A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Norfolk Island Pine

I'm fairly good with houseplants/trees/shrubs and I had a Norfolk Island Pine that grew to 19 feet tall in my sunny house (okay, you're right, it's more my location than my green thumb) but I have a new one now. I just bought it, and it has EIGHT trees in a single two-gallon container. The largest is four feet tall.

I would like to break them up and repot them as singles, but read on this forum that they only like to be repotted once per year, in the spring.

My last one was only one plant. Is it better to have several together? Isn't eight a bit excessive? Is it okay to repot them at this time of the year, since they will be indoors? Is there any advantage to groupings/single plants?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi, I'm no expert, but seeing as this plant is going to be remaining indoors, go ahead and transplant them now. It won't hurt them. But like any transplant, we bother the root systems of the plant, so it will hold back on its growth for a bit, not long, just until it adjusts to its new environment.

As for growing trees in a grouping or not, I prefer to keep mine separated, always. I have, as you most likely have also, seen the cause and effect of grouped trees during growth. The weaker will die, or become diseased, which isn't good for any of the trees in the end.

My own humble sugestion, separate them, give them each ample growing space and they should thrive under the right conditions.

Nice find btw, to have found a bucket with 8 in it altogether!

Thanks, Cece, I felt the same way, and appreciate your suggestion. Now I only need to find eight containers...

Your welcome, and if you don't find or can't afford right away, the containers you prefer to use, try the planters that are made of fibre. I use them here in my home for plants that I have to bring inside for our long cold freeze of winter here in Southern Ontario Canada. They don't sweat, they are porous but don't drip through, they are relatively cheap, quite cheap compared to plastic or clay or ceramic, and they don't look all that bad in a home. They are brown and just blend in with plants. AND .... (and this is good for any growing plant) .... when you need to transplant the trees into bigger pots as they grow, these decompose naturally when you surround them with soil on the outside of the pot. You just place it into your new larger pot, set earth around it, you don't disturb the roots of the plant, and within no time it decomposes. Because it's made of all organic substance, it won't hurt the soil or the plant in any way.

Anyway, wasn't I just here to say 'You're Welcome'!!!???

Happy Gardening.