DaisyI said:Hi Rachel, to NGA
Yes, its genetic makeup was already set and nothing will change that. But what your friend gave you is an Italian Stone Pine (Pinus pinea). They are sold as seedlings at Christmas time but the mature tree has long green needles.
- Stone Pine (Pinus pinea)
- Uploaded by TexasPlumeria87
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Leftwood said:Yes, Daisy is right, but I'll take the mystery out of her answer....
Your spruce is actually a pine seedling that looks like a spruce. It is most likely an Italian Stone pine, but in the recent past, the more commonly used species was Pinaster pine. These species grow much more quickly into little ornamental "spruce" trees for Christmas sales than do real spruces, and so are quite popular. The seedlings are in their juvenile stage, when their needles are short and arranged differently than in the adult stage. The long, stiff, aberrant needles that give the plant a "bad haircut" are the adult form of the needles. Your plant is going through puberty! As the plant continues to grow, more of these adult needles will crop up, until the plant is all adult needles.
For aesthetic purposes, you could snip off the long needles at their juncture with the stem, but it's ultimately a losing proposition. As the tree ages, there will be more and more popping up. Short of growth hormone treatment, there really isn't anything you can do to prevent the normal maturation of the seedling.