I have a small Italian stone pine (one of those that you buy decorated for Christmas) that I've repotted since I got it. It was fine for a while but now the needles are fading to brown and curling. I though I might be overwatering or it's too cold by the window... any ideas? Someone down the street has a big, beautiful one in their front yard so I figured the climate can't be terrible, but who knows? Please help!
Hard to say without seeing it in person. Keep the soil just moist, not bone dry nor dripping wet. It may also be suffering from being in too small a pot; after all, the producers give them just enough to live to christmas, they're not expected to last beyond that. Is it all the needles that are turning brown (= dead), or just some? Since you're in an area where they can be grown outdoors, the best action would be to plant it outdoors (but wait for a mild day to plant, don't move it suddenly from a warm house out to a frosty night).
It's really an odd mixture of dead and healthy needles. I was really hoping it would live, since I've heard of people keeping theirs for years, but perhaps I'm not experienced enough to know how to keep one. =( I'll try a larger pot as soon as I can get one. I've attached some pictures. I hope they help!
Looks like it dried out. Root rot could produce a similar effect, either way the top is not getting water. My mother bought one this year that also wilted, but was caught before the top got as damaged as yours. She thought it was moist, I knocked it out and found the peaty mixture it was growing in to be dust. Although it looks pretty far gone you might want to knock it out of the pot and check soil moisture, if you did not disturb the roots at transplanting time there could be a pocket of original, bone dry potting medium inside of the fresh, moist material you put around it when repotting.
