regarding norfolk island pine trees

Hello and thank you for having me I JUST joined and SO excited to be here!
I have always admired the above pine tree. I have seen people growing them indoors and just think so much of the tree.
At long last i purchased my first "tree" in december from a walmart hoping for a christmas tree. The interesting feature about this NICE big tree two and half or three feet high, THICK, is that it was three trees in one! I had to "park" it in a corner in the room here to squash the 3 trees together. I hated doing that to it so one evening I got REAL brave , pulled this "3 headed monster" out of its single pot, and YES I sawed the root system into 3 separate trees, and planted them WITH POTTING SOIL into 3 separate pots yes 3 separate trees now and they looked terrific got full appreciation from visitors!
They looked SO perfect and exciting.........at first, and for how many weeks hmmm? UNFORTUNATLY yesterday saturday I took scissors to the dried hard dead branches. Only a few are left at the TOPS of each tree two trees have new "branch buds" that if they are still growing, they're NOT growing fast
These trees just CANNOT have DIED out right, but rather going through a shock change? They each WILL grow back again? For now i maintain them in pots with potting soil, I keep them waterd, sadly this apartment IS dark so I have a fluoresant bulb and two fluoresant GROW lights on the 3.
I dearly hope I dont read a reply saying "I blew it' i dearly hope some reply sands me alternatives or just a patience reassurance.
THANK YOU EVERYBODY!!!

 

follow up: I took a scissors to ONE of the trees, cut off the TOP of it where the last growth is and stuck THAT in a glass of water. But since sap is involved with pine trees is there an additive i need to add into the water please?? THANK YOU!

 

Sorry, but you would have done better to keep them together in one pot. Cutting the rootball into thirds will have meant cutting through about 98% of the root systems (as the roots tend to go round and round in interlocking spirals in the pot). The result is that the plants will slowly die as they are unable to take up enough water and nutrients to supply the crowns.

Cutting the top off for a new plant won't work, unless you are very lucky. They don't root from cuttings at all easily.

 

And dieing off is just what they are doing. HOW SAD AND PAINFUL!! But as one huge tree they just looked.........awkward for a word: chaotic bulky etc.
When i first cut them and sparated them AND THEY WERE FIRST THIVING they just looked SO good!!!
Then the only thing left to do is cut off what little bit is left and HOPE they grow over again.
THANK YOU SO MUCH you dont know how grateful i am for your reply irregardless how discouraging. The truth CAN often HURT! I DID manage to hold onto the store tag that tells the farm that raised them IN CANADA. If I truly do lose these three i'll contact the farm for anither single tree!

 

Wow what a correction i need to make. I was sure that i had read that the original tree was farmed in Canada. Tonight i looked at the tag I managed to keep. The tree came from Costa farms of Goulds florida. I am so lost how I got that confused....if it makes a difference.
So if developments arrise that I replace the tree and TRY TRY AGAIN I'll contact florida, heh heh or wait till i am relocated there

 

Brian, for starters, it's NOT a pine tree, but an Araucana (related to monkey puzzle trees) so sap is not an issue. Secondly, you haven't mentioned how often you water or how much, and that's important as they need to dry out a little between waterings, especially if they're indoors and it's winter (shorter light hours). It's always best to let plants stabilize for a while (season or two anyway) before doing radical surgery, or repotting, etc. and while your surgery might have been survivable under ideal conditions, the general health of the tree otherwise is most likely the problem, and they're not the easiest plants to grow to begin with. Cutting off the top also wasn't so great, as they're apically dominant and will now (if they live) split into 2 or more 'leaders', which is unnattractive and not good for the tree. This all sounds pretty negative, and I'm sorry, but we all lose some along the way - maybe next time ask first, cut later.

 

It appears I've caused annoyance being a novice. I have definit appreciation respect for plants and trees but not to the extent/extreme that is apparantly here. I was hopeful/excited bout the trees(s) then, about being here as well. I still have faith in the trees though. I HAVE transplanted and successed in the past. I will go elsewhere, enjoy your forum.

 

http://www.victorialodging.com/monkey_puzzle_tree.htm

I visited this site and this is where I found that it IS in fact considered a pine/evergreen tree! And by gum i have always thought they looked just like a pine tree anyway!

 

For what it's worth, I interpret Rima's words differently. If she was truly annoyed, she wouldn't have spent the 5-10 minutes offering free advice.

As a general reminder to everyone, though - do be gracious. Web forums are at least two steps removed from conversation in person one-on-one. There are no body language cues and there are no voice intonations with text, so it is too easy to misinterpret what others truly mean.

 

Dear Brian, please don't get discouraged, Norfolk Island Pine are hard to keep alive inside in the North, with forced heat and all. I am a Horticulture Tech and I too have inadvertantly killed off a beautiful specimen with neglect. We all loose some plants, novice and experts alike. Janet

 

Hi again - I'm sorry if my note sounded a little harsh - maybe I was reacting to all those caps in the original posting :-), but just wanted to make the point about the trees not being pines, plus all the stuff that was done to it that could have been responsible for its not doing well. Thanks Dan, BTW!

 

Before i forget the name
Dear janetW:
thank you so much for your kind words here, well i obviously did not yet delete/unsubscribe my membership, now i can celebrate that I didnt yet. And it looks like .....well my fiancee Kim has warned me that my tendency to use capitols when typing causes people to think i am hollering, this time kim was truly right. I use capitols frequently when trying to make a point........and when hollering which is not in any way what I was doing here.
Ha ha, if I may uhm to JanetW a correction if I may please: I dont think neglect is the proper word for our efforts. If anyone neglected the tree as it originally was it was the Walmart store staff. When o got into the roots, everything was so dry i was then amazed that the tree look so good and i was wondering fearing........see i had the tree for a few weeks before I separated it. I have wanted a norfolk pine for so long that i just finally got one december of 2006. I had inquired in several nurseries for one but I was told they are not an exquisite tree/plant that they are considered a junk tree "I'd best go to walmart".
I found this big one there got it home here and watered it immediatly hoping i had saved it.
None of you saw this tree when i first got it.....I did, and replanting it into 3 separate trees was just so right, holiday visitors really liked it also. I have transplanted and worked with roots in the past with all kinds of success. I consulted with a local hardware store for the proper tree potting soil, I consulted with an acquaitance about electric lighting in my sadly dark apartment. So again no "janetW I cant agree that we neglect our plants, as another member reassured: "we just lose our plants here and there" something to that effect anyway. I do know that handled plantes do go through a shock ajdustment, this adjustment in these trees is the biggest most massive adjustment I have ever seen!!! One tree does look like it might be sprouting a new shoot. As the saying goes: "it aint over till the fat lady sings" so right now i wont allow singing or happiness in here!!
Nope no neglect here but really rather t.l..c all the way! No capitols, how'd i do??? thank you members!!

 

Not very well!!! Excuse me I was trying to be nice!!! Obviously you are making something out of nothing. I was not referring to you I was referring to myself. Maybe you should get your information out of books if the forum members offend you so much. Janet

 

Closing thread, since it will continue to spiral off the topic of the plants in question.