Norfolk Island Pine

Oct 06, 2006 8 Replies

I life in the Boston Area. I have a Norfolk Island Pine tree that my wife gave me 30 years ago. It is getting too tall for my house. It is now about 5 ft tall. I keep it on my porch in the summer and the basement in winter. I'm not sure what to do with this plant when it gets too tall to move around and too tall for my house. Any sugesstions? I don't wnat to get rid of it. M



wow, maybe your doctor or dentist or company would like it for the waiting area. maybe your Church would like it. Then at least you'd get to see it occasionally.

Carl

....or a hospital with a big lobby, and plenty of sun.

I am astounded that it is still so small, it must be quite bonsaied. I had one in a tub that grew to 10 ft in 5 years and I had to give it away. They grow to 100ft in the wild.

David

Hi, Araucaria heterophylla, aka Norfolk Island Pine can be air layered or even grown from a terminal cutting. If successful you'd have two smaller ones, if not one smaller one. It is a slow process and a basement in Boston probably is not the spot to try it, wait till spring. HTH -_- how no NEWS is good

As a bonsai hobbyist myself, I'd say that if you want to keep it you can prune it back to a size you like. You also might want to repot it and whack off about a third of the roots.

Trees don't have to be any taller than you want them.

Me too. I learned late that they can be topped. Still a spindly 6 ft. mess. One of these days, I'll talk wife into tossing. They are not endangered species ;) Frank

I'm lost hre. What is "air layered" mean. Do I ct off the top and try to root it?

In brief, you make a cut in the thick stem of an overgrown house plant at the spot where you want the new "bottom" (roots) of the plant to be. You wrap the cut area with sphagnum moss, moisten it, and then enclose the area with plastic wrap until roots grow. I don't recall if you use rooting hormone with some plants. Go to Google and search for "air layering norfolk island pine" - you'll get plenty of results.

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