Don’t Forget to Water Your Christmas Tree

Just bought your Christmas tree?  Gary A. Chastagner, a Washington State University scientist who has been doing Christmas tree research for 24 years, has a word of advice for you .  Don’t forget to water it because your Christmas tree stand probably doesn’t hold as much water as you think. “I suspect the biggest problem people have in caring for their tree is their stands don’t have adequate water-holding capacities,” Chastagner said. “Stands should hold one quart of water for each inch of stem diameter. If you have a four-inch diameter stem, you would want to have a stand that holds at least one gallon of water.” Boxes in which stands are packaged often indicate the volume of water the stands can hold, but that’s typically without the tree stem in it.  With many stands, their water-holding capacity is significantly reduced once a tree is placed in them. Chastagner said water additives and gadgets designed to deliver water directly to stems don’t significantly extend the life of the tree.

About 40 percent of the nation’s Christmas trees come from the Pacific Northwest. Oregon leads the nation with a harvest of 7.3 million trees in 2004. Washington is tied for fifth, with a harvest of 2 million trees. Chastagner, who is stationed at the WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center, conducts research on the management of diseases that affect the production of Christmas trees and factors affecting the trees after they are harvested. He can be reached 253.445.4528 or chastag@wsu.edu.