Considering that most Hawai'i-bound Christmas trees are cut in early November, Deborah Bruns of Kane'ohe must surely hold the record for longest-surviving, half-dead holiday tree. She once kept hers green until Valentine's Day.

This would make Bruns a bonafide longevity expert. But the sales rep for Oregon-based tree grower Kirk Co. insists that preserving your tree is simple.

It's all about the water.

1. First thing you do when you get home with your tree is cut 1/2 inch to 1 inch off the bottom of the trunk and then quickly stand the tree in a bucket of water, Bruns said.

Don't delay, though. Five minutes might even be too long to wait after the cut, Bruns said.

By placing it in water, you'll prevent sap from sealing the trunk and thus allow the tree to continue drawing water and nutrients, she said.

"Continue to fill it up until the tree stops taking it," Bruns said. "Every day you check the tree in the morning and at night until it stops sucking it up."

But don't stop checking because you don't want to expose the trunk bottom.

"It will still go down and hopefully not from your cat," Bruns said.

2. Keeping the tree cool also will help. Don't display it in front of a picture window unless you can shield it during the day with curtains or blinds, she said.

If you don't protect your tree, the sun will bake it like a holiday ham.

And if you can help it, don't close every window in your home because that will limit cooling ventilation.

"Display it at night when you turn on your lights," she said. "... I keep my blinds closed, then at night I open them."

3. Some people like to use additives in their water that are said to preserve trees. Bruns sells them, but she doesn't use any herself.

"People have always put in aspirin and sugar," she said. "The only thing sugar will get you is ants. When I was a kid, my mom put aspirin in there. She's long gone, so I can't ask her if the tree had a headache."

Mainland growers shipped more than 150,000 trees to Hawai'i this holiday season — among them, 6- to 7-foot noble firs that range from about $49.90 to $99 and similarly sized Douglas firs that range from $36.90 to $50.

Kirk Co., which annually ships trees to as far away as South America, the Caribbean and Guam, sent more than 25,000 trees to the Islands.

But with Thanksgiving earlier than normal this year, they had to harvest their trees around Halloween. They kept the trees lush in weather that never got above 60 degrees and in shipping containers chilled to 35 degrees.

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.