A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Troubled Norfolk Island Pine

Hi Everyone!
I purchased my "Norfie" last December and it seemed to thrive for many months. However, not so healthy now and I'm at a loss for what to do.

It got too dry over the Summer (I've been working out of town and had someone coming by every day to mist it, but they didn't water the soil during a 3-week period).

Here is how it is now:
- a few brown tips to some of the branches, but that has improved since I've been home; I've been misting numerous times throughout the day
- several branches are still green, yet they are very sharp and brittle; occasionally dropping off leaves (which again, are still green)

Anyone have any thoughts on this? I shook a few branches over a piece of white paper looking for spider mites or other pests, but didn't detect anything. I don't know if I should remove the green/dry branches. Is it a lost cause?

Thanks so much for any input!
Beth

Welcome, Beth. Green is always good. I would continue doing what you are doing to bring improvement to it. Without cutting anything except what is actually brown. Brown will not recover. But green can sometimes. And Norfolks are temperamental about being trimmed much. It can cause further shock. Don't transplant it until you see new growth.

When I jiggled the pine to see if there were more small branches to fall off and then swept up, there were 3 small dead worm-like creatures. They were an oyster color, probably about 1/3 inch long...they were all coiled so difficult to tell. (And no, I didn't uncoil them. Yuck.) Wondering if my Norfie could be plagued by some kind of pest....

Would it hurt anything to do an insecticidal soap?

Insecticidal soap should not hurt it. If you have something like pine bark beetles you may need to do a different spray. I think I would ask my local extension office about what to do.

Thanks Tina!