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Help with a Norfolk pine

10 years ago

So my mom gave me this Norfolk Island pine after the holidays. She didn't want it and was just going to toss it and of course I couldn't let that happen. So I added it to my small (just getting started) house plant assortment. I really love this beautiful plant and want to make sure I do everything I can to care for it properly so it has the best chance to grow healthy and stay around for a long time.
I've done some research and I do the best I can to meet its needs. It get partial non direct sun at least 2-3 hours out of the day, mostly morning sun light. I have it on a water routine watering every 5-7 days, depending on how dry the soil gets. I also mist with cool water every other day to every 2 days.
But I guess my main question is it's pot. It has room to drain and I empty any excesse water out after it's weekly watering. But I was wondering about repotting. I know to not over pot and to use a pot with good drainage and about 2 inches larger. But I've also read they're not so fond of being transferred and you should try to repot in the spring. I was wondering if this small pot will do until spring or if it would be okay to go ahead and repot now. And also if everything else Im doing to care for this guy sounds like a good routine.
Thanks so much for any help..
-A newbie house planter

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Comments (8)

Sohrab68
10 years ago
hi dude the repotting in this plant is not good. in every plant you must wait till the roots go out of hole of pot.this situation tell us to change the pot! most of plants for optimal growth needs to be root bounded and when you change the pots you give time to roots to grow and suspend the stem growth till the root reach an optimal growth.
GreenLove5
Original Author
10 years ago
I should probably just keep him in this little pot then, for now. I don't see any roots from the holes yet. But it just seems he's a bit wobly in this little pot. But I'll hold off on repotting until spring or when his roots seem better rooted :) thanks for the help sohrab!
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Here's my 2 cents: Contrary to other posters, I have a Norfolk Pine that is growing outside, in the shade, in the Arizona heat. That includes a distinct lack of any real humidity most of the time. Part of the year, yes, there is some humidity, but most of the year it's very low here. Exacerbate that with extremely high temps and one would consider this a climate that this particular tree could not survive in. I can only surmise the following for it's continued existence going on 4 years now: I planted it in the shade. I also planted it right next to the drain pipe for my central AC unit. Not intentionally, just that was the only place to put that tree left that I had out front of my house that was in the shade. We are in the "humid" time of the year here and the ground is saturated with water to the point of a small amount of standing water - which the tree is sitting in directly, water coming from that AC drain and I also have a drip irrigation system that is also watering it, lol. One would also think root rot, but again, the tree is healthy, with only a few brown spots where the sun has been able to hit it during the daytime.
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Repot it again. Put some gravel in the bottom of the pot and some on top to stablize the pot AND the plant.
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Thank you all so much! I guess I will just keep taking care of it the way I have and wait paitently for it to recover. I can't tell you all how mortified I have been. But am breathing a bit easier now knowing that it can still live. I don't care if it looks funny or has a lean kink or whatever to it. I just want it to be ok, and it seems like it might be now. Lots of tlc, light, good water, and feeding will keep it going. Thanks again!
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you might also benefit from visiting the houseplant forum ... where you might find a different crew of experts ... i dont understand why you repotted.. but used the same soil??? .. i would have used the same pot.. bleached out.. with new media i too would have checked it in the store.. or returned it ... but if its worth less than the gas and time to do such ... what a great experiment ... pre WWW thats how i learned a vast majority of what i know ... ken
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
10 years ago
I've got to disagree with the comment about roots coming out of the hole as a sign of repotting needed. Roots can be completely encircled, without sufficient medium and still not emerge from the drainage hole.

I'd simply lift the plant from the pot and examine the root ball, a simple procedure that won't harm it one single bit. That's the only way to tell.

This plant looks like an infant. How tall is it and what is the size of the container?
GreenLove5
Original Author
10 years ago
Hi thanks for your help rhizo. The plant is about 15-16 inches from the bottom of the pot to the highest tip on the plant. The pot itself is 4 inches. My mom said she received the plant as a gift from a coworker on dec 23. (Probably bought at Walmart or somewhere, it was in one of those cardboard boxes with "Charlie brown christmas tree" on it) also when I took it off my moms not so green thumbs it was just sitting in the box in a very wet baggy of water, obviously over watered. So on about dec 29 I removed it from that and put it into a small bowl to drain. Also didn't water it for about a week after that? Figured it had enough h2o.

Also, more question arise .. The more you post the more you learn :) ... What exactly should I be looking for in the root ball?
Thanks for all the help!
greentoe357
10 years ago
> What exactly should I be looking for in the root ball?

To snap a picture and post it here. :-) It's easier to advise once we see what's happening down there.
GreenLove5
Original Author
10 years ago
cool will do tonight when I find some spare time! Also tonight I'm planning to pick up a nice peace lily I found on craigslist! I'm super excited about this one :) But ill try to post that pic tonight.

Here is a link that might be useful: link to my new peace lily :)
teengardener1888
10 years ago
I can get on the computer link about the peace lily because it said(and is probally wrong) that "The page you are trying to browse to is categorized as "Pornography"

.............Im using a school computers and sometimes the messages are a mistake, sorry
GreenLove5
Original Author
10 years ago
Oh lol that's def not right! It's a Craigslist ad... Here I'll just post a pic from the add.

This is the lily I'm going to get tonight. Do you think it looks healthy?

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