DIY Christmas Tree Preservatives – Use What’s Already In Your Pantry

We’re off to the tree lot this afternoon. I had a spectacular tree last year but it dried out quickly (ok, I did forget to put water in it once) so I went online to see what I could add to it as a preservative, other than the little bottle of premixed stuff for sale at the tree lot. There are quite a few interesting suggestions that I’ve never heard of. Whatever you do, definitely make a slit at the bottom of the tree (our lot does that for us) so that water can be more easily absorbed. You can also use these solutions with cut flowers.

The most common home made preservatives use common household ingredients. You need a food source, a disinfectant (to prevent algae, etc), and an acidifier (helps plants absorb more water and food).

1 gallon water
4 tsp Clorox bleach
2 cups Light Corn Syrup
4 tsp lemon juice or vinegar (or some recipes use iron tablets) – This step is OPTIONAL

You can store for 2 weeks in the refrigerator. If you decide to add lemon juice or vinegar, add it to the water and not to the bleach directly because otherwise you risk toxic fumes. In light of that, you may want skip the lemon juice or vinegar all together, or try the following:

1 gallon water
1 can of 7up (or equivalent) that isn’t diet
splash of bleach

OR (Less common)

1 gallon water
4 tsp sugar dissolved in water
1 copper penny

Add a penny to the sugar so that the copper acts as a disinfectant. It’s not clear to me if you leave the penny in or out or the solution. I think you take it out.

Here are the more “interesting” versions:

1. Add vodka to the water. The myth is that the vodka will allow the water to spread through out the tree faster. Not sure about you, but when I add vodka to myself, I totally dehydrate. Not recommended.

2. Add aspirin to the water. Also allows better flow of water into the trunk. People claim this works.

3. Run a whole house humidifier. Talk about impractical.

However, all of your efforts will be wasted if you let the level of water get below the trunk of the tree. I’m guilty of that.

I suppose I should also remind you to use these methods at your own risk. I’m going with the first recipe sans lemon or vinegar. Hopefully it will work!

Tagged as: Christmas, Christmas Tree, Christmas Tree Preservative, Holidays, Household