norfolk island pine Help requested!!!!!

My mother in law has a norfolk island pine that is 7 years or so old......it is in a 20 gallon pot and is about four feet tall........It has suddenly started losing branches that are all green, at the trunk....It has not been moved or traumatized in any way......and has been very healthy thus far....can anyone fathom a reason why this is happening????? thank you!

It sounds perhaps like a moisture problem. Soil too wet or too dry, or humidity too wet or too dry? Was the tree moved into a new location this spring, or did its environment change in some way due to the season? Is it near an HVAC air vent or window? Change in lighting?

Guy S.

it is near an air vent i believe....it is in the south window like i said, the sun hits sifferently in the summer than winter.....should she move it, does it need indirect light or direct light??

maybe tomorrow someone will have some more advice.....thanks so far, Guy!

I have one. My BIL gave it to me when he moved. It was 12" tall, he had it growing as a bonzai in a tiny flat pot. I immediately moved it to a 2 gallon pot and placed it on the front porch. It lives there year-round (our lows are 20ish in winter). I has a shady spot that gets dappled late afternoon sun and it is doing fine. It is now almost 36" tall (after only 18 months out of that bonzai pot!!!).

Ask you MIL if she has a favorite "friend" at her local retail nursery. When I worked retail I went out on several "house calls" to help with sick plants that were either too large to bring in, or planted in the ground. I hope it isn't anything bad.

K

thank you and congrats on the growth of the tree!! I dont think she has a freind at the local nursery.....she tends to kill everything she touches....we have tried to buy her easy plants.....but to no avail.....she has managed to keep this one alive for quite a few years however....and i cant even keep mine alive.......but she has killed every thing else......I just gave her a green spider that i hope she can keep alive.....thanks again....

good luck.....perhaps it's time to give her my favorite "tough" plant....Kmarticus plasticus! On the other hand, there are some wonderfully realistic "silk" plants......

K

I think she has a kmarticus plasticus.......I could swear to it!!!! i didnt know anyone else had one...lmbo!!

Targetensis Silkii is a great plant indoors or maybe out on a screened porch or a gazebo or something with no direct sunlight. They fade pretty bad in direct sun but thrive in your darkest corners.

thanks 8ft.....lmbo....You had me thinking for a minute.....

...then there's Costcosticus maximus fakeii, those are pretty hardy too!

I read somewhere about this happening to Norfolk Island Pines that were getting to be about that age, that it was common, and it was a build up of dust etc. from being in the house, and not washed off. I can't recall where I read it, but they suggested you take the plants outside in the summer and let them get rained on. My friend has one that is doing the same thing, and hers is about 10.

I agree with pollyk. These trees need to be rinsed off now and again from dust. I have also seen spider mites taking hold and causing problems. I've seen entire lower branches drop off. Once this starts happening it's difficult to stop. On the other hand, I harvest and grow Monkey Puzzle Tree which is related. The female trees often lose their lower branches and if we get a hot, dry summer will lose even more lower branches. These trees prefer high humidity and semi-shade. Hope this helps.

ps. Cast Iron Plant (Aspidistra) should be the last living plant before going for the K. plasticus, T. silkii or C. m. fakeii.

thank you all very much! I will keep an eye out for the cast iron plant...