Potted Blue Spruce Care

[joe.lebaron]

The city of Chicago has a recycling program where if you turn in your old christmas tree to be run through the chipper, they give you a blue spruce sapling.

I want to grow mine inside (in an apartment) - but have no idea how to care for it. I have searched the internet and only find care instructions for outdoor trees.

The sapling is about 14" total length. The 'above ground' portion is

8" and the 'below ground' is 6". The roots came wrapped in a burlap cylinder about 1" diameter.

Here's what I have done so far (yesterday). I bought Miracle Grow Moisture Control Potting Mix and a 1 gallon plastic pot. I filled he pot with about 2" of potting soil and thouroughly soaked it. stood the plant up on top of that and added another 6" of potting soil around that. I slowly added a quart of water, letting it soak in, gently tamping down the soil, and then adding more soil to get back up to the

6". About twelve hours later it felt try so I added another pint of water.

The tree is in a window where it will get about 3 hours of direct sun a day and about 6 hours of indirect sun.

My first question is, "How much water is enough or too much?"

From there - Anything else I should do to promote growth?

[hob]

Blue spruce get 60+ feet high, and normally live in rocky and sandy soil in the mountains.

To minimize the fungus that makes them drop their needles and go bare at the bottom, they should be planted in a windy, open area -- preferably one that exposes them to -40 or so windchill a couple months a year - or you will need to spray it with a fungicide a couple times a year.

Growing one indoors? Use a small pot and keep it potbound. Rotate regularly. Don't overwater (let the soil get "almost dry" before re-watering).

imho...

>

[DaveT]

Basically all trees are outdoor trees. Some subtropicals live in climates enough like that inside our houses that they manage to survive.

Many temperate climate trees require a cold dormant period in their annual growth cycle. It is highly likely that a spruce will do a slow decline and die unless it gets outdoor sun levels and at least a few weeks of winter temperatures each year. If you have a small balcony you might have a better chance.

But try it, what have you got to lose.

DaveT