On Thu, 2 Jun 2011 Jeff Layman wrote:

If i think that the tree can comfortably grow to 8ft in height before it
starts to look out of place, how many years will this take (10 years ?)
and therefore how big of a pot do i need to submerge to allow the tree
to grow freely to that size?

Sorry for so many questions, but any help is appreciated.
Puzzledmonkey


It will take about 4 years to do the 8 feet after that growth will be
extremely rapid if its getting a good water supply, I can't comment on how
they do in pots but as you have already bought the tree you have nothing to
lose by trying!. I doubt it will be movable after it reaches its 8 foot
limit, as a Genus they do not move at all well.

8 feet in 4 years! Tell me where you get your plants, Charlie!
According to
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?...ria%20araucana,
"The monkey puzzle is a very slow growing tree that can take 5 - 10
years before it even gets above grass height and then grows around 35cm
a year". That seems a little slow to me, but even so I can't see 8
feet in 4 years. A tree at Kew, although of unstated age, would seem
to have grown about 23 feet in 30
years.(http://apps.kew.org/trees/?page_id=136). I agree, though, that
as they grow older they grow faster.

I've had a monkey puzzle tree for about four years and I can confirm
that, certainly in its early years, it is very slow growing. It is still
not much more than about 12 to 18 inches high. Just as well because we
haven't put it into its final position yet.

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://rance.org.uk