Hi everyone! My parents just brought home a somewhat peculiar plant and they wanted to indentify it, but I have no idea howto start. I'm in Ontario, and this plant was given to us without any real information. We just need the name to look up some tips on caring for it. Thanks!
Either Araucaria heterophylla or Araucaria columnaris; the latter is often sold under the name of the former. Doesn't make any difference in care, they both like the same conditions. Looks to me like it could do with a larger pot. But that might just encourage it to hit the ceiling the sooner (both species are ultimately large trees up to around 40-50m tall).
thanks a lot! @Micheal. I'm not sure why we really want it to hit the ceiling... haha. also, this is an upgrade from the pot it arrived in. Probably for the winter, we may plant it outside afterwards. Thanks again to the both of you.
Once they hit the ceiling, you can cut the top back, but you will get multiple leaders (tips) Better then quashing up to the ceiling! The one I had was cut back a foot or so and it grew back 6 or 7 new leaders, but it still looked ok. Propagation from a tip cutting can be hard, if not impossible to achieve. Tip cuttings from a branch and rooting it, that is, if you can get it to root, will only grow sideways, just like the branch grows.
The name Norfolk Island pine confused me.....there's a Norfolk in the UK and was just about to suggest planting outside, did a quick google after saltcedar posted....good job otherwise I would probably have heartily embarassed myself:S
