New NI Pine question

Mine still looks very nice but hasn't grown or made new "tips" since I've owned it. Yesterday a cat knocked it over and out of the pot. I was amazed! The root ball is exactly the same size as it was when I bought it 3 years ago! That's about the size that would fit in a 4 inch pot. And the tree is 2.5 feet tall. The needles are soft and green, and it looks good and healthy. I've had bits in isolated areas brown and die, but only tiny bits and not all over. The roots are not white and succulant looking, but are brown and hard.

I can't imagine why the roots never grew from the size they were when I bought it!

I'm not throwing it out unless the top really starts dying off, but is there a way I can encourage a better root system?

Lots of container plants will do this including shrubs and trees for the landscape. If you put a plant that is pot bound in the ground without root pruning and a few years later when it dies and you pull the entire plant out you will more than likely see that the root ball is still in the shape of the pot it came out of when it was planted.

That is why it is important to tease, score, or cut roots that are "circling" in the pot when potting up or planting in the ground else they will never expand beyond the pot that they came out of. If the roots are "pot bound" then cutting score marks around the root ball (vertical cuts every inch or more) will encourage new roots. Also cutting the bottom inch or so of soil and roots from the root ball will also encourage new roots.

Yeah! You need to tease those roots out and plant them in fresh soil. I usually make a cone of dirt in the bottom of the pot, tall enough to bring the plant up to the right height. Then lay the roots out and fill in with dirt. It is important to not plant the tree too deeply in the pot. Yours looks like it was buried too deep. The part that has roots should JUST be covered with soil. If you think it might fall over, stake it for the first summer. It should take off and grow very well for you. Best wishes.

Thanks! It's still hanging in there, and looking good. I did tease out the roots and put in in new soil. We'll see!

Glad to hear it is doing well!

Is the PH reasonably close to what the plant likes? Most of us do not test potting soil but with a few plants that is a mistake. For this purpose the simplest soil test kit available would serve your needs. Do a little on line research and determine what PH zone your plant likes.
Sorry I do not know about that for this plant.

I agree the total response you recieved is pretty good. It may have simply been pot bound.