11/22/2024
We cannot stress enough the IMPORTANCE of watering your 'fresh cut tree' this season. Everyone is aware of the drought, and even though field trees can handle this type of drought, that does not mean they are full of water (in contrast to LAST year, when we had rain every weekend in the Fall.... ). Field trees (from ANY Massachusetts farm) are NOT going to be fully hydrated, regardless of what some Farmers might say. The truth is, they are going to be dry when you cut them.
SO... they are going to need to go home with you with a fresh cut on the trunk, and then get put into a 5-gallon BUCKET with HOT WATER. Tap-HOT, not boiling. A spaghetti boiling pot will work well too.
Then, when you put your tree up, move it from that bucket directly into your tree stand, and then water every single day, checking every 6 hours or so the first few days. Your tree will probably drink a TON of water as it rehydrates (and YES, it WILL rehydrate in your home if you water it!!)
We just put our tree up yesterday, and have gone through 2 QUARTS of water (I've been measuring it) in 18 hours. The tree looks AWESOME, it definitely is very happy about the water.
One last comment. We are getting over an inch, possibly 2, of rain today. THIS WILL HELP hydrate the trees!! Yes, this is going to be beneficial. So, we are thrilled at the forecast. And our trees are too!!