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Following
is information shared by Extension educators in the horticulture
program to help you in the process of selection through care.
Selection
•
Buy Christmas trees early in the season.
•
Consider purchasing Christmas trees from a choose-and-cut farm.
•
The sooner you can get the tree home to a constant source of water,
the fresher it will stay.
•
Fresh trees should have pliable needles, a fresh evergreen aroma and
firm needle retention.
Transportation
•
Protect the tree on the drive home. Wind rushing through the tree
can cause it to lose valuable moisture.
•
Cover trees tied on top of the car or in an open trunk.
Preparation
•
If you won't be putting the tree in its stand right away, store it
in a place out of the wind and freezing temperatures. Make a fresh
cut on the butt by removing 1" of the trunk and place in fresh
water.
•
Remove 1 inch of the stump when bringing the tree indoors.
•
Immediately place the tree into a stand that holds at least one-half
gallon of water.
Location
•
Avoid standing the tree in front of large windows that expose it to
sun and heat.
•
Avoid placing near furnace register vents and fireplaces. This
exposes the tree to heat that leads to rapid moisture loss.
Watering
•
Keep the water level above the base of the cut at all times. Check
water level daily.
•
A fresh tree will use one-half to two gallons of water the first day
it’s brought inside.
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article]
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•
A fresh tree may soak up a quart or more of water per day.
•
If the cut base dries out, the sap will harden and the tree will not
take up any more water.
•
Water additives such as aspirin, sugar or flame retardant are not
necessary.
Safety
If
you have made a fresh cut on the base and the tree no longer takes
up water, it has lost moisture below a critical level and will never
regain its freshness. Remove this tree from the house. A tree in
this condition will burn.
Horticulture
websites
Horticulture
is everyone’s agriculture. To help you keep up on some of the
current information, here are several links to University of
Illinois websites:
The
Solutions Series is designed to provide information on topics in
foods and nutrition, consumer and family economics, as well as
horticulture. Sources of information include the University of
Illinois, United States Department of Agriculture and other land
grant universities.
http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~robsond/
solutions/solutions.html
For
a copy of the Home, Yard & Garden Pest Newsletter, click on http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/cespubs/hyg/
The
Hort Corner has lots of good information: http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/hort/index.html
Kids
Link has horticulture information for children: http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/kids/index.html
[John
Fulton]
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October
weather wrap-up
and a look at November
[NOV.
12, 2001] "October
2001 was the third-wettest October on record in Illinois since 1895,
with some severe weather and cooler temperatures than average.
August to October also was the ninth-wettest three-month period, and
May-October was the 17th-wettest six-month period,"
says state climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water
Survey (http://www.sws.uiuc.edu),
a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
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According
to the division’s records, precipitation was well above average in
October: 6.58 inches compared to an average of 2.78 inches. Monthly
totals were highest at Paris (9.87 inches) and Olney (9.75 inches).
Temperatures
were 1.5 degrees cooler than the 55-degree average for October in
Illinois. Brownstown reported the warmest reading, 87 degrees on
Oct. 2, and Freeport reported the coldest reading, 13 degrees on
Oct. 17.
Thunderstorms
in northwestern Illinois resulted in at least 22 reports of hail,
ranging in size from 0.25 to 1.75 inches, on Oct. 23. More severe
weather on Oct. 24 resulted in 43 reports of hail, 14 reports of
wind damage and a confirmed tornado in Monticello, with no deaths or
serious injuries reported. Long-term records show that only 1
percent to 2 percent of tornadoes in Illinois occur in October.
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article]
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"Cool,
wet conditions in October were good for replenishing soil moisture
but did slow down harvest operations and construction. November
temperatures are typically much cooler, with average highs from the
mid-40s (north) to the mid-50s (south) and average lows from the
upper 20s (north) to the upper 30s (south). Average November
precipitation ranges from 2.8 inches (north) to 4.4 inches (south).
Heating degree days measure heating demand and range from 800 degree
days (north) to 550 degree days (south). This month there’s also a
high likelihood of seeing the season’s first measurable snowfall,
with monthly averages ranging from 2.5 inches (northwest) to 0.5
inches (far south)," says Angel.
[Illinois
State Water Survey news release]
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Results
from local commercial corn plot
[NOV.
12, 2001] The
chart below is provided by John Fulton of the University of Illinois
Extension.
2001
Logan County Commercial Corn Plot
University
of Illinois Extension, State Bank of Lincoln, Fort Trust Farms, and
Scott Wurth, and participating seed companies cooperating
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[NOV.
14, 2001] A
yearling ewe owned by Aaron Steffens of rural Lincoln was named
reserve grand champion ewe of the 2001 National Hampshire Show held
in conjunction with the North American International Livestock
Exposition in Louisville, Ky., on Monday, Nov. 12.
In
August, the same ewe had been named champion Hampshire ewe at the
Illinois State Fair.ce
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