These are my proudly cultivated Norway Spruce seedlings. They are staying alive but not doing so great. They are so delicate looking I'm afraid to transplant them to the great outdoors. Im worried a bumblebee will land on them or an oversized fly will take a nibble and it will be curtains for my lovely creation. Please advise my relocation anxiety :-)
I have not grown spruce but with my Italian Stone Pines I put them in their own small 6" pots and slowly aclimated them to the outdoors over a period of several weeks. Bumped up the pot size as needed until they were a foot tall and sturdy then planted them in the garden. This whole process took two years! Important-keep them away from wind and do not let them get to dry. Good drainage is a must.
This message was edited Jul 23, 2009 4:50 PM
Thanks for writing Joyce! Did you keep your pots outside? My house faces N/S and it has almost complete direct sun. Weve been having 90 degree days lately. I did successfully transfer zinnias into a large garden pot. They became heat loving monsters and I was excited at how well they have thrived. Maybe I can repot the two spruce stalks and keep them on my patio table under an umbrella in plain view where I won't forget to water them.
I think the patio table would be ok just so the patio its self doesn't reflect to much heat. Is it protected from wind? I'm interested in keeping up with your success so let me know how they do if you think of it.
Hi again! There is some wind protection. We just had a fence installed so it will help a bit. I posted a bad quality picture of the seedlings but they have the second and possibly a third set of whatever true leaves are called when its a conifer ;-) The third set is turning sort of brown maybe due to watering neglect. *blush* I will repot them with some decent soil and start feeding them. Thanks for caring about my little guys and I'll keep you posted!
-April
The zinnia pic is pretty! I kept my stone pines on a picnic table under a huge old oak tree. This was when I lived with my son and family in Meridian, MS keeping grandkids while mom and dad worked. Have since moved back to south MS but son said the trees are still alive but they are slow growers. He almost ran the lawnmower over them but at the last second saw the stakes marking them. Phew! It is so rewarding growing from seed, but I don't get to do it as much now as I'm apartment living now. Limited to shade container growing. Will look forward to hearing how your babies progress.
This message was edited Jul 25, 2009 12:00 AM
AprilLeon
I have some like you, I don't know what mine are...they are some Norwegian Pine but other than that I don't remember. I've had mine growing for about 7-8months and it is just like yours only a bit bushier. I'm not planning on putting mine outside as I only have the one. When it eventually gets bigger I will but not yet; I do seem to recall them saying they were very slow growing trees.
