Norfolk Island PIne

Hi, I read this forum regularly but seem only to get over here to post when the outside garden is put to bed and my need for indoor plants becomes critical.

I've had this Norfolk Island Pine for many years. At one point when it was smaller I just inserted the smaller terracotta pot it was planted in into the larger green ceramic pot and filled the larger pot with soil. My thought was the plant would stay moist with the double potting and when it was larger I'd repot it in the bigger pot. So now it is larger and the roots have moved from the smaller to the larger pot. Should I try to remove it from the smaller pot it place it in the ceramic pot now or will the root system be damaged and it should just be left alone?

The second question I have is what type of large plant could I purchase as a companion plant in the same area? It lives in a sun porch that gets heat but because of all the windows and lack of insulation in the winter it can get to about 50 degrees at night. I have some scented geraniums that winter indoors in the same area and I thought I'd try some herbs like rosemary and mint but I'd also like to find another plant similar to the pine in size. I'd like something that gets large so when I look through the interior windows to the porch it really fills the window. Does anyone have a suggestion of a plant they love that would do well in this environment?

This message was edited Nov 9, 2008 8:31 AM

I think the pine is tough enough to withstand the "operation" of breaking up the smaller terra cotta pot and replanting a larger pot. You might even use a larger plastic one than the one you have, although I've seen other Norfolk Island pines growing quite happily while root bound in smaller pots.

As for companion plants, your idea of rosemary would work. Why don't you try to find another Norfolk Island pine? Usually, at this time of the year, the big box stores stock them as Christmas trees and the day after Christmas they are half-price.

Other plants that tolerate cold locations include acuba, fatsia, pittosporum, many ferns, spathyiphyllum (Peace Lily), most all cacti and many succulents including agaves.

Good luck!

How about a Schefflera Tree? They grow fast and as long as it doesn't get below freezing or stay real cold in that room for many hours a Scheff would do well.

I have a huge Scheff in my yard (it was a little 3' tall house plant many years ago) and when we have frost a few leaves may get damaged, if we have a hard freeze the tree is mush but always re-sprouts in spring.

HoosierGreen and plantladylin,
Thanks for responding to my questions. I temporarily packed up all my indoor plant books when I re-carpeted the porch and I haven't found the box they're in so your suggestions are very important. I can look up all the suggestions online. There are very few places in the house other then the porch that are suitable for plants so I try to choose carefully. Besides , I think half the fun in getting a new plant is investigating all the new possibilities and learning about new plants.

HoosierGreen,

You think I should go larger on the Norfolk Island Pine pot? I would have to switch to plastic or fiberglass in that case because of the size and weight.
I am considering getting another NIP since it could make it feel like a forest but I wouldn't mind something similar but just a little different.

plantladylin,
That is one very large sheffelara tree. I don't remember trying that plant.

I have another largish plant that seems to live happily on the porch in the winter but is now in decline. The new leaves are smaller and the edges of some are yellow. Is it a Monstera? The stems? have such a nice palm tree look, but they also are getting narrower as they grow. Do you think I must repot this plant also or just feed it?

plantlady

That is a called a Tree or Cut Leaf Philodendron: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/37036/ They do get very large. Your plant looks waaay too large for the pot it's in. I bet if you unpot it you will find there is not a whole lot of soil left, but lots of roots, which could be the cause of the decline and yellowing leaves. Those are landscape plants down here too ... I have a large area on one side of the house that is full of them, and one large specimen planted alone on the other side of the house. As they grow tall you can remove the lower leaves and it gives a nice canopy tree effect.

The Monstera deliciosa is in the same plant family and similar but a different genus. I have a large potted Monstera and a couple of small ones on my deck.

Here's what Monstera deliciosa looks like: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=monstera+deliciosa&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title and the Plant Files information: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1204/

I would kill two birds with one stone, as long as you're repotting the NIP, and use a larger plastic, resin, or fiberglass pot as it is going to need some more room sooner or later. I love NIP, but don't have any currently. I do have a friend who has one larger than yours in a pot about the size of the green one you have, and it's showing signs of stress.

The more I look at the Philo in your photo, it may not be the P. bipinnatifidum but another hybrid. Here's another one with the splits in the leaves: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/125389/

Here's the one I pull all the lower leaves off to give more of a tree form.

I agree too about potting up to larger size on the Norfolk Pine. They get very large. I had one in a small pot that I stuck out behind the shed thinking I would repot it soon ... that was two or three years ago and it ended rooting through the bottom of the pot into the ground ... I had to cut the plastic pot away. I gave my neighbor a 3' NIP years ago and she planted it in her yard and it's gotten pretty big too.

This is the one growing out behind the shed. I keep trying to talk my husband into digging it up and transplanting it elsewhere in the yard ... it's growing up into the canopy of another tree in my neighbor's yard.

Thanks for the ID, photos, and information plantladylin and Hooiser Green.

Plantladylin, It is very informative to see well grown plants. Nice photos.

I thought I had a good source for large light weight pots locally but after I did an online search I find the store is
rebuilding it's physical space. Does anyone have a good source for large, lightweight, beautiful pots that are not too costly?

I have another large plant, a dracaena marginata?, that lives on the porch in the summer but I move inside in the winter. This summer it put out a new stem and leaves off the original trunk and now I'm not sure if I should leave it or cut it at that point since the original trunk is leaning at a 45 degree angle. What would you do?
It clearly looks like I didn't pay enough attention to the indoor plants during the spring and summer. Do you think I should leave all this repotting until the spring or do it now provided I can find large enough pots?

Down here pretty much anything will grow planted in the ground outside. Sometimes we have frost but with a layer of mulch protecting the roots they seem to survive to re-sprout in spring. Frost hasn't seemed to bother the NIP but that is a different plant entirely. The Schefflera will turn to mush if we have a hard frost or two and we have dead looking tree stumps but green soon emerges again when the weather warms back up. Some plants will not survive a real hard freeze but luckily we don't have them ... just a rare one over the years.

I just recently planted a Dracaena Marginata Tri-Color on the south side of my house. It had been sitting in a pot out under a tree for years and was so root bound there was no soil left in the pot. Hopefully by next spring it will look a little perkier.

It is normal for D. Marginata to curve and bend like that. I had a huge one in my screened pool enclosure years ago ... it would grow up, hit the top of the screen and bend back sideways. You can cut off and root the top ... new growth nodes will appear around the cut so you will have branching. I don't know what your conditions are so I can't advise on whether this is a good time or if you should wait until spring. This is the time of year when it's normal for all plants to slow in growth for the winter rest, even houseplants so spring would probably be the best time. When the weather warms up you can move it to an outdoor location for fresh air and sunshine and it will more than likely take off like gangbusters putting on new growth.

I don't know of any online sites to recommend for pots.

This past spring we dug out all of the Hibiscus and Ferns along side of the house and haven't found the time to replant the area yet. I stuck the D. Marginata along that side and it looks so lonely waiting for the company of more plants. I just need to get busy and decide what I want to plant with it. I have a Pony Tail palm that I want to put in the ground somewhere too but will probably wait until spring.

Thanks plantladylin for the dracaenea information, they are have a very Dr. Seuss appearance as houseplants. Quite charming.

Any ideas for hanging plants for the same conditions?
I can divide a spider plant I have or move an asaparagus fern to the porch to hang in the corners of the room but I'd like to find something new. Any ideas?

I have a Norfolk Island pine. Can I plant a pink party plant in the pot with it?