Oh Christmas tree oh christmas tree?

[a.k.a. Patrick]

So whats is everyones "snake oil" version or grandmas secret recipe for christmas tree preservation?
And dont be giving me any of the follwoing "1/4c of vanilla moose" or "clay the bark off".....stuff! I want some good ol' fashioned miracles for keeping the ol yuletide fresh!!

[Setec Astronomy]

They just had this on MythBusters the other night. I believe a Viagra in the water kept the most needles on the tree, but overall they thought hair spray was the best mix of longevity and color, although they weren't sure about the fire hazard of the hair spray tree.

Other than that, I would have gone for "clay the bark off"

[AL-53]

Patrick..A flourist told me sugar water works with lemon in it...and a spoonfull of bleach

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 gallon water

1 teaspoon of bleach..for fungus

these are some links to home made stuff..very close to what i was told...

Keeping Christmas Trees Fresh: Make Your Own Holiday Tree Preservative

» Homemade preservative Much has been made of special preservative concoctions to keep Christmas trees fresher, longer. They offer somewhat mixed results. Plain water is just fine.If you'd like to try a preservative, here's a good one you can make a

[MOL] CHRISTMAS TREE SAFETY - homemade fire retardant [00304]

[SpoiledMan]

I have always used a very warm dose of water in the stand for the first watering. The tree will suddenly suck it up so check it often. You can then keep it watered until you put it out.

[a.k.a. Patrick]

How do you get the swirls out of the bottom?

Holy cow thats some interesting reading on fireproofing your tree. I just wish i had seen it a few days ago!

[twitch]

Originally Posted by AL-53

Keeping Christmas Trees Fresh: Make Your Own Holiday Tree Preservative

Thanks! I just mixed up a batch of their suggested preservative. I hope this keeps our tree in better shape than the one we had last year. It dried out in less than a week
This one is doing well so it's been a good start

[Grimm]

Get a fake tree! We had a real one the first year my wife and I moved into a house, but ended up being lazy the next year going back to the fake tree we had to use in our apartment and haven't had a real one since.

When I lived with my parents we never had a problem with ours staying decent for probably 3 weeks. We just kept it well watered and make sure it's not by a radiator. It may also have helped that we kept the heat down to 45 during the day when we weren't home.

[Setec Astronomy]

Originally Posted by Grimm

It may also have helped that we kept the heat down to 45 during the day when we weren't home.

Holy Crap! You are the king of setback!

[Grimm]

You aren't kidding. My parents didn't have a programable thermostat at our first house and I remember getting up in the morning when the house wasn't heated up yet and freezing my butt off after getting out of the shower. I remember I would wrap up in the towel and huddle next to the radiator for ten minutes.

I think I have ours set to 55 at night and during the day. I would probably go lower but with a newborn I don't want to take a chance making him freeze.

I've actually heard that turning down the heat is a good idea. Bacteria thrives in warm temperatures, so cooling down your house helps kill it off.

[Way2SSlow]

Originally Posted by Grimm

Get a fake tree!

That's what we do. If I were to bring home a real tree, I'd be worried about my male dog marking it as his territory.

[Grimm]

Oh man, that reminds me of the year we got a real tree. At the time we had a year old Beagle, and a cat. My wife and I were in the bedroom one evening when we heard a crash. We went to the living room, and you guessed it, the tree was knocked over. Funny thing was, it was the cat that somehow knocked it over. I missed it picking out the tree, but the trunk was a little kinked so it wasn't real steady. I had to mess around with how it was set in the base to get it stable.

[a.k.a. Patrick]

hehe, Im sure everyone has "one of those" Christmas catastrophie stories eh?!?!