Hello everyone,

I am trying to keep these small cypress plants indoors, but seems like I am doing something wrong. I was told it needs to be in a bright space but no direct light, and that it needs careful watering (once in a five days, roughly). So, this is where we are and how we look like. The top bits are started to wilt, and you can see how some bits of the bottom are dry.
Can you tell me what I can do to make it better - is it the watering??

thank you!

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Do you know what specific cypress variety you have? I am not aware of any cypress being an indoor plant but perhaps there are compact hybrids out there. We have lots of cypress here in Mississippi and they are all outdoor trees.

Hi there..

Well, that is the thing. a garden centre sold them as "exotic houseplants". So wrong. So I am just making my research to provide the right circumstances.
I am in London, United Kingdom btw.

cheers!

drdawg said:Please go to your profile and enter your location. We always need to know that information.

Do you know what specific cypress variety you have? I am not aware of any cypress being an indoor plant but perhaps there are compact hybrids out there. We have lots of cypress here in Mississippi and they are all outdoor trees.

OK, London it is. Great city!

Don't get me wrong, sharkfur, I am not saying that the cypress plants you have were not hybridized so that they have compact growth and can be grown indoors. Perhaps they were. You might want to go back to the garden center where you purchased these plants, a label in hand, and ask whoever runs that center to tell you about the plant. He/she might even be able to tell you where the plants came from and a link to their website. When you do find out more about the cypress plants you have, do update us on the information you found.

Good luck with your research and good luck with your plants.

In Sweden similar trees are often sold as a potted plant for Christmas. Sometimes they use a silver paint on them and anecdotal (I was told this by a professional gardener over 20 years ago) that practice came from a grower that had gotten a disease that actually killed the plants. A little paint and he could sell the plants for a higher price instead of suffering a huge loss!

Yours however look somewhat paler than what is usually sold for Christmas as a green tree. This could be from growing conditions in the garden centre or perhaps there are newer varieties out that actually are house plants. However I wouldn't bet on it and my recommendation would be to bring your plants outside, at least for the summer. This way they would be a lot healthier and stronger if you decide to take them inside at a later time. Normally it's however recommended to grow these outside and that is what the grower does as well. In London you could probably be successful with having these in a pot outside during a normal winter.

Don't water on a schedule, the soil should never be allowed to dry out, but don't overdo it. Select pots with drainage holes if your current ones don't have any.

Indoors you will need to keep humidity up as they are sensitive to dry air and this will also cause them to go brown. You could try misting them. As far as I know they should really just be seen as temporary visitors on the windowsill.

These are commonly sold here also, I got one years ago, it was under 12". It did poorly indoors so I kept it outdoors, morning sun only for a while and eventually in full sun. It is over 5 ft. now in a large pot. I tried another small one a couple of months ago, placed it in a kitchen window and it quickly dried up. Or rotted I think. I didn't repot it fast enough and the original soil contained too much water retaining peat and had moss covering it.

Here are a couple of examples in the database.

Ah that is the one I also have planted in my garden, it has survived over 10 winters in there, even 3 really severe ones with t°s of -12-15°C for a few days, my garden is an enclosed towngarden, not sure how it would do on the countryside. I think London has even slighter milder winters than Gent, Belgium. If I were you I would plant it in my garden, it will thank you!
My tree has grown into a beautiful specimen of over 2m tall!

Thank you everyone,

Yeah, that is the issue, we don't have a garden I can plant them in… sadly. I heard it can be done indoors for a while… It seems to me that I either don't give it either enough water, or needs more direct sunlight? I was told it does not really like direct sunlight. What do you think? Being outside in the garden, and thriving there means to me that it indeed likes dirt sunlight.

I think the problem indoors is lack of humidity in the air, mine gets about 5 hours direct sun at least in the summer when the sun is high. Doesn't get much or nothing in the winter months..
It is planted against a wall and does not get much rain, I think once established it is drought tolerant.
Direct sun behind glass is different from direct sun outside too, so maybe that's why they say to keep it out of direct sun..
Lack of humidity could be handled indoors by putting the pot on a larger bed of pebbles with a layer of water but the water not touching the bottom of the pot, it will increase the humidity around the plant.
In the winter I would put it in the coolest but well-lit room you have..

PErfect!
I was just about to get pebbles for my maidenhair, because it really needs humidity…I am just going to get some more then. lovely, thank you!

bonitin said:I think the problem indoors is lack of humidity in the air, mine gets about 5 hours direct sun at least in the summer when the sun is high. Doesn't get much or nothing in the winter months..
It is planted against a wall and does not get much rain, I think once established it is drought tolerant.
Direct sun behind glass is different from direct sun outside too, so maybe that's why they say to keep it out of direct sun..
Lack of humidity could be handled indoors by putting the pot on a larger bed of pebbles with a layer of water but the water not touching the bottom of the pot, it will increase the humidity around the plant.
In the winter I would put it in the coolest but well-lit room you have..

Hello everyone... now the top of one of the cypresses started going real dry.. and I just dont see what can cause such a thing....have aloo, and tell me what you think, please. cheers!

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Did you repot these plants after you brought them home?

drdawg said:Take a moment and click on the little guy in the upper left corner that represents "Your Profile". Click on "Change Your Profile", add your location (and a first name if you wish), and then scroll down to the bottom and click on "Save Changes". That way everyone will immediately know where you are every time you post.

Did you repot these plants after you brought them home?

Okie-doke, all done :)
Well, yes, over a month ago

The reason I asked is that often, when purchasing plants in a nursery or big-box store, they will be very root-bound and the roots will tightly circle the root ball. If you saw that this was present, did you tease those roots apart, so that they would not continue to grow in that tight circle?

drdawg said:The reason I asked is that often, when purchasing plants in a nursery or big-box store, they will be very root-bound and the roots will tightly circle the root ball. If you saw that this was present, did you tease those roots apart, so that they would not continue to grow in that tight circle?

Not really, no. The soil seemed to be nice and hmm.. light if that makes any sense, I thought the transition would be less stressful for them, if we kept the soil and just fill out the gap between the soil the new pot.

Nothing wrong with what you did. I do that all the time when I am potting up. Let's just guess that the plant is still going through the stress of re-potting and that it will take some time for it to get back on its feet.

drdawg said:Nothing wrong with what you did. I do that all the time when I am potting up. Let's just guess that the plant is still going through the stress of re-potting and that it will take some time for it to get back on its feet.

I am just slightly wortied becsuse the planting happened over a month ago, month and a half, and the top first started tilting or bowing, the bottom started having dried out bits as on the pictures aboveand now the top seems to be shrivelled... Just worried, not good signs at all

My guess is not enough light, and too much water (if you have watered every five days) and some rotted roots--that could explain yellowing at the base (then browning and dying) also symptoms appearing at the top.
I can't tell if the cute planters you have them in are free draining or not (because I don't see any hideous trays for drainage as we generally all have ). If they are not draining planters, I'll lay good odds on rot. If you've carried them to the sink to water every five days, I'll still lay odds on rot.
I suggest you check the roots of the worst one, not too much to loose at this point...you may still be able to save them (or possibly start over with something more suited for the window?)