posted by Gertie 12-08-102 11:22 AM
A local radio station (WQSR - Baltimore)
Christmas Tree Fire Proofing
2 cups of Karo syrup
2 ounces of liquid chlorine bleach
2 pinches of Epsom salt
1/2 teaspoon of Borax
1 teaspoon of chelated iron
Hot water
You can purchase the Karo syrup, Borax and liquid chlorine bleach from your supermarket. The Epsom salt can be purchased from the drug store and the chelated iron (pronounced key-lated) can be purchased from a garden shop or plant store.
Mix your fireproofing ingredients listed above. Fill a two-gallon bucketwith hot water to within one inch of the top and add the ingredients. Stir thoroughly, dissolving ingredients. Put to side.
With a saw, take your recently-purchased Christmas tree and make a fresh cut at the base on the tree trunk. Cut an inch off the base of the tree. Try to make a level cut.
Immediately stand the trunk of the tree in the solution and leave for 24 hours.
Keep the remaining solution. Place your tree in a tree stand that contains a well where liquids can be poured.
When the tree is in its final resting place, use a plastic cup to pour solution from the bucket into the tree well. Fill the well.
Every day without exception, the well of the tree stand must be "topped up" with the solution from the two-gallon bucket.
Follow these simple directions and your tree should be fireproofed. It may save your home and family from those fire tragedies we hear about around the holidays.
If you're curious, after Christmas when you remove your tree, snap off a branch and try to set it on fire, outdoors.
How does the solution work?
In a nutshell, the Karo syrup provides the sugar necessary to allow the base of the tree to take up water. Up to 1.5 gallons of water can be taken up by the tree over a two-week period. Boron in the Borax allows the tree to move the water and sugar out to every branch and needle in your tree. Magnesium compounds in the Epsom salt and iron from the chelated iron provide essential components for the production of chlorophyll which will keep the tree green. The bleach prevents mold from forming in your solution.
Some of the other beneficial side effects of this procedure are that the needles will not drop and you will notice an increase in natural pine fragrance. Have a safe and happy holiday!