Water treeing t e s t s were performed on low density polyethylene (LDPE) and four different binary blends of sharp linear polyethylene (LPE) fractions (M, = 2500 and 76000), which were e i t h e r quenched in air from the melt or isothermally crystallized at 123'C. Although the morphology and initial mechanical properties of the materials tested were significantly different, the v e n t e d tree g r o w t h characteristics were similar for all of them. This is in disagreement w i t h the electromechanical models of w a t e r treeing, which correlate w a t e r tree g r o w t h w i t h the f r a c t u r e toughness of the material. Time to breakdown distributions were also similar for both LDPE and the b i n a r y LPE blends, which indicates that, regardless of the initial material morphology and the a c t u a l s t r u c t u r e of w a t e r trees, the length of w a t e r trees is one of the controlling factors in insulation failure. The visible light image of w a t e r trees in LPE blends did not disappear upon drying a s it usually does in LDPE and crosslinked polyethylene insulation.