Sprout Home Plant Of The Week: Norfolk Island PIne

With the Christmas tree season upon us there are many customers at Sprout Home who ask about live potted trees as an alternative to the cut tree. Unfortunately it is not as simple as taking an evergreen that was intended to be planted in your yard and forcing it to act like a houseplant. Most evergreens need a cold dormancy period and if you were to take that winter dormancy away from them it will eventually lead to their demise. A perfect solution to this dilemma is the tropical Norfolk Island pine. Botanically known as Araucaria heterophylla, the Norfolk pine is a conifer but not actually a true pine and way too tender to be planted outside in colder climates.

Delicate and somewhat soft looking as a young tree, it is hard to believe that can grow up to be a graceful forest giant reaching up to 200 feet in its natural habitat. As it matures the branching gets more defined and interior needles shed forming a precise tall and statuesque pyramid. Do not let it's height possibilities scare you, the growth rate of the Norfolk pine can be controlled by limiting its pot size and only re-potting when necessary.

The Norfolk pine likes it bright and cool with ideal temperatures ranging between 60 to 70 degrees. It will do well in bright, indirect light but benefits from a couple hours of direct low intensity sun. Let the soil dry by about an inch in between watering. The trick to a good home life for this tropical Christmas tree is giving it high humidity. It thrives in 50% relative humidity which is hard to achieve in our homes, especially in the winter months. Get your mister out once and a while and give your Norfolk pine the humidity that it loves. Do not prune your pine unless it is to remove brown needles. If you do prune your Norfolk it will stop growing form where you pruned it.

If you decide to decorate your Norfolk for the holidays be aware that the festive electric string lights will dry the needles at a faster rate so only turn them on when you need to. The younger the Norfolk the weaker the branches will be so utilize the lighter weight ornaments to display on your new houseplant. With the Norfolk Island pine you will have a bit of Christmas all year, now we just have to work on getting Santa to visit us every month.