The Monkey Puzzle Tree does well in a damp atmosphere and in moist, but not soaked, loamy soil. If the ground is full of grit, the lower branches will die and the trees soon lose their vigor. A. excelsa thrives best in a sunroom or cool greenhouse and should have a compost of two-thirds loam and one-third leaf mold, with a bit of sand added. These plants should be repotted yearly until they are placed in 7 or 8-inch pots. Once they are in these size pots, they will not need to be repotted, though it is beneficial to remove some of the old surface soil in the spring and replace with fresh compost. A sprinkling of fertilizer every month from March to September will keep the plants vigorous.

Franz Heymann wrote:
"tom@claire" wrote in
message s.com...
Hello

we are looking to purchase a monkey puzzle tree and do not want to
wait years and years to enjoy it. Is it best to start with a 1.5m
tree or smaller? How much does it grow per year on average?

We appreciate any help/ advice you can offer!

If you plant a monkey puzzle tree you will quite soon be overwhelmed
by its expanding ugliness. That is one of the reasons why,
mercifully, there are so few of them around. Surely it is something
only a mother can love.

Franz

Well, we've got one - it's planted in a most unlikely place and looks
completely wrong there. About five feet tall, it has grown very slowly
over the two years we've been here (Surrey, heavy clay), and frankly,
it's for the chop. D'you reckon we could sell it then? How big a root
structure does a Monkey Puzzle have?

Chris

"CJ" wrote in message
...


Well, we've got one - it's planted in a most unlikely place and looks
completely wrong there. About five feet tall, it has grown very slowly
over the two years we've been here (Surrey, heavy clay), and frankly,
it's for the chop. D'you reckon we could sell it then? How big a root
structure does a Monkey Puzzle have?

Chris


I moved one that was about the same size, and it was a bugger to get out -
very strong narrow roots going down I don't know how far. I reckon it lost
a fair bit of root in the move, but is none the worse for it - despite the
books saying they can't stand root disturbance!

Mal

eve wrote:
: The Monkey Puzzle Tree does well in a damp atmosphere and in moist, but
: not soaked, loamy soil. If the ground is full of grit, the lower
: branches will die and the trees soon lose their vigor. A. excelsa
: thrives best in a sunroom or cool greenhouse and should have a compost
: of two-thirds loam and one-third leaf mold, with a bit of sand added.
: These plants should be repotted yearly until they are placed in 7 or
: 8-inch pots. Once they are in these size pots, they will not need to be
: repotted, though it is beneficial to remove some of the old surface
: soil in the spring and replace with fresh compost. A sprinkling of
: fertilizer every month from March to September will keep the plants
: vigorous.

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.

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
Drop 'h' when mailing

In article , J Jackson
writes
eve wrote:
: The Monkey Puzzle Tree does well in a damp atmosphere and in moist, but
: not soaked, loamy soil. If the ground is full of grit, the lower
: branches will die and the trees soon lose their vigor. A. excelsa
: thrives best in a sunroom or cool greenhouse and should have a compost
: of two-thirds loam and one-third leaf mold, with a bit of sand added.
: These plants should be repotted yearly until they are placed in 7 or
: 8-inch pots. Once they are in these size pots, they will not need to be
: repotted, though it is beneficial to remove some of the old surface
: soil in the spring and replace with fresh compost. A sprinkling of
: fertilizer every month from March to September will keep the plants
: vigorous.

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.

It isn't. The reply above started by talking about the Monkey puzzle - A
auracana, but then switched into A excelsa, aka Norfolk Island Pine,
which we grow in this country as an indoor ornamental.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

We have several planted in 1832 and are quite the most ugly tree possible. I
posted some weeks ago that I had seen a small plant for sale at about 18"
and £80!! Many thought this to be way out.
We have had seedlings but by the time they were noticed they were too big
to transplant.
Optimum is 12".
Best Wishes.
"Kay Easton" wrote in message
...
In article , J Jackson
writes
eve wrote:
: The Monkey Puzzle Tree does well in a damp atmosphere and in moist, but
: not soaked, loamy soil. If the ground is full of grit, the lower
: branches will die and the trees soon lose their vigor. A. excelsa
: thrives best in a sunroom or cool greenhouse and should have a compost
: of two-thirds loam and one-third leaf mold, with a bit of sand added.
: These plants should be repotted yearly until they are placed in 7 or
: 8-inch pots. Once they are in these size pots, they will not need to be
: repotted, though it is beneficial to remove some of the old surface
: soil in the spring and replace with fresh compost. A sprinkling of
: fertilizer every month from March to September will keep the plants
: vigorous.

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.

It isn't. The reply above started by talking about the Monkey puzzle - A
auracana, but then switched into A excelsa, aka Norfolk Island Pine,
which we grow in this country as an indoor ornamental.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm