Norfolk Pine Help

[Leia]

I acquired a small Norfolk pine from my dad after the holiday season. Originally, it had about ten little stems and individual plants coming from the center of the pot. It's about a foot tall and when I got it some of the branches were already crispy. I removed the dry plants and put it in a terrarium, which I mist at least weekly, hoping to retain some of the humidity around it. I live in Minnesota, so it's been very dry here. I also have the pot (which has drainage holes) sitting in another pot on small pebbles which I try to keep wet for extra moisture.

So now I have about four or five healthy-looking plants left in the pot but they aren't drinking. I water the pot thouroughly and a week later, the top of the soil is still moist. The humidity in the terrarium falls to almost zero between misting and there's ventilation in the top and one side of the terrarium so I'm not sure what's going on. Recently one of the plants began to turn brown and dry.

Any tips would be very appreciated. Sorry for the long post, but I hate when I'm trying lots of things and I can't keep a plant alive!

Attached are photos of the plant and set-up.

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear you've been having problems. If the top of the soil feels moist before you water it you are probably giving it too much water - wait until it feels dry. They like humidity but they also like well-draining situations, so it may be unhappy if it's getting too much water to the roots. How much sun does it get?

 

[Leia]

It's in an east facing window and doesn't get any sunlight. Lots of bright indirect light though. I can move it into a west window though that gets lots of afternoon sun. I'll make sure I'm letting it dry between waterings, although that takes a couple weeks.

 

[Becky]

Yeah give that a try and see if it helps. Fingers crossed!