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Looking for Help Identifying Jelly Substance on Cut Fir

chessanne_kchessanne_k Posts: 3
edited December 2021 in Problem solving
Evening.

I was wondering if anyone could kindly help identify the red-ish substance that has developed overnight on my cut Nordmann Fir tree, please? It is not sticky in the slightest, more resembling a jelly substance. 

We get our Christmas tree from the same farm every year and have never had this issue before. To our knowledge (though, our observational skills have been known, on occasion, to be somewhat lacking), the substance wasn't there the day before. We kept the tree outside overnight in a bucket filled with tap water. I did put some freshly squeezed lime juice in the water too so, having never done that before (and only doing it this time on the advice of a friend who read it somewhere once and now swears by it...), I am not sure if that has had any effect. 

If anyone can kindly identify this and even more kindly offer advice as to what (if anything) I need to do to treat the tree in order to ensure that it lasts as long as possible over Christmas, I would sincerely appreciate it. Thank you ever so much.

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Central Norfolk UKPosts: 79,377
    Hello and welcome to the forum :)

    We’ll need to see a photograph. Click on the little landscape icon to upload a pic. If it doesn’t upload reducing the size usually works. 
    “I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh







  • FairygirlFairygirl west central ScotlandPosts: 47,179
    Have you got a photo? It's quite difficult to determine anything without one.  :)
    Bark on fir trees of any kind can produce resin, so it may just be that.
    It's unlikely your tree will have any problems though, as long as it's kept wet when indoors.
    There's no need to add anything to the water either, but it's always a good idea to saw another bit off the bottom of the trunk when you get trees home, to get the best uptake.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....


  • chessanne_kchessanne_k Posts: 3
    Sorry for the missing pictures. I had meant to attach them to my post, but had a momentary lapse in memory when pressing the send button. They should be there now 🙂
  • FairygirlFairygirl west central ScotlandPosts: 47,179
    No problem - sometimes they take a while to appear  :)
    I think that's just a bit of fungus and wouldn't cause any problem. I wouldn't be worried if it was mine  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....


  • FireFire North LondonPosts: 15,609
    Slime mould?
  • AthelasAthelas CambridgeshirePosts: 645
    edited December 2021
    Some kind of jelly fungus? It may have already been there and absorbed water from the bucket so now it’s more visible.

    https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/fungus-lichen/jelly-fungi-on-trees.htm

    As @Fairygirl said, it’s probably not an issue.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Leicestershire, UKPosts: 11,337
    I also think it's a (harmless) slime mould, which is feeding on the sap released after cutting.  Appearing overnight is what they do.  A fascinating form of life.

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • chessanne_kchessanne_k Posts: 3
    edited December 2021
    Thank you for the kind responses, they've helped massively. I am a little less panicked now that I know it's not going to be harmful for us to have it indoors. And, I know that cut trees are now considered better for the environment than plastic (and the farm that we get it from grows new life in the place of the 'fallen'), but I still felt a twinge of horror and guilt when it looked like our tree was bleeding from it's wounds! It is great to know that it is life growing upon the tree instead.

    Anyway, tree is in it's stand and seems to be doing okay thus far (🤞). 

    I hope that you all have a lovely festive period. 😊
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