Where is it? in a pot or the ground?
If in a pot, did you dig it up from the ground?

It's in a pot. I did dig it up from the ground.

are we going to have to do this one question at a time??

dude.. give us some facts ...

how big

how big a pot...

what media

what kind of pine ... are you sure its a pine ... some peeps insist all conifers are pines ... especially when they think they all have pine cones ...

how about a pic..

where are you ...

when did you do this ..

is there a reason it cant be in mother earth ...

giving us one fact at a time ... isnt going to work ... well.. i might.. but the pine will be long dead ...

ken

I did this about 2 weeks ago. I am in New York. Sorry.

Treeplanter,

Thanks for posting a photo. This is a tiny seedling for sure. I cannot tell what kind of conifer that might be. Maybe one of the experts on here can ID that seedling.

I grow conifers in containers, mostly Pinus strobus (Eastern white pine), Abies concolor (white fir), Picea abies (Norway spruce) and Picea pungens (white spruce). So far I've had fairly good luck growing them in containers. I'll attach a photo of a 2-year old species Picea pungens.

Growing pines and other types of trees in a container is completely different than growing them in the ground. If you want this seedling to do well in a container I would suggest a few things.

First, find either a good quality potting soil with a good amount of perlite or use a bark-based soil instead of regular garden soil like it's in now. (In the photo I attached, the seedling is growing in a pine bark soil.)

Second, I would very carefully move this seedling to a smaller container. Maybe something along the lines of a 3" container would work. When moving be careful not to damage the seedling or the roots.

Third, find a nice spot outdoors where it gets a good mix of sun and shade.

There are a lot more things you can do, but those suggestions might help get you started.

Good luck!

TYG

I have a Colorado Blue Spruce seedling. I will be getting some pine tree soil, didn't know there was such a thing. The one branch seems to be growing like crazy and it has stopped growing UP. What can I do with this or should I not do anything?

Welcome to the forums!

You want a fast draining media for pots. I see they offer a 'container mix' in stores which should be good if it drains well enough. The media in the picture in the post above yours is most likely called 5-1-1, which is a bark based media. You can find the recipe for this over in the 'Container Gardening' forum on this site. Otherwise a cactus mix you can buy by the bag is good too but any bark based mix should do it.

The other variable is Light. That branch may be growing toward the window, if that's the only light that it gets. Small specimens like at least 12 hours/day of strong light. A window will offer possibly 8 hrs or less of direct sunlight during the day so supplementary lighting would help that. There is a 'Growing under Lights' forum on this site too. :-)

The other thing might be that your media is staying too wet, which may cause erratic grow. I'm growing conifer seedlings now in 3-1/2" square pots using 511 mix and water maybe every 4th day but that can vary according to your ambient humidity and size of the plants as they grow.

But either way, get a good draining media and enough light and the tree will correct itself over time and rel-leader upward on it's own.

hi .. welcome ....

its a tree ... aka conifer ... it is not a houseplant .. you are not going to have long term success indoors ... can it go outside??? .. mother earth is the best soil ...

that said ... what you see . is probably the extent of this years growth ... they have a spring spurt.. and then thats about it ...

yes.. you could gently pull it more vertical ... and stake it ..... or when you repot or plant outside ..... you could set it slightly crooked so you accomplish the same ... i wouldnt worry about be perfectly upright... when this tree.. should it live so long.. is 60 feet tall ... it will have straightened itself out ...

if you do repot... the root flare should be the same depth ...

again .. welcome.. you probably should have started your own post ... if for no other reason.. so replies come to you ...

ken

Oh, and if you do decide to place the plant outside, don't give it direct sun right away. It needs to be 'hardened off' so to speak, either in dappled shade/sun or short periods of direct sun for a week or two. Even then, a small plant can get dried out very fast , more so in a pot, in direct full sun, so an east exposure and shade in the afternoon is a good idea even after it's hardened off.

IMO, the overriding concern is to get the plant outside!! Conifers are not good houseplants at any time beyond the seedling stage and IME you run a much greater risk of the plant failing indoors than you do if it was outside. Even in a container.

I do agree to a gradual acclimatization to full sun when outside but I grow almost all my conifers in containers, typically from very small starts not much bigger than your spruce, and all the containers are in as much sun as I can manage in my surrounded by woods suburban lot.

I agree that outside is the best and you shouldn't plan on this being a houseplant but we have no idea what the posters climate is.

We grow seedlings indoors under lights all the time and would never dare put them outside with freezing nights still present.

As long as the seedlings have been acclimated, there is minimal concern about freezing temperatures. Unless from a tropical origin, conifers can take a frost or freeze without issue. Same with any other zone hardy plant....but only after acclimation from indoors to out.

' conifers can take a frost or freeze without issue '

I'll have to disagree there, we have new growth on conifers freeze off, if the night is cold enough and it does happen from time to time.

I also think of my conifer seedlings that went dormant after being put outside in temps around the mid to high 40's F.

I will acknowledge that could certainly happen in a zone 3 :-) But rather more unlikely in a higher zone.......which is 95% of the country!

' that could certainly happen in a zone 3 '

I'm talking conifers that are 'zone hardy'. :-)

And talking tender spring growth, not established growth that's hardened off.

Because I live so far north, my last "average frost date" is today, 4/8. And so far our spring weather has been 5-10 degrees below 'normal'. But all my potted conifers have extended new growth that has been undamaged by the occasional below freezing temps.

That's great, zone 8 sounds pretty nice!

Right now, everything I have is indoors, under lights and in a heated room. :-)

Last frost date will be less than two months away.

It's way to early to put anything that's actively growing outside around here. Highs only getting into the 50's with mid 30's popping up a day or two in a row.

Things don't really grow much in that kind of weather even if no frost at night (it didn't freeze the last couple of nights) and last year when I put new seedlings outside during the day, they went dormant and it took a while to get them going again. So yes you get to know how to judge your particular climate, just thought I'd mention that so the op would consider their area. :-)

Even though I'm zone 3, near z4 border, I've learned that z5 isn't all that far ahead of us, maybe a couple of weeks earlier that we are. The main difference is the depth of cold during a somewhat longer winter. Once it gets to this time of year it's not a big of a difference really. :-)

Highs are only in the 50's here as well and with 30's and 40's at night. And yes, things DO grow and quite vigorously with those kind of temps!! Even though it is not at all warm here, it is full-on spring.

If things grow so good with those kind of temps, why do we need greenhouses?

Okay, but I'm still not putting mine out until I see at least 60's on the thermometer. :p j/k

Thanks for that info.

:-)

I am in Zone 5 in Northern Indiana. It is still cold here even though we have our freak warm days. My Grandparents along with my Dad when he was little, brought back the Mother of this baby 50+ yrs ago. This little guy sprouted in our flower bed we were tearing up, so I dug him up and put him in a pot to make sure nothing happened to him over the winter. I know he isn't a house plant but I REALLY wanted to make sure nothing happened to this guy! I am attaching a picture of the Mother Tree that is being choked out by a big oak. So she needs to go soon! I am desperate to get this little guy to live. He is under a grow light as well as being in front of window. I do water him soon as dirt is dry. I appreciate all your help!! Everybody keeps telling me to trim the limb and I wasn't sure that was the best option by reading articles. But I want to make sure I am doing best by him!!

You got it this far, the following link will help with timing and proceedure for planting. :-)

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

Hi Stephanie, I’m in the northern part of Indiana, too. Please don’t put your little one outside right now. We’ve got a front coming through tonight and it’s going to be much colder than the past few days, right? However, if you’ve got an attached unheated garage, that might be a good first step to getting it ready for outside. I’d consider full outside in another 2 weeks or so. My last average frost date is around 5/14, but I can usually put stuff out at the end of April or first of May. If your baby has been inside all winter it’s probably a bit tender. You’re almost there, just have to keep it going another couple of weeks.

Oh, and don't cut anything off. It will need every bit of green it can get to photosynthesize and make food for the roots. Later on, when it gets more branches, you can snip a little off if it needs it but spruce is generally pretty good at filling out on it's own.