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
I seem to recall that lemonade extends the life of some cut flowers, so it's not impossible.
Seems OK. See
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.
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 it's working, the tree will draw up the water quite quickly. Expect to need to refill once or twice.
I'd expect 1+2 lemonade to water mix to be about right.
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.
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
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