FEATURESTORY
Araucaria heterophylla
or Norfolk Island Pine is a Great Greenhouse Plant
Common Name: Norfolk Island pine
Light Needs: High light with full sun is best, but they can
tolerate a less than full sun environment.
Best Temperatures: They can adapt to a range of tem-
peratures between 45-85ºF.
Water and Humidity Needs: Keep the soil evenly moist.
Growing Guidelines: Grow Norfolk Island pine in Afri-
can violet mix. Fertilize them 4 times per year and repot them
every 3 years.
Common Problems: Needles will drop if they are in a hot,
dry environment
Propagation: Taking cuttings will ruin the shape of the
plant but they can be grown from seed.
Fun Facts:
Norfolk Island pine, (Araucaria heterophylla), ever-
green timber and ornamental conifer of the family Arauca-
riaceae, native to Norfolk Island, located in the South Pacific
Ocean between New Caledonia and New Zealand. The wood
of large trees is used in construction, furniture and shipbuild-
ing. The plant is grown as an outdoor ornamental in regions
with a Mediterranean climate and the attractive saplings
are cultivated throughout the world as houseplants.
The Norfolk Island pine was discovered on the second ex-
pedition of Capt. James Cook, who was the first European to
see the trees and thought they would make good masts for
ships. The British government sent people to live on Norfolk
Island in 1788 to make sure that these trees would be kept for
use by the Royal Navy. Despite its common name, the plant is
not a true pine.
In nature the Norfolk Island pine can grow to a height
of 200 feet, with a trunk sometimes reaching 10 feet in di-
ameter. The branches are arranged in symmetric whorls, and
the trunks are characteristically straight. The leaves of young
plants are needlelike and curve upward to a point, while
those of mature trees are scalelike and densely overlapping.
The round female cones are spiny and reach up to 6 inches
in diameter. An unusual feature of this species is that lateral
branches cut from a tree and rooted in soil continue to grow
horizontally and never produce an erect stem.
Happily, if a Norfolk Island pine is grown in a green-
house, you don’t need to worry about it busting through the
roof anytime soon as when they are located indoors, they are
not fast growers. With good care, over the course of years,
they can eventually reach 6 feet tall or more. Scientific re-
search by NASA showed that Norfolk Island pines can remove
harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds) from the air, puri-
fying it and making it safer to breathe.
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www.GardenandGreenhouse.net
March 2019