Charlie Brown isn’t the only character to end up with a Christmas tree that sprinkles its needles like rain.
Up to one-third of the six million trees per year cut during the great Canadian Christmas tree harvest every autumn end up losing almost all their needles before even getting to market, industry research shows.
But a combined team of researchers from Quebec and Nova Scotia thinks it has found a high-tech way to slash that waste of trees by disarming the chemical trigger, ethylene, which causes it.
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“The discovery of ethylene evolution in root-detached balsam fir and characterization of the effects of ethylene action inhibitors could have a significant practical application in Christmas tree and greenery industries,” according to an article in the journal,Trees,which reported the scientific breakthrough.
But before the industry rushes into employing a chemical solution, the executive director of the Canadian Christmas Tree Growers Association hopes tannenbaum farmers focus on good practices and selective breeding.
“We don’t want to add any chemical,” said Lewis Downey, who farms near Sherbrooke, Que.
“We prefer to grow it the best way we can – naturally.”
Needle shedding has always been a prickly problem for the Christmas tree industry, but it has grown in severity in recent years as Canadian farmers have cut trees earlier to ship as far as the Caribbean.
If ethylene inhibitors can be introduced to the trees, their needle loss rate should be well controlled, researchers from the University of Laval and Nova Scotia Agricultural College concluded.
However, Downey thinks much of the problem will disappear with the continuation of selective breeding of tree lines.
It is a slow process, because trees multiply at a snail’s pace, but eventually Christmas tree needles will benefit from exactly the same sort of crop science that has made prairie grains and oilseeds rugged, vibrant crops.
“We prefer to improve the genetics of the tree so that the balsam will have a better retention of the needle,” said Downey.
And he said most of the problem with shedding needles comes from sloppy practices by some producers, who chop down trees too early.
“We recommend people buy from reputable dealers, not the fly-by-nights,” said Downey.
“Most growers who respect their quality and respect their retailers … won’t do anything to undermine that quality.”
