On Sun, 13 Dec 2015 08:05:02 -0500, Art Todesco
wrote:

On 12/12/2015 10:44 PM, David wrote:

It's interesting that over the last 6 years I've bought fresh cut trees
(watched the guy cut the tree I selected) and have usually taken at
least 1/2" off the bottom, at home, before putting it upright. Some
years they take lots of water and then trail off in a few weeks. This
year, the tree took 5 gallons in the 1st 9 days, the most ever. I can
maybe attribute some of it to the fact that I didn't have to take off
too much bark to make it fit the stand; just a little on the bottom. I
have a reservoir which feeds water through a 1/4" hose to the stand, so
the water level is usually kept pretty high, unless I forget to fill the
reservoir. I understand that the layer just under the bark is where most
of the nutrients are sucked in, so that part of the trunk is always wet.
Next year my tree probably won't take any water. Too much work getting
it, cleaning up after it, etc. This year my wife actually had 2 asthma
attacks, probably from molds, etc, while working on it. I should have
power washed it before before bringing it into the house. We though we'd
buy one of those Balsam Hills trees ... pricey, but they seem to look
really good.

I dont buy live trees. I have a small artificial one that I use. But
when I was a kid, my father always bought a live tree, and he always cut
off at least a half inch of the trunk, right before he put it in the
stand. Then he put sugar water in the stand. I dont know if the sugar
really served a purpose or was just some "old wives tale". But the trees
held up well, and he never took them down until after New Years.