Norfolk Pine Trees also known as Araucaria heterophylla are conifers that can be raised as houseplants grown through the year though their association with Christmas is higher. Norfolk Pine Trees is topical and a large tree that is a popular choice as an indoor plant that is beautiful and symmetrical growth indoors habit and foilage that is scaled. During warm weather, the plant can also be grown outdoors Propagating Norfolk Pine Tree can be done either via seeds, stem cuttings, or by division.
How To Propagate Norfolk Pine Trees
Norfolk Island pine can be propagated using seeds, stem cuttings, and stem cell divisions.
Propagate Norfolk Pine Using Seeds
Though it can be a little tricky to get hold of seeds once you find them using seeds is the most recommended way for Propagating a Norfolk Pine. In order to find the seeds the ideal way is to find them some seed exchanges that are available online or from small vendors. When buying seeds make sure that you get seeds that are fresh as these seeds lose their viability to propagate very early maximum by a few months. Norfolk pine island seeds are grown in plant cones that are seed pods called seed cones there are a dozen capsules each of them having 1 seed if pollinated correctly.
Make sure that besides seeds you also collect bottles for spray, nursery pots, humidity tents, and a seed starting medium that is sterile.
Now Follow the steps below to propagate Norfolk Pine using seeds
- When choosing nursery pots for a single plant choose 2-inch pots and if you have a bushy plant look you can choose 4 inches pot. You can also use a pot for repurposing by sterilizing the pot with hydrogen peroxide.
- Make sure that watering doesn’t cause a mess you can do that by using a starting mix and filling your pots making sure that there is half an inch from the rim difference between the top of the pot with the top of the surface of the soil.
- Insert the seed capsules taking the pointy head directly into the soil if you are propagating 1 seed into a pot or applying seed with a half-inch difference if you are applying for a bushy look. When applying only 1 seed you can do it in the center of the pot.
- After the seed has been sown you should use your spray bottle to water your plant. Make sure that soil does not feel soggy after watering but the seed is feeling moist.
- Use a rubber band and cover the plant so that you can help retain the humidity of the plant.
- Place the plant in a place where the temperature is from 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit have humidity that is high and lights that are bright.
- Water your pots using a spray bottle every day.
- Expect the plant would have propagated between 10 to 21 days into sprouts.
- The young saplings should be removed from humidity tents and exposed the young saplings to temperatures from 60 degrees Fahrenheit to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
- The Young saplings should now be started to be watered instead of being misted make sure that you water at the soil level when the top layer of soil feels dry.
Propagate Norfolk Pine Using Cuttings
You can use cuttings to propagate and make clones of your plant. To propagate the Norfolk Pine plant we work to take a cutting of the branch so that we are able to propagate and make sure that the branch continues to grow. If you choose not to grow a new plant you can take cuttings from the central tip of the plant but that will continue the growth but will hurt the growth of the parent plant as the central tip causes most of the growth. If you take the central tip it might hurt the symmetrical shape of the plant and sometimes might even hurt the parent plant to die. Sometimes people choose to go with the central tip when they see your conifer has outgrown its home and you may choose to keep the part of the plant alive and you choose the central tip.
Before you propagate make sure you have the following instruments a mature Norfolk Pine plant for cuttings, nursery pots, a sterile medium for growing, scissors, pruners, and a bottle for misting or spraing.
Now Follow the steps below to propagate Norfolk Pine using cuttings
- Take the 4-inch nursery pot and fill it with growing medium making sure that there is half an inch from the rim difference between the top of the pot with the top of the surface of the soil.
- Take 4 to 5 inches of cutting using a sterile pruner.
- Use sterile scissors to trim out the pointy ends from the cuttings by 2 inches.
- You can use a rooting medium on the cut end of your cutting.
- Take your pot that is filled and take a finger or pencil to create a hole.
- Take your cuttings and place them in this hole in the pot and if it feels tall trim it so that it is stable in the hole.
- Water your pots using a spray bottle every day don’t make it soggy but keep it moist.
- Take the cutting and keep it in a humidity tent to expose the cutting to high humidity and keep it at a warm temperature. Even a greenhouse or terrarium is called a humidity tent.
- When you start testing by pulling your cutting and find resistance the plant is rooted and now you can start watering the plant if required daily instead of misting like before just make sure to water only when the top inch feels dry.
Propagate Norfolk Pine Using Divison
This method is best used to increase the number of plants by using division to propagate. This is not a true division like being done through rhizomes but is instead done simply to increase the number of plants
Now Follow the steps below to propagate Norfolk Pine using Divisions
- Remove the Norfolk Pine plant from the pot and look at it for roots.
- If roots are easy to remove then divide your roots into multiple plants if the plant is not so easy to remove then look at other options for propagation instead of removing using division.
- If roots are easy to remove go down the stem right down to the crown and make sure that you untangle the roots making sure that you are gentle while untangling.
- Once you have untangled the roots you can put up into new pots
Norfolk Pine Trees Characteristics & Propagation
Some people tend to confuse this plant with the Pine Tree as they look similar but are from different families however both of them come from the same area of the South Seas interestingly if they are allowed to grow state and mature then they can become as high as 60 meters (20 feet). Norfolk Island Pine Trees are only suited for USDA zones 10 and 11 and are not able to handle cold as well. If you are in other USDA zones then it is more suited to keep Norfolk pine trees as a potted tree and grow these plants indoors as trees outside the Christmas period. To grow more Norfolk Pine Trees propagation is the method to increase the number
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