How To Make Your Christmas Tree Last Longer

by John Dromgoole

This recipe contains bleach, so be careful about getting it on a carpet or rug.
This recipe will NOT make your tree fire PROOF, but it will slow down the drying-out.

Ingredients:

2 cups Karo Syrup
2 oz. liquid bleach
2 pinches Epsom salt
½ tsp. borax
1 tsp. chelated iron
hot water

Procedure:

Mix fireproofing materials. Fill a 2-gallon bucket with hot water to within an inch of the top and add the ingredients. Stir thoroughly.
With a saw, make a fresh cut at the base of the trunk. Cut off at least an inch.
Stand the tree in this solution for 24 hours.
Put the tree in its tree-stand and fill the well with the solution.
Keep the rest of the solution in a container to replenish the tree-stand well every day.

How it works:

The Karo syrup provides the necessary sugar to allow the base of the tree to take up water. The tree may take up 1/5 gallons of water over a two-week period. Boron in the borax allows the tree to move the water and sugar out to every branch and needle in the tree.

Magnesium compounds in the Epsom salt and iron from the chelated iron provide essential components for the production of chlorophyll that will keep the tree green. The bleach keeps mold from forming in your solution.

This procedure will help prevent the needles from dropping and will increase the natural fragrance of the tree.

Article Type: Tip

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John Dromgoole

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