out I can't imagine the smell is coming from the tree itself. Maybe it's the water/stand.

Are you using the same Xmas tree stand as last year?? Maybe there's something in there that in combination with the water/preservative stuff is causing the foul smell??

 

[southcarolinagirl]

Put a little bit of bleach in the water, it helps keep everything clean & keeps bacteria from growing.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

Put a little bit of bleach in the water, it helps keep everything clean & keeps bacteria from growing.

I worry about trying that trick. I have cats who are always around the tree. I'm sure they have taken a sip (probably before it got yucky).




My house has aired out and I no longer smell that smell. It's been about 3 hours. It does look like the water has gone down a tad...maybe between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch.

I haven't heard the Sprite trick. I may have to try that.

Thank you all so much