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Original poster

Is anyone else's tree dropping like a bastard?

17 replies

MyNameForToday1980 · 20/12/2020 23:08

I'm not sure if this is normal, I cant remember another tree being this disastrously 'droppy'.

Standard 5.5ft Norwegian, in water (topped up regularly), near a radiator (unavoidable, we tried - but then again, that's where it is every year), we've had it just over a week.

What are my options? Can't move it (it'd be naked if we tried), maybe just keep layering decorations until it's basically a tree-skeleton mummified in tinsel? Spray it with hairspray? Or just keep the hand-vacuum next to it and keep DD away with threats and bribery?

Keep remembering the story of a great uncle who got a tree needle stuck behind he eye and didn't know for five years until ...(actually I don't know the end of the story, I just know it's gone down in family folklore).

OP posts:
Beecham · 20/12/2020 23:10

Yes. Hoovering daily.

AnneLovesGilbert · 20/12/2020 23:11

No. But we only got it last week.

Original poster
MyNameForToday1980 · 20/12/2020 23:19

Us too @Beecham us too - we've never been so tidy.

This tree is a bit of an asshole in general, DH went to get it with strict instructions to make sure it had a straight trunk (and not to buy a weird looking one because he felt sorry for it). And he came home with one with an S-bend in the trunk, so much so that it wouldn't fit into the stand - so we cackhandedly hacked the bottom four inches off on the kitchen table (with a bread knife, it's fair to say that we're not particularly handy). So by the time it got to the living room (by then 5ft tall) it was already mortally wounded.

I'd have thought losing the bottom inches would have helped with hydration... nope.

I think the only option is not to breathe within 6 inches of it. I'm dreading taking it out of the house, we're going to have to wrap it in some sort of tarpaulin.

OP posts:
Pipandmum · 20/12/2020 23:24

Turn the radiator off if you can.

HagenDaz · 20/12/2020 23:25

Fill it up with lemonade. I didn’t believe this until my tree started dropping needles. I found some old elderflower cordial in the fridge and put that in the water container. Hasn’t dropped a needle in over a week.

skippy67 · 20/12/2020 23:56

Mine is holding up really well. 3 weeks in and no needle drop at all. It's in a new spot this year too nearer the radiator.

Notanotherfreak · 20/12/2020 23:58

Mine is dropping like a bastard with lemonade. I’m going to have to push it out of the window after Xmas, I’m not having a ton of needles through my house! Disappointing!

RavingAnnie · 21/12/2020 00:04

We had this with a tree one year. Just think it was bad luck although I wouldn't buy from the same place again tbh. Didn't do anything different to normal and thought it would be bare by Christmas! Just had to not touch it! It was ok and held up but was constantly hoovering needles.

RavingAnnie · 21/12/2020 00:04

@HagenDaz

Fill it up with lemonade. I didn’t believe this until my tree started dropping needles. I found some old elderflower cordial in the fridge and put that in the water container. Hasn’t dropped a needle in over a week.
Good tip!
GlomOfNit · 21/12/2020 01:03

Mine's awful. To be fair I chose one that, on closer inspection at home, has lots of older brown growth at the bottom and inside, but there weren't many at all in our size range (we buy from a little local farm that does some trees on the side, they grow them). I did ask about the paler colour but got some flannel about variability. The thing has looked dead and dried since we go it out of its bucket of water and into the house last sunday. Sad I sawed off a few inches and kept it standing in water before bringing it in, and top up the water when it's neeeded. Putting ornaments on today created a constant shower of needles.

It's all very apt for 2020 so I'm not going to obsess about it.

DonkeyMcFluff · 21/12/2020 01:16

Norway spruce is less desirable because it drops needles. Lots of places pass them off as firs because people can’t tell the difference. This may be your problem?

DigitalChristmas · 21/12/2020 01:23

Turn off or at least turn down the radiator

HagenDaz · 21/12/2020 08:24

Mine is dropping like a bastard with lemonade. I’m going to have to push it out of the window after Xmas, I’m not having a ton of needles through my house! Disappointing!

Belvoir elderflower cordial, ready mixed, at a ratio of 1:8 with existing water. Can’t guarantee it but it worked for mine.

LazyFace · 21/12/2020 08:38

We turned the radiator off and it helped.

winterbabythistime · 21/12/2020 08:42

Mine is dropping a lot more. I'm assuming it's because we're home more so the heating is on more often.

SwanShaped · 21/12/2020 08:47

Yep. Every so often I hear a gentle tinkle as it drops more onto the presents.

January21 · 21/12/2020 08:51

Not only the radiator needs turning off but general house temperature needs to be lower

It’s a tree with a forest habitat usually with snow and frost coating it

Of course it will hate being in a centrally heated house and will slowly die

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