Christmas miracles for the Christmas tree: we do everything to make it stand longer

The coniferous tree is the main decoration of the New Year holidays, their integral symbol. Today, many prefer to buy artificial Christmas trees or pines, which will last for more than one year. Yes, and you can dress them up long before the celebration - nothing will happen with synthetics. But what can lovers of all living and natural, including the unique coniferous aroma, do to make the holiday go without unpleasant surprises in the form of yellowed and showered needles? A living tree stands for a long time, if you follow some simple rules.

Before the holiday

Here, as they say, you need to start from the very beginning. That is, with the choice of a freshly chopped healthy tree.

How to find out that the tree will stand for a long time?

• In a fresh Christmas tree or pine, the needles are bright (not yellowed) and flexible, not brittle, oily to the touch, lush, looking up, and not spread out in different directions. They can be bent for a long time, but they break off with great difficulty. Otherwise, there is a high risk of buying a Christmas tree that has already been "seen", which does not last long.
• The needles on a fresh tree hold tight. If you shake it and hit the base on the ground, the needles should not crumble.
• Fresh and healthy living tree has a pronounced coniferous aroma. The opposite indicates that the Christmas tree, most likely, has already managed to freeze. Accordingly, it will crumble rather quickly.
• To stand longer, the tree must be not only freshly cut, but also healthy. An excessively thin trunk (less than 10 cm in circumference), the presence of a fungus, mold, incomprehensible growths on it may indicate a disease.

In order for the bought tree to stand longer, it is impossible to bring it immediately after purchase from the cold into a warm apartment: sudden temperature changes are detrimental to it. Therefore, we do not make them sharp. Let the forest beauty get used to the temperature of the entrance (holding it there for about an hour), then you can hold it for another 20 minutes in the hallway, where it is usually a little cooler than in the rest of the apartment. And only after such acclimatization can the Christmas tree be brought to where it will stand.

Living conifers are recommended to be installed and decorated directly on the eve of the holiday, a maximum of 2-3 days before it. Therefore, if you bought a Christmas tree in advance (5-10 days), until that moment, keep it on the balcony or loggia so that it is not warm.

And now - install

There are also important nuances here. So, we immediately dismiss the option of installing a Christmas tree on a cross or a special stand: it will not allow you to keep the trunk in a constantly wet state (and this is one of the essential conditions for a long life of a forest beauty). Accordingly, it is necessary to dwell on the option "bucket-sand-water."

There are often tips on the net to put a tree just in water, without sand, but it is not very convenient and safe. Since the spruce will not be very stable, children or animals can easily dump it. And this means that there is a risk of dousing carpets with water and wetting electric garlands.

So, for the correct installation of the Christmas tree, you need to do the following:

1. The trunk of the tree below is cleaned of bark by 8-10 centimeters.
2. The Christmas tree is placed in a bucket, fixed with stones, covered with sand and carefully packed.
3. If it was required to cut off the top or several branches, the wounds must be treated with garden varieties or something similar.
4. Now the sand needs to be moistened by pouring it with a solution of water with aspirin (a couple of tablets of 1-2 liters) or with citric acid, vinegar. Depending on the size of the Christmas tree, sand can absorb from 1 to 3 liters of acidic liquid.

How to care for a decorated Christmas tree?

If it is necessary that the tree stands for a long time and does not crumble, the “set and forget” option is not exactly called effective. Forest beauty will have to be taken care of daily.

• You need to water with an acidified solution. For nutritional nutrition, you can add a couple of tablespoons of sugar to the water.
• Watering is carried out with settled water, from which chlorine has eroded.
• Every day you need to spray needles with water. Be sure to turn off the garlands first.
• Indoor air should also not be too dry. You should take care of its hydration, because the trees are put in apartments in the winter, when central heating works, draining the air.

Do not place the tree near batteries or heaters. It will dry faster due to excess heat. Also unfavorable for her is the effect of drafts. Therefore, the proximity to the balcony door is also not the best, it creates a temperature difference.

And the last one. For greater safety, it is better to turn off any garland at night. This will guarantee that the Christmas tree will not cause a fire.

Fragrant, bright, lush forest beauty Christmas tree does not have to be that way only on New Year's Eve. Her life is quite extendable. True, like any living plant, it will require some care. But the minutes spent on it are more than compensated by the hours and days of its magnificent radiance and fragrance.