Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

Magnolia — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 04:46:36 GMT

Its good to be informed. Mold does cause problems for some people. I use an air filter with a HEPA rating, place the tree in the front room of the house, which stays rather cold and very dry at this time of year. Of course you must water the tree to prevent it drying out or it will be a much bigger fire hazard.

If you are allergic, by all means, take the tree out, but also consider investigating the true cause of your allergy. Mold or pollen is just a trigger, pointing to a system that is under stress in some way. Your naturepath should be able to test you and give your body the proper support it needs.

Enjoy your holiday, everyone! Trees are just an old tradition. Who says we have to follow tradition. Why not introduce some new ways to decorate? And share your ideas with us!

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

cptdano — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:41:44 GMT

With all your gathered wisdom you can't offer a single holistic idea to at least reduce mold spores? Granted they remain hard to kill, but they're not immune. Keeping a room in a proper range of humidity and choosing the freshest tree possible would at least be suggestions to improve the standing of a fresh tree. Falling back to plastics which inherently have their own risks is a cop out. It only adds to the media style hype of much of your site to fall back on pointless headlines that ultimately just plug your merchandise.

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

MomShap — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:09:15 GMT

I'm generally a very positive person, but the above commentary following the informative article (and you can do what you want about the contents of that!) seems to be a shameless plug for the sale of merchandise from this website. I've gotta say "tsk tsk" on that one. I have had both, real and artificial trees. I like the smell of pine. I don't like vacuuming up the needles.The article did make me wonder if some of my son's early sniffles during Christmas might have been caused by the whole mold issue. It's great to be made aware that this can be a source of allergic reaction, and then that's it. To tag on a "So buy some of my stuff" is kind of insulting. Don't worry - I'm an avid Mercola fan, but, come on. It's Christmas. Let's hang the garlands and string the lights and have a healthy, happy, somewhat less commercial celebration if that's possible. Merry Christmas to Uncle Russ, Islander, and all the Mercola-ites who keep my life more interesting. You guys are always amazing.

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

Perka — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 19:59:21 GMT

Re: "5. Hang all ornaments that are breakable, have small, detachable parts, or that look like food or candy on higher branches where small children can't reach them."

I hung candy canes up high where my 5-year-old son couldn't reach them. He climbed the eight foot tree to get them and tipped it over on himself!

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

ccrider2 — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:43:07 GMT

Might be some thing to this! At least it is for me. When I was a child, many years ago, I was always sick with a respiratory infection every year during the Christmas holidays. My doctor told my mom that I might be allergic to tree pollen. She bought an artificial tree, and I was never again sick for Christmas.

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

Lex_203 — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:57:38 GMT

The last thing we need to promote is the additional use of plastic, and the CO2 production involved in ANYTHING! Find a more natural solution!

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

lauraden — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:40:32 GMT

Why don't we just all buy fake, plastic trees instead of using a real tree? I know Christmas only comes once a year - but is it really worth cutting down a tree just so that we can all stare at it for a month? Isn't that a very non-environmental friendly thing to do?

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

terrima — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 08:50:07 GMT

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Most trees are cut far in advance and stored in a moist environment to keep them fresh, and then you place it in water for a couple of weeks while in your home. This container of stagnant water and the moist tree trunk can contribute to the increase in mold spores.

*Terri here - My mom really wants a fresh tree this year. So my question is: Does anyone think it'd help curtail possible health problems, if we "daily" changed the water in the tree stand, keeping it from getting stagnant? (Moma is allergic to mold, for which she gets weekly shots...and Daddy has numerous diabetic-related health issues, so I'm assuming he's got a compromised immune system.)

Also: I've seen potted Rosemary Trees, grown in Christmas tree shape, at our local grocery chain.

Would this be better choice than the usual pine or fir, allergywise?

Another Thought: How about purchasing a fresh tree from a "Chop-Your-Own-Tree" Tree Farm, (since it hasn't been in a moist storage environment like the trees shipped and sold pre-cut), then take it home and change water in tree stand "daily" to avoid stagnant water? And isn't there some kind of tree spray, applied before decorating, giving protection from allergies?

Thanks for your help, Terri.

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

Haras — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 05:48:54 GMT

I have a big fig (decorative fig/ficus not the type that produces the edible fruit) tree in a big pot that I've been pruning and training into a Christmas tree shape for about the last 5 years. I bring it inside two weeks before Christmas and decorate it up.

Everyone who see's it comments on how beautiful it is and what a good idea it is. It loses a few leaves during it's two weeks indoors but figs are incredibly hardy and it's back to normal a few weeks after being returned to it's outdoor spot for the next 11.5 months.

Fig trees are cheap, especially if you buy them small. A small, sparse tree will turn into a thick luscious tree in no time if it's in a big enough pot and given plenty of fertiliser. You can prune them into whatever shape takes your fancy. The key is to start shaping them young and continuing to maintain the shape if you want it to look thick and luscious.

I have a friend who's now done a similar thing with a Box hedge in a pot and it looks amazing pruned into a cone shape and decorated.

A living tree produces negative ions, absorbs radiation. There is no mould to worry about and figs and box hedge (as far as I know) are low allergy and produce no pollen. You can also enjoy them all year round!

Sarah

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

Zeldaskitten — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 03:33:17 GMT

what about how harmful artificial trees are for the environment? i dont believe that mercola would condone getting fake trees. at least not plastic ones..

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

karrus — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:34:48 GMT

Dr. Mercola's article is so true! When my son was about 3 years old we started buying live trees. Every time he would be sick at Christmas, and I mean really sick. It took me a couple of years to figure it out. The third year when I realized it was the tree, the tree was thrown in the back yard 2 days before Christmas. Never again. We have been putting up the artificial tree ever since then with every one having a great, sick free holiday. Happy Holidays everyone!!

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

Maj_203 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 01:58:28 GMT

The fact that the mold count didn't begin increasing until the third day after the tree was brought into the house indicates to me that the problem is not actually the tree, itself.

I would be willing to bet that if the experiment was repeated using a large vase of flowers, you'd get similar results - not because the flowers or the tree bring mold, but because the relatively warm standing water in the vase or Christmas tree stand fosters mold growth.

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

FeeBird — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 18:35:49 GMT

My God... X-mas comes once a year....just enjoy your tree for the 2 weeks it's there and don't worry!!!
Can't really enjoy anything these days without someone making some bid deal over nothin'. Nothing better than waking up in the morning and smelling that wonderful smell of a beautiful douglas fir!!!!

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

GreenApple — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:25:24 GMT

I believe that Mold affects more like 99 percent of the population. Doug Kaufmnan has a health show on TV in which he talks about Mold and Fungus causing disease. Using what I learn from Dr. Mercola and Doug I have improved my health beyond what I ever thought possible.

Steve

re: Are Christmas Trees a Source of Indoor Mold?

mmc88121 — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 18:45:13 GMT

If people want a Christmas tree they are going to get one. Mold or not, this just states their might be problems if you are sensitive to mold.

Mary