| I bought a potted Dwarf Alberta Spruce(very small) for our Christmas tree. Can I keep it indoors until spring, or do I have to plant it now? |
| I was given one as a gift at Christmas time several years ago. I only kept it in the house for a week and one side of it became brown and died off. I kept the tree in my unheated garage (NE Ohio) near a east facing window until the soil outside was workable in the spring, watering only enough to keep the soil barely moist. The little tree thrived and has grown and bushed out enough that the dead area is barely noticable. |
| These little trees do not do very well indoors all winter so you may have a struggle. Unfortunately, the trees sold as florists trees have usually already had their natural growth cycle and temperature acclimation severely disrupted through the shipping and retail process and are often very stressed as a result. Follow that with moving it outside in extreme cold and you can severely shock the plant. (Usually a freshly dug tree is held indoors for only about three days, then immediately returned to the outdoors and planted.) On the other hand, they do not survive very well under typical indoor household conditions where it is very dry and a bit too warm. If possible, you might keep it in a cool bright location (above freezing but as cool and bright as you can manage) and then gradually acclimate it to the outdoors in early spring as soon as the temperature begins to moderate. Good luck with your little tree! |
| I am preparing to get a Norfolk Island Pine and am wondering about the same thing. Do I plant it after Christmas or wait until spring.... |
| Its on indoor plant. Will not take temperatures in the low 40s. Check what temperatures will be in your area. |
| We had a Norfolk pine for many yrs in IN. It is an indoor plant as grows naturally in deep south. It was beautiful in the house in the winter. We moved it outside in the summer. |
| If you bought the tree from a local nursery/garden center and it was being kept outside, then you can bring it inside for 3 to 5 days maximum, then get it back outside because it is already acclimated to being outside. If you bought it at some other store where it was kept inside, well, good luck. Keep it in as sunny a window as you can, keep it cool, mist lightly to help with dry indoor air, and pray. |
