University study finds that watering your Christmas tree is a good idea. Wow. I had no idea... :)

[The Straight Story]

If you're heading to a Christmas tree farm - a traditional outing for many families the day after Thanksgiving - heed the research of tree scientist Les Werner and his students: Keep that fresh-cut fir or pine watered once you get it home, and you'll be rewarded with fewer needles to sweep off the floor.

Werner for years thought that keeping water in the Christmas tree stand was pointless.

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point associate professor of forestry never watered his own family's Christmas trees because he reasoned trees stop photosynthesizing when they're cut from their root systems. Unconvinced, his wife would water the tree anyway when Werner wasn't looking.

Universities debate, research and answer real-world questions. So, who better to explore the physiology of the common Christmas tree than a scientist at UW-Stevens Point, which has the nation's largest undergraduate program in natural resources?

"For years, I asked plant physiologists around the country: 'Do you water your Christmas tree?' " Werner said. "Most of them, like me, said they didn't. But their wives would water the tree behind their back."

Werner and two students decided to document moisture loss in cut Christmas trees that were watered vs. those that were not watered. A tree farm donated 54 fresh-cut trees of four different species for a four-week study.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/110730624.html

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Well, duh. Of course you water them.

We always watered ours -- wouldn't have occurred to us not to. Do you stick cut flowers in a vase with no water and assume they won't shrivel up because they aren't photosynthesizing? A professor of forestry didn't know this?

:eyes:

[Cassandra]

6. It's not photosynthesis they'd be missing but...

hydration.

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. My parents not only watered them but added sugar to the water.

[alphafemale]

11. And an aspirin every few days works wonders too.

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. Yes, asipriin is great for keeping plants fresh, but if you have critter that might

drink from the water reservoir then I would avoid it. (Not sure what tree stands are like these days. Ours was a zillion years old. Maybe they are closed now? :) )

[Swamp Rat]

2. k&r

[ZombieHorde]

3. Funny. nt

[NuclearDem]

4. University study finds that inhaling oxygen into your lungs is a good idea.

Keep that air sac or organ filled once you step out on planet Earth, and you'll be rewarded with fewer bodies to sweep off the floor.

[immoderate]

5. Well now it's official!

--imm

[Ilsa]

7. Not only do I water my Xmas tree, I give it a good shower outside.

I think a good washing knocks alot of pollen and other allergens off. I tend to not have allergy problems if the tree is rinsed off well before it is brought inside.

[JBoy]

8. Other "no shit" advice from this vegEinstein: buy as fresh a tree as you can.

[xchrom]

10. Yeah -- I've always watered mine with the same notion

That's what you do with cut flowers.

[provis99]

12. in other science news: Water is wet.

[Egnever]

14. Pretty sad statement on UW if you ask me

The idea that a "tree scientist" had to do a study to figure this out says lots more about the "tree scientist" than the study says about the obvious benefit of hydrating a tree.

My only hope is they didnt waste a lot of the universities money on this dumb ass "study"

[Obamanaut]

15. Wonder if that associate professor of forestry ever noticed that people

put cut flowers in water.

[Liberal_in_LA]

19. +1

[CrispyQ]

16. I have a friend who soaks her wreaths in the bathtub for a couple of hours.

She's swears by this.

I love the response above about sticking flowers in a vase without water. Spot on!

[Desertrose]

17. Duh. Do you put fresh flowers in water?

Or do you expect them to last in a dry vase?

DUH.

Water your tree...what can it hurt?

[Initech]

18. Higher education at work.

[blondeatlast]

20. Another astonishing study discovered that plants in the ground

like sun and water.

No, really! I'm not kidding.

http://www.gardenclub.net/Full_Sun.htm