Funny it's leafing out already - must be the latitude. Or it has been forced by being inside somewhere for a long enough period of time to bring this on.

Apart from usual basic potted tree considerations of keeping it watered and fertilized you might want to stick it where the pot will be shaded during hot weather.

So the roots don't cook.

If you move it on to larger containers in a timely manner each time this appears due it will be less vulnerable as the pots get bigger.

Cold should never be a problem for it there.

If you find your Sunset Climate Zone in the Sunset Western Garden Book you can see where they think this tree will grow, relative to where you are. If you are well outside what they consider the suitable area then there may be some aspect of the general environment there that is going to make keeping this tree going problematic.

Up here the comparatively soft winters apparently make it a good place for aphids and mites that attack spruces, resulting in numbers of shabby looking examples of Colorado spruce in the local planted landscape. And your winter climate down there isn't even frosty.

If it's going to be kept in a container permanently then you'll need to periodically root prune the tree when it outgrows the pot or eventually the tree will decline.

Thanks! So for now I shouldn't do anything specific... And I'm a little confused with fertilizers cause those little green slow releasing fertilizer balls seems to stay in the ground long after releasing all they have(from what I've read) ... This type of fertilizers pretty new for me. It seems pretty nice though. Fun part - I do not know when this fertilizer was applied. It's long lasting, can work for half a year... So, should I add it in Spring no natter what? I've dig a little and found this fert. balls in the ground, not only on surface...

Also I've noticed some disturbing sight: drying on the top. But I've bought it like this

Thanks! I'll hope for the best. Jeah, I am worried about this yang growth early in a winter. Read that it's important to freeze the tree for couple weeks. Now I can't do that

I'm afraid this little guy is just not gonna hang around in very good condition for you for any length of time. If you live in a coastal zone 10 in SoCal, you are in a Sunset zone 23 or 24 and Picea pungens is not recommended for Sunset zones above 17. This is a plant that needs some temperature extremes to thrive - hot, dry and sunny in summer and quite cold in winter - and you just can't provide those conditions. And these will be even harder to duplicate in a container.

My suggestion is to just enjoy it for this season as long as possible and do not be surprised when it begins to go downhill, as it will do given sufficient time. If using indoors for a Christmas tree, keep inside for the shortest time possible in the coolest possible location and provide adequate water. Move out to your balcony as quickly as you can.

Brown tip on new growth normal for this. However significant browning of older needles already evident not a good sign. If you look with a magnifier you may even find bugs.

Plant it in a bigger pot when you can.

Read that it's important to freeze the tree for couple weeks.

==>>> do not put it in the freezer .. lol ...

it needs a cold dormant period ... it had it.. or it wouldnt be budding out now

many such plants.. are kep dormant.. in cold storage ... then potted up and FORCED out of season for sale at the appropriate holiday ...

up here in MI e.g. .... easter can still have snow on the ground some years ... yet they are selling all the easter flowers in bloom .. and most of them are summer plants in reality ...

if you wanted a long lived houseplant.. as an xmas tree.. next year look for what we up here like to call a charley brown xmas tree .. aka norfolk island pine .. they are huge forest plants in its native area.. somewhere between australia and new zealand... see first link

blue spruce are NOT houseplants in any sense of the word ... and will not tolerate being indoors ... but the NIP can .. so i give you a link for care ... and it will be close enough .. [in other words its hard to research indoor care.. for the spruce,.. so use this info]

one thing for sure ... they are not like many houseplants.. that like sodden media .... let it dry in between light waterings ...

ken

https://www.google.com/search?q=norfolk+island+pine+christmas+tree&biw=934&bih=744&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiYqYD_h5LRAhVE7oMKHXEsAv0Q_AUIBygC

care

https://www.google.com/search?q=norfolk+island+pine+christmas+tree&biw=934&bih=744&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4hOaAiJLRAhVJ04MKHUCcAnYQ_AUIBygA&dpr=0.9#q=norfolk+island+pine+care

With an EXTREMELY common plant - though someone from SoCal might not realize that - the acid test is simply, "do you see healthy ones or not, in your area?" For some reason people find these to be attractive and iconic American plants, and if people could grow them in your part of California, they would. You are not, with all due respect, going to be a 'pioneer' with this particular plant.

This is what I find so mystifying about idiots planting them in the Mid-Atlantic, when the majority of large ones look like crap. People's brains seem unable to connect what they are buying with what they are seeing. Or maybe they just aren't seeing. I don't know.

There were some basically healthy ones in the mountains outside of Melbourne and Sydney, so I don't think they really need _cold_ winters, just cool winters. And probably stable ones without the odd swings between warmth and freezing we have in the eastern US. FWIW though, the Picea engelmanniis looked better at one garden, flawless, while the P. pungens had minor foliar issues. WHERE is Picea 'Warrior', grafters!? I've been waiting for years!

There were some basically healthy ones in the mountains outside of Melbourne and Sydney, so I don't think they really need _cold_ winters, just cool winters

Dormancy of hardy plants is typically fulfilled by the minimum number of chill hours below 40 degrees F. having occurred. This is how cold climate plants are possible in tropical uplands - no frost is required. Presumably the deep cold that occurs where Colorado spruce and other extra hardy plants grow naturally is usually superfluous, as far as their dormancy requirements being met is concerned.

Among commonly offered potted Christmas conifers Italian Stone Pine or aforementioned Norfolk Island Pine would seem much better suited to where O.P. is located. Otherwise if something uncommon is desired there should be a good number of other warm climate conifers that could be tried. Botanical garden plant shops, independent garden centers and plant collector oriented nurseries are places to look for possibilities.

"Otherwise if something uncommon is desired there should be a good number of other warm climate conifers that could be tried."

Agreed. There are various other equally or more attractive conifers that could be grown in a pot in LA.

Thanks to all of you

Hello, again. I'm constantly monitoring the state of my spruce cause I don't want to give up on it yet. At least I wanna it to live as much as it can... So, I've inspected the tip of a spruce and definetly the browning getting worse. Maybe it's OK because it's the tree trunk and it is mostly needless on the bottom. But, I'm concerned. New grows doing well, they've grow couple of inches from last time I've posted photo.

I made an inspection of whole tree, read about bugs and found white substance on top(photo attached ) and also I've found something that looks like a small shell(and destroyed it). I have no idea what to think and how to treat the tree, I've read about some bugs but it's not looks like one of those...

Thank You Kulbaba for doing this thread. Wishing you the best of luck from down here, in your dirt poor habitat!

(I have a similar situation except in Christchurch New Zealand, we do get climatic extremes with over several sub zero frosts every winter and high sunshine hours. I also have some outside space to try and put it into the ground over winter. Am considering leaving it in a pot and burying the pot in the ground 10 months a year but like the wise gardeners above have said, we would be pioneers if we could make them survive for any years in the pot but you know, we just don't have the knowledge to make it work alone so it would be a group effort !

But our Christmas is the height of our summer so! Might have some added luck on our side. I know there are healthy spruces growing outdoors in my city. Ideally I'd like to have her inside from Dec 1st to about Feb, Dec is pretty much our hottest month during these El Nino weather cycles.

Am watching this thread with interest, and learning that there is a huge and wide variety of info online of caring for potted spruces. Even bonsai blue spruces that seem to have wildly different needs. Here's a photo of our one, which is called Picea Pungens Glauca or "baby blue". On the label it says it will be 15 m high after a decade after planting outside, so that doesn't sound particularly slow growing but am not sure.

It's easy to fall in love with these particular babies! But she's got some browning needles on the very inside next to the main trunk. After different affirmations especially from your experts above am going to buy some food for her and get her outside to a morning sun location over the next few days, aiming for a pot snugly within a pot lined with plastic on the sides or something so I can whip her out and check her roots and things. She wouldn't have got many nutrients in the place I am choosing for her, so all her nutrition will have to come from me, but it is by the front door on the morning sun side where I can at least see if she is looking healthy every day.)

One specific question, when we went away on holiday for a week we put her in a moist place inside with some access to filtered sunlight so she wouldn't dry out so much (same size container as Kulbaba) and I have kept her soil not dry ever since we got back, with the browning needles on the inside parts, could this be occurring now from the dry out due to temperature that finished two weeks ago, or some trauma even further back? Cheers if anyone can answer, how long after trauma / dry outs do the needles go brown, is it normal for any of the needles to go brown. But please don't call child services on us!

wink wink