Make Your Own Christmas Tree Preservative

If you add tree or floral preservative when you water your Christmas tree it really will extend its life. It's easy and inexpensive to make your own solution, rather than buy a commercial product. There are several 'recipes', all using common household ingredients. In addition to water, they include three basic components: a food source for the plant, an acidifier to reduce the pH of the water (helps the tree absorb water and food), and a disinfectant to prevent the growth of algae, fungus, and bacteria.

Now... some recipes call for mixing bleach and vinegar, which I really don't recommend. However, at the low levels of bleach used in tree preservative, you should be ok, as long as you make the solution in a well-ventilated room and add only a small quantity of bleach to the solution (don't mix it directly with vinegar or lemon juice). Adding a penny to the solution, instead of bleach, is one alternative some people use.