eve wrote:
: The Monkey Puzzle Tree does well in a damp atmosphere and in moist, but
: not soaked, loamy soil. .................. A. excelsa
: thrives best in a sunroom or cool greenhouse

I think you need to distinguish between Araucaria excelsa, which is
the half-hardy Norfolk Island Pine, occasionally grown as a house
plant and Araucaria araucana, which is the fully hardy 'Monkey Puzzle
Tree'.

Well there is a forest just inland from Lindisfarne in Northumberland,
that has a thriving section of self seeding Monkey Puzzles that is
obviously expanding at the expense of the regular conifers and local
trees, so it can't be that tender or difficult. Some fot he trees are
pretty large.

In view of the very slow rate of growth, I find it difficult to
believe that A. araucana is capable of ousting conifers in the UK
regardless of locality. At its fastest it grows at the rate of 60 cms
per year, but that's only after 20 or 30 years of establishment.
Eventually they become very large (to well over 40m. high - less in
the UK), but maturity and seed production rarely commences before 45
years in this country and you need both male and female trees for that
to happen.

Seedlings are desperately slow and an 8 year old plant will often be
no more than 30 cms. high. That's why tiny plants command very high
prices and a 1.5m high specimen will set you back several hundred
pounds. Back in the '70's I was importing them from France (then the
cheapest European source) and the wholesale price before transport
costs etc. for a 25cm. plant was about £6.00. Not a lot nowadays, but
a significant amount of money then.

Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November
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