Fresh Christmas Tree trick!

[r0GuE]

Somebody told me about this last year and it worked great. When you get the tree home and you are ready to put it up, do the following:
Make a fresh cut (most people know this already) of about and inch off the bottom.
Drill a hole in the center of the trunk (I used my biggest bit, probably 5/8 inch and went as deep as I could probably 4 or 5 inches).
Stuff the hold with sugar (white regular type). Use your fingers and leave a little room in the bottom.
Put 4 or 5 asprins in the hole.
Plug it with cotton balls and go ahead and set the tree in the stand etc.
When putting in the water use good hot water (not boiling but nice and hot.. It will cool fast when it hits the mass of the tree holder and the tree, so it will come down to a more reasonable hotness.

Wha la!

Last year we had ours up for 5 weeks and it dropped less needles taking it out of the house than it did when we brought it in!

Merry Christmas! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[MossRoad]

Sounds good.

We cut ours down yesterday. I've always had good luck with making a few 45 degree angle cuts near the edges of the bark. Seems that if you cut a tree perfectly flat, then stick it in the stand, the bottom sets flat against the water dish. This impedes water from being carried up by the tree. By making the angle cuts around the outside of the trunk, it allows water to be carried up more easily. Also, the first thing I do is pour in a can of Sprite, followed by water. Somone told me the sugar helps the tree. I add another can of Sprite once a week until we take the tree down. Who told me this? I don't know, heck, it could have been a Sprite salesman for all I know. Anyway, we usually keep our tree up from about two weeks before Christmas to Jan 6th. The tree does pretty good as long as we keep water in it. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[MossRoad]

Another fresh tree trick...

One year, I got sent to Chicago on business right before Christmas. The tree was already up. I called my wife every evening to say hi and see how things were going. One night, I called, she was frantic. Seems I didn't inspect the tree for praying mantis egg cases before I left /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

The warm air in the house signaled the start of spring, to them at least, so they hatched after the tree was in the house for about a week. There were about a thousand of these little boogers running around our house. They started out about a 1/4 inch long, but by the time we found the last of them they had gotten up to about an inch. She used the vacuum on them at first. They were everywhere. I'd sit down to read the paper and when I'd turn on the lamp there'd be two or three looking at me each evening. It took us about 3-4 weeks before we didn't see anymore. And we'd find them dead in corners, drawers, closets and window sills for months and months.

So, the moral of the story is:

Be sure to inspect your tree for praying mantis egg cases. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Moss,

That's a new one on me. Thought the mantis came in adult size only.... Kind of like Pigeons--- Never saw a baby Pigeon.

Had a he11 of a time with mealy bugs one year when we left a 50 bag of sunflower seeds set in the basement during the winter.

Couldn't figure out where the little moth's were coming from and then one day opened the bag and had a swarm that would have made a movie script.

Tom

 

[NIXON]

A bit more expensive . But we buy a Live tree every year ( roots dirt and all ) . I pre dig the hole for it , and as soon as possible plant the tree on our property . John