Artificial Christmas trees cannot compare to the aesthetic splendor and aroma of real, living Christmas trees. However, watering a real tree, especially one that is inside the home and in a container, can be a challenging task. Therefore, you’ll need some patience and perseverance.
The aim here is to prevent sap drying on any part of the tree stump, preventing the tree from drinking. While some individuals use many methods, you can find these harm your tree rather than be a solution to the Christmas tree not taking water.
In our guide, you can learn the answer to why my Christmas tree isn’t drinking water. By the end, you’ll know enough about how much water a Christmas tree drink per day over the holidays should and how you can keep it healthy longer than a few hours while you decorate with Christmas lights and other goodies. (Read Christmas Light Bulb Size Chart)
How Do I Get My Christmas Tree To Drink Water?
Some 30 million real trees are purchased from retail lots and choose-and-cut farms throughout the tree season.
Keeping a tree fresh is relatively straightforward once you learn to distinguish between proper tree care advice and the numerous popular home recipes. Unfortunately, many well-intentioned but ill-informed sources advise ineffective treatments with little scientific backing.
Essentially, if you treat your tree like a cut flower and place it on a water stand, it will last several weeks in your home.
The following guidelines will assist you in selecting and caring for a fresh real tree.
During the holidays, water can be your greatest ally when trying to keep your Christmas tree alive and kicking. Without it, there’s no chance your tree will last throughout the holiday season.
A tree’s root system absorbs water, filters nutrients, and synthesizes hormones required by the plant.
When you cut the roots of a Christmas tree, the tree continues absorbing and transmitting water through an internal network inside the tree trunk and branches for a few weeks. However, when you deprive the tree of vital nutrients only the roots can offer. This weakens and finally kills the tree.
Within 4-6 hours of cutting down a Christmas tree, the sap pouring from the fresh wound hardens, preventing any water from entering the trunk.
To keep your tree alive, cut the bottom of the stump at around an inch to remove the hardened sap, then submerge the tree in water. (Learn How To Hang Christmas Lights On Stucco)
It is vital for the tree and your home to never allow your Christmas tree to dry out, as this can help avoid fires. Besides this, any live tree that loses over 85% of its natural moisture can’t be restored, and it will struggle to carry lights and ornaments for the length of the holidays.
To get the full vibrancy of your tree, do this a couple of days before
Christmas decorating.
What to do and what not to do when buying Christmas Trees.
- Cut trees dry quickly. Some businesses have Christmas trees from Thanksgiving, so these won’t last. Instead, choose a trustworthy grower or tree lot from your area with a fresh tree batch.
- Take a branch and pull outward. If many needles fall, the tree has been cut for a long time and is already drying. Move on for a newer tree. You can also break a few needles to test the tree’s freshness. If they are wet and sticky it is s fresh tree.
- Fresh trees have a waxy appearance and smell pleasant. Check for drooping branches, yellowing needles, needle loss, and peeling bark.
- The tree base should be straight, and at least 6-8 inches long for simple mounting on the tree stand after you cut the bottom for your tree to drink.
- Once you reach your house, make a fresh cut at around an inch on the tree’s base. Put your tree in water immediately.
- Never peel the bark as this helps the water supply to the rest of the tree.
- Keep your fresh Christmas tree away from sources of heat or cold. Vents, fireplaces, windows, TVs, and other appliances should be avoided as these will dry your tree faster.
What do you do if your Christmas tree isn’t drinking water?
If your Christmas tree stopped drinking water, several things could cause this, and what you can do.
- Keep your Christmas tree stand’s bucket full of tap water.
- Additions including pennies, vodka, honey, and other mix-ins to the bucket that are supposed to keep trees fresh may cause the tree to decline in drinking water, so use plain tap water with no additives.
- If your tree were cut more than six to eight hours before being placed in its water source, you’d need to cut the bottom of the tree. Maker a new cut around half-inch to an inch to allow it to drink the water from the Christmas tree stand.
- Instead of cutting at an angle, make a straight cut.
- Cutting the tree straight across makes it easy for it to drink water and helps it stay upright in its stand.
- Drilling a hole in your tree or removing the bark from a tree that is too wide for its stand is ineffective since the bark helps the tree’s water uptake.
- Make sure your tree is in a large enough stand for it, and fill it with fresh water. Some say fill the container with hot water helps, yet this offers little to no benefit for your tree.
- Trees drink most of their water in the first week, so they may need more water, to begin with. Thus at least a gallon of water per day is recommended. Also, after your tree has been freshly cut, it may take a few days to begin drinking water, which is typical.
What species keep the best after being cut?
Noble fir, Fraser fir, Scotch pine, and Douglas fir are long-lasting winter trees. If the butts dry out, grand fir, spruces, concolor, or white fir do well in a water stand, although they disintegrate faster than others. (Learn How Long Do Christmas Trees Last)
Will cutting the trunk at an angle increase water uptake?
No, the most efficient water transport system is found directly beneath the bark. Drying will begin once the water level on a tapering trunk dips below the exposed wood surface.
How Long Will A Christmas Tree Last After It Stops Drinking Water?
A Christmas tree in any house is frequently the focal point of holiday decorating.
Many individuals prefer natural trees because of the fresh pine scent-filled rooms you get.
Fresh trees require special care to ensure that they last throughout the holiday season, the most crucial of which is putting them in plenty of water. Unfortunately, trees may cease drinking water and become dry before the holiday season is over.
Why Trees Dry?
When Christmas trees are cut, sap from the tree hardens and dries near the cut end.
This keeps the tree moist and prevents too much sap from escaping. In addition, this helps to keep the tree fresh for longer as the tree cannot absorb water once the sap has dried near the cut.
Cut Again
When installing a tree, the trunk must be cut again to allow the tree to absorb water and keep it fresh longer. To remove the dried sap area, the cut must be at least 1/4 inches up the trunk.
It will not be able to absorb water if the cut is made too near to the end. As a result, the tree’s cut end will immediately try to close the wound.
According to the National Christmas Tree Association, the time it takes for a tree to seal depends on the type of tree; some trees can take up to six hours to seal entirely.
However, the sooner a fresh-cut tree is immersed in water, the less likely it will seal. If the tree has been cut up the trunk but is still not drinking water, it was probably not placed in water quickly enough.
Use Plenty of Water
To stay green, a fresh Christmas tree requires a lot of water. So the stand should be filled at least once a day and hold at least a gallon of water.
Because trees absorb more water during the first week, they may require more frequent watering.
If the container runs out of water, the sap seals the cut end of the trunk, requiring it to be cut again before it can absorb water.
For additional information on Christmas trees, visit the website of the National Christmas Tree Association at www.realchristmastrees.org.
More Ways To Keep a Christmas Tree Hydrated and Fresh.
It is possible to keep a Christmas tree cut (without roots) fresh for longer by using 1) sugar and honey in the water mix and 2) antitranspirant spray on the leaves to reduce water loss over time.
For 500 years, people have been bringing live Christmas trees into their homes.
Since then, people have produced inventive ways to nourish their freshly cut Christmas trees.
The traditional water-holding Christmas tree stand is more efficient than IV-watering devices, according to a 2005 study on Douglas Fir species and Leyland Cypress trees.
A gallon of water is typically held in modern Christmas tree stands, which is the same amount a tree consumes in a day. These stands also do a fantastic job of keeping the tree in your living room upright.
Adding a tablespoon of sugar, honey, or corn syrup to the water has helped some people keep their cut Christmas tree fresh in their room.
Others go so far as to add bleach, aspirin, or baking soda to the mix.
Experts warn, however, that applying chemicals could be harmful to the tree’s health. Water should usually suffice, so avoid any of these suggestions and keep the container filled with tap water.
Farmers put antitranspirant chemicals on the leaves of tree needles to decrease moisture loss.
According to Monterey Pine research, hairspray-coated pine needles preserved 90% of their natural appearance after 27 days.
You should know which tips to follow and which tips to avoid with all the above. You’ll have the best ways to keep your tree fresh to hang all your ornaments. Then, come the night before the big day; you can stack all the gifts and have a Merry Christmas with all the family.
