christmas tree not taking water

Question

I am hoping that someone can assist. We bought a tree last Saturday at the local Home Depot. It was wrapped up in string so you couldn’t see what the tree looked like. But from the outside it looked nice and green and seemed like a nice tree. We got it home, put a fresh cut on it about 4 hours later, taking approx. 1/2″ off, and got it in the stand and in water about 3 hours later after the fresh cut. We had to trim some bottom branches to get it to fit in the stand but it seemed good. After filling the bottom of the stand with water all the way up to the top, I realized after a few days it wasn’t really going down. The tree smelled great after opening it up, smelled fresh, and when I pulled the needles not many came out. However, it’s still not drinking water. It’s been in the stand for almost a week now and I have only filled the water once. All of my trees in the past have guzzled the water the first few days. I noticed last night that the needles seem to be dry on the inside of the tree, about the first 1/4 or less of the branch, but the rest of the tree seems fine. I’m not sure what to do but it’s not drinking water and I don’t want it to completely dry out when we we still have a few weeks to go before Christmas!

I’ve read the article that was posted on the site on what to do if the tree isn’t drinking, but we’ve done all that too and still no luck.

Answer 1

I wonder if the tree was sprayed with something at Home Depot before you bought it.
Since your tree was drinking some water initially, I'm guessing the bottom didn't completely dry out. However, maybe it partially sealed with sap during the three hours between the cut and getting it into water, so that only a small amount of water can get in. In that case, unfortunately, you would have to cut the bottom again.