To forestall your plant from rising crooked, give it 1 / 4 flip each week, in order that it receives solar from all angles.
If you happen to don’t have loads of shiny gentle coming into your own home, chances are you’ll want a develop gentle.
Temperature and Humidity
When stored in common indoor situations, these vegetation will do exactly positive – they like a variety of 60 to 72°F throughout the day, and a barely cooler temperature at night time.
Humidity must be above 50 %, for finest outcomes.
Publicity to temperatures under 35°F can kill the plant.
Simply be sure to keep away from putting your dwelling Christmas tree in a drafty location, equivalent to close to an exterior door or drafty window.
If you happen to give your Norfolk Island pine out of doors time in summer time, keep in mind to carry it again indoors when the mercury falls into the 50s.
Soil
Norfolk Island pine can develop in soil with a barely acidic, impartial, or barely alkaline pH.
It grows natively in a sandy, chalky loam, and is tolerant of salty soils.
Use a well-draining potting combine that has some sand in it – the sand will assist with drainage and supply stability, to forestall the trunk from leaning.
I like Tank’s Professional Coco-Soil Potting Combine for this goal. It comprises coconut coir for drainage and water retention, compost for vitamins, and it’s peat-free.
Tank’s Professional Coco-Soil Potting Combine
It’s obtainable for buy at Arbico Organics.
Water
Whereas dwelling Christmas bushes choose moist soil, they’re fairly drought tolerant, as my very own Norfolk pine can attest to.
After a worrying transfer one yr, my plant was uncared for and it was not watered for (I’m ashamed to say) not less than two summer time months, if not longer.
Its needles began to show brown – together with these of its rising tip – and my husband and I each thought it was a goner.
However earlier than we relegated it to the compost pile, we determined to see if we may revive it. And amazingly, it rallied! It quickly started placing out new, shiny inexperienced foliage and looking out fairly completely happy and undaunted.
As a rule of thumb, water when the highest inch of soil feels dry. These vegetation choose moist however not soggy soil.
When it’s time to water, pour water evenly over the soil till it begins to expire of the underside of the pot.
Youthful vegetation will want extra frequent watering than extra mature bushes.
If you happen to’re undecided should you’re watering sufficient, look out for browning on the information of branches – this usually means the plant is being underwatered.
And as soon as the times begin to cool and winter arrives, your Norfolk pine ought to require water much less steadily.
Discover extra watering suggestions right here.
Fertilizer
Fertilizing twice a yr is a lot to supply your plant with the vitamins it wants.
You should utilize a general-purpose houseplant fertilizer and apply throughout the rising season.
Or you may take a extra pure, natural method, like I do, through the use of worm compost tea to fertilize your plant. You can also make your personal worm compost tea out of your worm castings.
TeaDrops are tea packets containing dry worm compost which are prepared to make use of.
TeaDrops Natural Houseplant Fertilizer
You’ll discover a pack of 16 worm compost tea packets from the Earthworm Applied sciences Retailer obtainable by way of Amazon.
The place to Purchase
These vegetation can be found to buy in a variety of sizes, from table-top to ground sized.
When buying considered one of these festive conifers, take into account that the extra out of doors time and fertilizer you give them, and the extra usually you repot them, the sooner they are going to develop – and select your dimension accordingly.
Norfolk Island Pine
Yow will discover two- to three-foot tall vegetation obtainable at Quick Rising Timber.
Upkeep
Norfolk Island pines are really low upkeep.
The branches of those bushes aren’t as sturdy as these of a Fraser fir, and received’t get up effectively to a heavy load of decorations.
So in case you are hanging ornaments, restrict them to people who are light-weight. Bows, ribbons, and light-weight glass ornaments make good selections.
The decrease branches will flip brown and die as these vegetation develop. It is a regular course of – you may take away them with a pair of backyard snips or pruners.
Nevertheless, it’s finest to keep away from pruning inexperienced progress since this will as it may possibly have an effect on the general form of the tree.