Yes, that's the key... you don't want to cut them below their lowest living branches or you risk death. I've had a potted one for 18 years now. It was cut back once about 10 years ago to a height of 2 feet (by accident; it was in transit in the car and overheated so some of the top growth was killed). Its currently 4 1/2 feet tall, so that's 2 1/2 feet in 10 years (or one new whorl ever year and a half). I keep it just happy enough to stay alive and grow slowly but not so happy that its gone bonkers. The unfortunate thing is that its lost the living branches as far up on the trunk as 2 1/2 feet so that's as low as I can cut it the next time I need to. Though, at this rate that won't be for a while.

Thanks for the quick reply! Perhaps. It’s hard to tell in the first photo but the tree is in partial shade. We’ve actually taken it outside every year to give it a boost and never had a problem. we've found it actually helped to strengthen the trunk because it had to fight the wind just a little. It really started having issues after repotting which happened about 2 weeks after that photo. She’s on little rollers now so we’re able to move her to the shade easier. My dad just confessed that he didn’t repot well enough and the poor thing fell over during the night and spilled a lot of soil. Not sure it’s related.

To KW: "How did roots look when repotted? Looking at original picture before moving it I think I see some yellowed branches - were they cut off? Is this pot just a bit larger than original? Is tree getting same, less or more light in its new home?" Answering those questions: I did not repot it yet so I don't know how the roots look. If there were yellow branches in the first picture, then they were removed. I don't know about the light received in its previous home. The people just wanted to get rid of it and weren't helpful in giving information about care. Right now it is facing east and is situated by a sliding door. I thought my daughter could put it outside on the balcony, but she said it didn't fit through the sliding doors! I didn't repot the plant yet because I wasn't getting the measurements of the pot in order to figure out what size pot I had to have for the repot. It's on the to do list! To getgoing: That makes sense---that not enough water tends to make the lower leaves drop or yellow. I've seen that with my other tropical plants. It could very well be that this plant has not been fertilized! And I know that my daughter has not fertilized the plant since she's had it. I will get her some fertilizer! I suppose there could be a build up of salts. I don't know if it was regularly fertilized. But a repot would help get rid of the salts. Because of the size of the plant, it is difficult to flush it with water. I wanted to repot the plant out on the balcony, but my daughter says the plant won't fit through the door! To Rebecca: I am glad to hear that the plant is easy to grow and that you have two large ones growing well! Interesting that you are growing the plant in 511. The plant my daughter has is definitely not in anything porous like that! It may well be that it hasn't been repotted for a very long time too. I have not repotted that plant yet, so it is in a pot that the previous owners had. I also think the pot looks rather small. It is helpful to know how often you water your plant, but I also have to wonder if your media requires you to water more often? I agree that my daughter should use the tell method to see if the pot is wet or dry at the bottom. As for making 511, I am wanting to put together this media for some of my perennials too. I have asked questions on the Container Forum but no one is there to answer my questions! I am trying to put together the ingredients and want to make sure I do it right!

Many, many people for the past century have had one 'for several winters now' in the eastern US. Number of ones known to have gotten to coning size: maybe 3. Good luck! Not disparaging your efforts - just hoping people are realistic with their expectations when a plant is being sold for >> $100 which they almost always are. Hybrid between parana pine and monkey puzzle are much more promising for us, given that at least one parana pine survived -3F in Texas during the recent megafreeze: that doesn't mean it's going to be zone 7 east coast hardy, but it does mean it's not going to contribute genes causing cold sensitivity as badly as people probably once thought.