I buy Norfolk Island Pines every year, and some tell me to plant them outside, and some tell me not to, I live in Pa, zone 6, Is it to cold for this type of tree here? should I just keep it every year as a living Christmas tree in the house? Please let me know. Thanks. Also can I keep this tree in my bedroom? I have an electric heater in there, and it gets super hot.
They are not hardy trees at all. You can put them out for the summer on the patio if you want, I guess, but I think the trees would be happiest kept indoors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_heterophylla I did not know they produced edible seed before reading the wikipedia article.
They're only hardy down to about -4 or -5°C, so not the slightest hope of their surviving outdoors in PA. Indoors, you'll need to keep the humidity fairly high. If you can keep it in a cool room through the winter, even better; around 10° would be ideal.
In the climate here these are mostly quite easy and durable indoor plants under ordinary conditions. Ours has grown a few feet from a baseboard electric heater for years.
