So am I gullible in believing the Xmas tree seller that I should put lemonade in the cup of the tree holder and keep it topped up ?

Is the guy relieving the boredom of the day by sending us all away with a such a piece of seemingly urban myth. But then even the cheapest lemonade has sugars, phosphates and so on so maybe there is something in it ?

Rob

On Wed, 17 Dec 2014 09:24:23 -0800, robgraham wrote:

So am I gullible in believing the Xmas tree seller that I should put
lemonade in the cup of the tree holder and keep it topped up ?

Is the guy relieving the boredom of the day by sending us all away with
a such a piece of seemingly urban myth. But then even the cheapest
lemonade has sugars, phosphates and so on so maybe there is something in
it ?

I seem to recall that lemonade extends the life of some cut flowers, so
it's not impossible.

On 17/12/2014 17:24, robgraham wrote:
So am I gullible in believing the Xmas tree seller that I should put lemonade in the cup of the tree holder and keep it topped up ?

Is the guy relieving the boredom of the day by sending us all away with a such a piece of seemingly urban myth. But then even the cheapest lemonade has sugars, phosphates and so on so maybe there is something in it ?

Rob



Water works just as well. If the tree has been cut more than a day
before you will need to re-cut the end that will stand in water.

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

In article ,
alan_m writes:
On 17/12/2014 17:24, robgraham wrote:
So am I gullible in believing the Xmas tree seller that I should put lemonade in the cup of the tree holder and keep it topped up ?

Is the guy relieving the boredom of the day by sending us all away with a such a piece of seemingly urban myth. But then even the cheapest lemonade has sugars, phosphates and so on so maybe there is something in it ?

Rob



Water works just as well.

Making it slightly acidic and adding sugar works better, which
is what lemonade will do (providing it's not a diet one;-)

Asprin and sugar is often used with cut flowers for the same reason.

If the tree has been cut more than a day
before you will need to re-cut the end that will stand in water.

+1

If it's working, the tree will draw up the water quite quickly.
Expect to need to refill once or twice.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 17/12/2014 18:43, alan_m wrote:
On 17/12/2014 17:24, robgraham wrote:
So am I gullible in believing the Xmas tree seller that I should put
lemonade in the cup of the tree holder and keep it topped up ?

Is the guy relieving the boredom of the day by sending us all away
with a such a piece of seemingly urban myth. But then even the
cheapest lemonade has sugars, phosphates and so on so maybe there is
something in it ?

I'd expect 1+2 lemonade to water mix to be about right.

Water works just as well. If the tree has been cut more than a day
before you will need to re-cut the end that will stand in water.

If you are really serious about extending the life of any cut flower (or
tree for that matter) you should always recut the stem to length *under*
water. Putting a few salts and an antifungal in the water also helps or
at least stops the water going smelly after a few days.

Pine trees probably bleed enough that you do have a days grace.

It makes a big difference on delicate flower stems where otherwise the
crushing action of cutting produces an airlock in (parts of) the xylem -
and no water at all can get past the air gap.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Thursday, December 18, 2014 8:57:33 AM UTC, Martin Brown wrote:
On 17/12/2014 18:43, alan_m wrote:
On 17/12/2014 17:24, robgraham wrote:
So am I gullible in believing the Xmas tree seller that I should put
lemonade in the cup of the tree holder and keep it topped up ?

Is the guy relieving the boredom of the day by sending us all away
with a such a piece of seemingly urban myth. But then even the
cheapest lemonade has sugars, phosphates and so on so maybe there is
something in it ?

I'd expect 1+2 lemonade to water mix to be about right.

Water works just as well. If the tree has been cut more than a day
before you will need to re-cut the end that will stand in water.

If you are really serious about extending the life of any cut flower (or
tree for that matter) you should always recut the stem to length *under*
water. Putting a few salts and an antifungal in the water also helps or
at least stops the water going smelly after a few days.

Pine trees probably bleed enough that you do have a days grace.

It makes a big difference on delicate flower stems where otherwise the
crushing action of cutting produces an airlock in (parts of) the xylem -
and no water at all can get past the air gap.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Thanks guys - I suppose I could have googled it too. Having been brought up in by a 'flower decorating' mother, I was well aware of cutting off stem ends to restore water take-up, but 'xylem' was a new term to me.
Rob