Sell it on Craigslist for $20

That seems a bit light to me. I was told it could be worth as much as $200. I don't plan to get rich off of it, but don't see the need to give it away either.

it is worth whatever the sucker you find is willing to pay for it ...

and it is worth to you ... letting someone else hoik it down the stairs ...

frankly.. i would give it away ... just to avoid carrying it down three stories ...

you are most likely entirely correct.. that it was left because it wasnt worth the work of moving it ..

in its native land ... norfolk island.. go figure on that.. these are telephone pole trees .. its just that they can take indoor light..and we all grow them as houseplants ... and they stay rather small in captivity ....

but that really doenst alter the fact.. that they can be very large trees ...

many might suggest craigs list.. or some such.. but i dont know if i would be inviting strangers into your my home .. and would probably just start cutting it into manageable pieces .. or send it airborne over the side.. lol ...

ken

You could be on to something, Ken. I always try to get a reasonable amount of money for things because it adds up over time. However, I might do 300 or 400 in damage to the side of my townhome if I try to hoist this over the side. There is no chance it is coming down the small stairs I have....it is too large.

Do you happen to know if I pull it out of the pot and shake off all the root bulb dirt if it would live for a few hours until it could be replanted. If I could get it out of the pot and shake off the heavy dirt I think I could cover it with garbage bags and hoist it over the side without damaging anything. If it has to stay in the pot there is no way...the whole deal weights probably 100 lbs or more.

why would it take hours to replant it??? ..

have all thing necessary to repot it immediately ..

but then you are investing money.. in a plant that i personally dont think it has any value ...

i would not repot it.. in the middle of summer .. especially if you have no experience ... and i suspect such.. based on your descriptive words ...

it is worth 200 IF YOU FIND SOMEONE WILLING TO GIVE YOU THAT .. i doubt you are going to be running across many interior designers who need that plant.. and if they did.. they would be shopping at a nursery ...

i wish you luck ... just trying to make sure your dreams are rooted in reality ... lol.. see what i did there ..

ken

I live in climate zone 10a, and there are a few houses in the neighborhood that have Norfolk pines in their yards, some are 30ft tall. They are not very common, but it is still notable because the types of trees that can grow well in this dry climate zone tend to be more limited. This is mostly a climate zone favorable to palms and monsoon jungle [dry tropical forest] plants. Coral trees and Peruvian pepper trees are common around here (though not native).

This one is located in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I don't see a lot of them in the area. I think I'm going to post it for 70 dollars on craigslist and see if anyone is interested.

jeesh ...

it is an extremely common houseplant ...

its value is as a houseplant... ...

else you would see them everywhere ... as you note ...

i would not expect that a 10 or 20 year houseplant.. will survive planted out in nature .. without extreme knowledge and care ... dont get me wrong.. it can be done .. but it wouldnt be easy ...

do lets us know how it works out.. at least i got you down into some reality at 70 bucks ... lol ..

btw.. its a conifer ... it would have cones some day. .. but not pine cones ... since it really isnt a pine ... as far as i know.. and with this plant.. i dont know a lot ... see link right side.. box with pix for fast info

ken

https://www.google.com/search?q=Norfolk+Island+Pine&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Why not keep it right where it is and enjoy??

Sowen - the wife doesn't like it. That means it has to go :-)

They are seen in S. Florida, but not as abundantly as you might think. I think I read something about them being vulnerable there to damage (don't remember if it was from wind or lightning damage). I had one taller than yours but had to give it up as it grew into the second story stage. I don't think that they are as valuable as you might expect because their growth is not that slow and are fairly common in the trade. There are a few species of Araucaria, only one is hardy where I live (Araucaria araraucana). I could kick myself because years ago, I passed up a nice sized specimen. Now, I rarely see them sold.

" I could kick myself because years ago, I passed up a nice sized specimen."

You passed on a specimen whose carcass you might have been digging out of the ground this week, when the record rains of early summer killed it. As I'm always saying, at least hundreds, probably thousands, of (expensive, usually) monkey puzzles have been planted by gardeners along the east coast since the 60s and before, and yet we hardly know of many mature specimens. I can't remember if you are on LI or in NJ, but either place should have plenty of mature specimens - as they do of other desirable, sufficiently-hardy collectibles of the 20th century like Sequoiadendron. Just in my random existence, not even involving contact with collectors of rare plants, I know of one in the neighborhood in Columbia, MD, where I briefly lived in the mid 2000s that was killed off by a wet spell one summer. I never even spoke to the person who owned it, I just noticed it prominently planted in their yard. It was 8' tall and had probably been there a few years, looked established and healthy one year but was gone the next. I once found a primary source/gardening journal in google books from the 1920s attesting to their difficulty in CONUS non-maritime climates! Specifically on Long Island IIRC.

It's pretty clear that in places with cool summers to their liking, winters are too cold, and where winters are sufficiently mild, summers are too hot. The one at Polly Hill Arboretum has supposedly died back a few times, to the trunk. (that's just what their website once said about it: seems a bit implausible to me but the take home message is: was probably planted decades ago, yet is not a mature specimen even in that somewhat benign climate. NB the Fairweather guys claimed to have found a huge Austrocendrus on Cape Cod or the islands, which would have been the only one of the east coast)

The known US east coast ones over 25' are: The Barnes Arboretum (who also had the horticultural savvy to bring the northernmost Sequoia on the east coast to maturity: the key for both probably just leaving them alone and not "feeding" them), the one in Bethesda MD that survived <<0F in 1994, and one at an old estate in Wilmington, DE, that was cut down for "not looking English enough." (the best of all possible anecdotes concerning the overall idiocy of most people who practice so-called "landscape architecture" in this country)

There seems to be an anomalously high number of at least medium-term survivors in Silver Spring, MD, and the person who pointed them out to me agreed that the well-drained, well-aerated mica/schist soil there, for which the actual spring is named, might have something to do with it. But, again, someone like Fred Huette was certainly planting them in the sandy soils of Norfolk/VA Beach in the 60s-70s, and there are no huge ones down there. If the one at the Norfolk zoo lasts a few more years, and I certainly hope it does, then we can say they have a chance of being permanent in that climate. But I really suspect heavy, prolonged rains associated with hurricanes probably help phytophthora knock them out every 10-15 years.

You guys all have been extremely helpful. I went from not knowing anything to feeling like an expert :). I'm well equipped to make a good decision of what to do with the tree now.

Your Norfolk pine has a poor yellowish green color with some browning, is in a small utilitarian looking pot - you may have trouble getting others to see it as something worth top dollar.

FWIW-and this is probably not a great deal, lol-S. Florida is the place to see NIP transplanted from the houseplant world into the landscape proper. That said, I'm not so sure it is proper to have one of these things shoot up to 90 feet tall in just a few years.....right next to your beachside bungalow! I like seeing them down there, but I don't live there, don't have to worry about the next big blow off the gulf (or ocean side for that matter) and don't have to pay an arborist (or do it myself) when the one in my fictitious yard needs to be taken down. Cool plants but they are notoriously prone to whole-tree failure in hurricanes. The residents of Sanibel Island would corroborate that thought, I do believe.

+oM

My wife just loves the Norfolk Island pine. We were able to get our hands on two very nice 12 foot trees, I believe they came from Southern Florida. They're planted in a good sunny area with protection from the north but not from the west. They've grown very nicely through the summer. We're in zone 9, Orlando. I understand that this area is "just not right" for this tree. However, we see many, many in and around Orlando, from 10 feet tall to 50 feet tall that have clearly made it through several winters. Everyone that I've that spoken to and everything that I've read on the web indicates that they just simply won't tolerate a freeze. Anyone have any experience with these in Central Fl. Any ideas how to protect them, short of building a complete shelter around them? Thanks

i really dont see where your new question has anything to do with the old post

there is probably a FL forum ... and talk with your county extension office

ken

Thanks, I'm new to Houzz and very confused as to how and where to post specific questions, that is, what's the proper etiquette and posting guidelines, sorry if I offended you or infringed on your time by posting this question here. I saw the thread entitled "10-12 foot Norfolk Island Pine" and followed that, it sounded like a question about MY 10-12 foot Norfolk Island Pine might be related to the "old post" on "10-12 foot Norfolk Island Pine."

The extension service answer is "don't grow Norfolk Island Pine" in Orlando." But as I said that's the general consensus but there a lot of them in the area growing successfully???

John, just very briefly, I have seen "lots" of them in the S Florida area, all the way from Miami to SW Florida. The do have their issues down there. Extremely vulnerable to storm wind damage or outright failure. But they grow very tall very quickly, so there's always a few around. But again, I don't know about your area, this is further south.

+oM