Those of you with alive Christmas trees.....

[marshallandcartersmo]

Do you do anything special to keep them "alive" longer?

We usually just put them in their stand and make sure to keep the water always full. Do you put anything extra in the water?? You know, like you can put an asprin in a vase of water full of cut flowers??

 

[TwingleMum]

I'd be curious. I usually cut the stump end again before bringing it into the house so it can suck ( can I say that? I guess I can ) up the water easier. But I don't put anything special in the water.

Along those lines how long can you keep a live tree and when do you A) buy it & put it up and B) take it down.

 

[TinkPinkPoem]

I guess you could try using purified water instead of tap water (if you are using tap water).

 

[coolbeans]

my dad always swore by adding warm sugar water.. no certain amount of sugar either... we still do it that way, never thought to google or anything.. just listened to dad. (they are always right??) lol!!

 

[MsLeFever]

Lowes or home depot always sells a packet of preservative.

But my cats drink out of the tree so I don't dare use it.

 

[pogo791]

my dad always swore by adding warm sugar water.. no certain amount of sugar either... we still do it that way, never thought to google or anything.. just listened to dad. (they are always right??) lol!!

Same here: warm water and a little sugar.

Some other tips:

Make sure when you buy the tree that it is still fresh. No brown branches (check especially the bottom of the tree, near the stalk). Lift the tree up a foot or two and drop it straight down to see if any needles fall off, or grab a fistful of branch and pull outwards lightly.

Saw off an inch or two from the bottom of the trunk, just before you set up the tree.

And definitely keep the Christmas tree stand full. Especially during the first 24 hours, the tree can suck up quite a lot of water!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I heard that sprite or 7-up helps since it has sugar in it, but haven't tried that yet.

 

[AlohaPolynesian]

Make sure that whatever you are using is pet safe if you have animals living in your house!!

Also, we don't get our tree until about a week before Christmas so that usually helps, lol!

 

[happily single]

When we cut an inch or so off the stump we also cut an "X" into the bottom of the trunk. Someone told me that it helps the tree drink water.

 

[DOPEYLUVER]

I think excess heat is the worst thing for them. Consider how long the period of time between a tree being cut down and Christmas Day. We always cut ours fresh but it doesn't generally last longer than neighbors' trees that are bought off a lot.

Ours is going up early this year (for us). It will be cut down tomorrow and put up next Sunday. Normally we get it the first weekend of December and put it up the second. This is kind of bribery on my part because I'm going to Florida from December 10th to the 20th without them. They are 19 and 17 but having a fit anyway.

 

[tinkerbell615]

We have done both the sugar and the sprite/7UP with our fresh cut trees. I am not really sure if it does anything or not, but my dad also told us to do this and I agree dad always was right.

We usually wait to put up our tree until about two weeks before Christmas. We have started purchasing it a little earlier though. Really when you think about it... what difference does it make if it sits on the lot until you put it up or in you driveway or back yard. At least if we buy it and bring it home we can cut the bottom and put it in a bucket of water until we are ready.

We have had some trees that were still really fresh when we take them down and some that were really dry.

Good luck everyone. I am anxious to find out if anyone has any other secrets to keeping them fresh longer.

 

[tileman]

We cut the bottom of the tree at a angle and drill a 1/2 hole up the trunk about 3 " or so.

And make sure that the bottom of the tree is off the bottom of the stand so it can take the water in better.

Been doing our trees this way for over 10 yrs and they always look good and fresh.

Ron.

 

[3boymthr]

Considering the trees have been without water for at least a month when we get them the second week of December I guess that they last until a week after Christmas is pretty good. We just make a fresh cut and add water. We've tried the preservative stuff, it doesn't seem to make a difference. We still end up with a ton of needles.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Also, we don't get our tree until about a week before Christmas so that usually helps, lol!

LOL, that's kind of how we are too! We usually get ours a couple weeks before Christmas.

 

[My sister's princess]

Found this link when I was trying to figure out the answer to this same question this AM. I talked DF into getting our tree this afternoon

http://www.christmastree.org/care.cfm