Hi everyone,

A friend of mine gave me a small fir tree for Christmas last year. The tag that came with the tree didn't really have any information or instructions on it other than "keep in well lit area, avoid direct sunlight." The tree did well for a couple of months, but then began looking a little off so I replanted it, thinking that the pot was too small. That didn't help, however, and the tree has since been looking worse and worse. My friend didn't have any information about it either, she just said that she was surprised that it has lasted this long.

I tried replanting it again, thinking that maybe the roots don't have any more room to spread out in the new pot, but when I removed it, it looked like the roots had not grown or expanded at all. I've been watering the tree consistently, I water it every time the soil dries up, and have been keeping it on my bookshelf. The area is well lit and the tree receives a fair amount of sunlight from my bedroom window, especially in the early morning. I'm not sure what I am doing wrong, I was wondering if anyone can give me some tips or at least identify the tree?

Thank you in advance,
-Sam

Moved to Plant ID forum

My guess is some sort of Juniper. Whatever it is, I am pretty sure it would rather be outside.

it does't look like a fir. These are not meant to be grown inside.

Thank you for your replies, would you be able to give me some advice as to the best place to plant the tree outside? I live in Los Angeles, California so it gets pretty hot here. Do you think it would be best to plant this in a shady area or would a certain amount of direct sunlight be good for the plant?

I would say perhaps 1/2 day morning filtered sun if possible. Maybe repot it up into a larger pot first and place outside and let it get a bit larger before trying to transplant it into the garden. That way you can control the amount of sunlight it gets on hot days since it's still so small. Tease the roots away from the smaller root ball it probably is in now so they can grow outward into the new potting mix.

I'm now thinking yours may be a cypress of some sort. This gold one is a popular seller in grocery stores and nurseries


I started out with that size similar to yours several years back, maybe a foot tall, and I kept it outside protected from full day sun as I kept potting it up to bigger sizes throughout the years.

This is mine now, actually that was taken last year and it's taller and fuller now, it all day full sun with maybe once a week watering.


If you click on the plant name above the photo, you can see the other images for this one.

Based on the images I think you're right! Thank you, Suzanne, I appreciate the response!