R.I.P. Holiday TreeFollow

u r teh suxXor at horticulture

May I suggest a smaller tree so you can cover the whole thing in candy canes? Its cheaper, not quite the same, but big enough for the little 'un

The durned thing is only 4 1/2 feet tall.

Pikko, since you're in a warmer climate, artificial trees may be the way to go. Here in the states, and specifically Ohio, live trees can be kept alive for a much longer time.

Most likely. Im guessing you dont buy trees and replant them Pikko? Its the best way to do it. They last longer and you get a natural fence built piece by piece every year.

Otherwise you can really only hope for 2 weeks with a completely cut tree.

Buy a fake tree.

It doesn't die, stays green, and you can use it again the next year.

What kind of tree was it?

I get lazy real fast with caring for my live trees but I refuse to get an artifical one. Frasier firs tend to hold on their needles and color long after the plant is dead. Costs more but, come Christmas morning, I have a green and full (if brittle) tree in my living room. It even holds up well when it comes time to take it down.

Scotch pines, on the other hand, are the *** end of the Christmas tree hierarchy. They're usually spray painted green at the farm just so they look decent before you buy them.

You didn't drown it by keeping the water full but I assume you knew that. Did your husband make a fresh cut on the bottom before putting it in the water? The sap seals the bottom within 30min or so after cutting it unless you keep it wet. A "healthy" tree will use up pretty much the entire reservoir of water daily and, if the level drops below the cut trunk, it seals up in a hurry. That's how I always lose mine -- I forget about it one night, check in the morning and the bottom's already dry which means all the water on earth won't help it unless I take the whole thing down and recut it. Which, of course, is out of the question.

Charlie Brown never needed needles on his tree.

Sorry to hear your tree death, Pikko. Joph pretty much nailed it on what you should do, though.

We haven't gotten ours yet, since our schedules suck, but one of the nice things about living in Maine is that we cut our own. I've had trees that lasted nearly two months before (I know, because I didn't have the heart to throw it out right away, haha).

It's fun getting a 6.5' tree home on the top of a Honda Civic, hehe.

Nexa

From my experience of having live trees in hot, humid areas; you can over water them and also how you have them located can affect how the tree survives.

Direct sunlight with lots/little water is usually a bad thing, they dry out pretty quick.

As others have mentioned, always make sure there is a cut at the bottom. We never fed ours anything so I am not inclined to say if that helps or not.

We usually did not try to buy a tree too early anyways, maybe 3 weeks before Christmas at the earliest, better to be safe than have your tree catch on fire or die as yours did prematurely.

Oh the irony.

yes i know pineapples don't grow on trees.

Edited, Wed Dec 7 11:58:48 2005 by Frakkor