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Christmas Special - Live Potted Christmas Trees
27 Plays3 years ago
Growing your own Christmas tree can be a rewarding for you as a gardener as it grows and prospers with you and your family year on year. Flying solo, host Mykal Hoare talks you though his guide for getting the most out of live potted Christmas trees. He shares his do's and don'ts for growing potted Christmas trees in Australia.
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Facebook - @mykalhoare
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Transcript
Introduction to Growing Media Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Growing Media is a proudly independent podcast produced by me, Michael Hall, with zero corporate or network interference in our content. But this means we are running on the smell of an oily rag over here. So if you like the show and would like to make a small contribution, you could head over to our Patreon. You can find the link in our show notes.
00:00:28
Speaker
The producers of growing media recognise the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast is recorded and pay respects to Aboriginal elders past, present and those emerging.
Solo Discussion on Potted Christmas Trees
00:00:43
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Growing Media. What's that you hear? Well, it is Christmas time. I'm your host, Michael Haw. And on today's episode, we're going to be exploring the best practice for growing your very own potted Christmas tree, keeping it thriving all year round, year on year. So when it comes time to bring it inside to decorate, you have a beautiful looking tree that you, your family and your friends can admire and enjoy. Guess what? Today, I am flying solo. I don't have a guest.
00:01:12
Speaker
I'm going to be bringing you the goods on this one, which I'm a little bit nervous about, but hey, it's all in good Christmas cheer. So let's get started.
Benefits and Personal Story of Potted Trees
00:01:23
Speaker
The reasons for growing your own potted Christmas tree are abundant. Maybe you love having a real tree like me and my family at this time of year. Maybe it's coming from a sustainability point of not using plastic or having one grown in a Christmas tree farm and chopped down every year.
00:01:41
Speaker
Also in Australia, we generally have limited options on the species of farmed Christmas trees. In Australia, I think our most common tree species is the Pinus Radiata. But my partner is from the UK and he let me know on our first Christmas together that that is not a real Christmas tree, as he knows it.
00:02:02
Speaker
I was in shock when I spent my first Christmas in the UK. I realised his family went for the Pisaea abyss, which is also commonly known as the Norway Spruce. So, we set out to find our Norway Spruce.
00:02:17
Speaker
which actually didn't take that long as we just popped down to the local nursery before Christmas and they had one there waiting for us. The horticulturalist that works at that nursery said that she personally went down to the Dandenong Ranges to pick out the trees for the Christmas period, which are admittedly very beautiful.
Selecting the Right Tree Species
00:02:36
Speaker
Now, this species of tree is obviously a northern European species, so they do like our cold winters that we do get here in the Blue Mountains. But I am aware that Australia has a huge range of climactic conditions and that not every species will suit every climate.
00:02:57
Speaker
I was racking my brain for some interesting ideas. You know, I grew up in Far North Queensland and I thought, well, what do we have there? Hey, what about doing something cool like a bunya pine or even a walama pine? Our Australian natives, how cool would that be? But I do think it is wise to choose a species that A, fits your climate.
00:03:19
Speaker
B, matches your aesthetic that you're going for for Christmas. You know, if you're going to go for a fir tree, you've got the balsam fir, you've got the Fraser fir, you've got the cannon fir, which is a hybrid. You know, you've got your Douglas fir, you've got your grand fir, you've got your noble fir, you've got your concolor fir. You know, if you go into the pine trees, you've got the white pine, the Scotch pine, the Virginia pine, the spruce trees.
00:03:46
Speaker
You've got your blue spruce, your Norway spruce as we've mentioned, your white spruce, your cypress trees, you've got your Arizona cypress, you've got your Leyland cypress.
Managing Growth: Pot Size & Drainage
00:03:57
Speaker
Honestly, all of this comes down to your aesthetic choice and what will be able to grow in your climactic conditions. Another thing to really think about with this is that a lot of these trees grow massive.
00:04:11
Speaker
Now, a lot of them may be slower growing, sure, so you'll be able to get, you know, five years out of it before you're like, oh, crap, this is too big to even get through the door. But it is an idea to maybe look into getting a dwarf species, if possible. Of course, keeping them in a pot will restrict their growth also, but you are going to have to pot them up probably year on year.
00:04:38
Speaker
So you've selected your tree, you've brought it home. Now let's talk about the care for the tree. I imagine if you've brought it at Christmas time, you'll want to drag it in and start decorating right away.
Indoor Care Tips: Light & Watering
00:04:50
Speaker
But wait, just wait. What time of year are you bringing it in? And how long will it be inside for? These babies need lots of light. So I'd recommend if you're a person who needs their tree up in mid October,
00:05:06
Speaker
No shame there, of course. This just probably isn't really going to work for you. I'd recommend only having them inside for a week or two max. This is because of their need for light and direct light.
00:05:21
Speaker
Maybe you could stretch this out a bit longer if you have a lovely north facing window that gets a lot of direct light. But again, I still probably would really only recommend a week or two. I mean, perhaps you could also do a bit of a dance with it if it was a smaller tree, bringing it in and out, giving it the light that it needs, but you know, that's really a lot of effort.
00:05:44
Speaker
Give your tree a big drink of water before you bring it in, but I would err on the side of caution with fertilizing before you bring it in because that fertilizer will just sit in the pot as it probably doesn't have the light availability that it needs. It won't be photosynthesizing to its full capacity. Look, maybe a sea sole.
00:06:02
Speaker
you don't really wanna water inside, but obviously check that the tree isn't drying out. Because it's coming out of its natural positioning, it'll express as if it needs water, but I would definitely dig that finger in and into the soil and check that it actually is dry because it could start looking a little floppy because it's just been dragged out of its full sun position into a full shade position.
00:06:32
Speaker
So, you don't want to be adding too much water, so definitely do that finger moisture test into the soil before watering while it's inside. You're going to let that water drain completely through. You do not want these trees sitting in water. It is a recipe for root rot.
00:06:53
Speaker
Look, this also goes year round when it's back outside. The pot that it's in, it really, really, really, really, really needs great drainage because you will get Phytophthora root rot. It'll be gone. You'll get browning tips. It'll look awful. And you'll just be back buying another one next year, which goes against our sustainability point.
Outdoor Placement for Optimal Growth
00:07:16
Speaker
All right, we're back inside and I'm going to give you a note on decorating. I personally go for nice light ornaments because as these trees are inside, not getting their best light, they will start to droop and look a little bit sad. So you don't want to aid that by putting these big heavy baubles on it. Because after, you know, by the time Christmas day rocks around, you're going to have a fairly droopy, gross looking tree, to be quite honest with you.
00:07:46
Speaker
So, Christmas day's been had. We're very full. I'm getting up early. I'm taking down the tree because I need to get it back outside. Now, let's talk about the positioning. You're going to have this potter tree in your garden. I would pick a place that has very even light. They love full sun. They love bright light.
00:08:09
Speaker
And I would like that light to be very even around the entire tree to get very even growth. You don't want it jammed up against other trees and you'll lose the back of it because it's reaching for the light in the front. So even light.
00:08:25
Speaker
When I was talking to my mum about doing this episode, she reminded me that when I was a teenager, my parents decided to go down the Potter Tree route, which is great, but my mum, and sorry mum, told me that she decided to pop it up next to a colour bond fence as its regular place for the rest of the year. You can imagine by about mid-January that that tree was brown, was toasted.
00:08:50
Speaker
So full warning to everyone out there, do not put it up against a hot colour bond fence in an Australian summer, it ain't gonna work.
When to Repot for Healthier Trees
00:08:58
Speaker
Another thing you'll probably think to do is, hey, I'm in the middle of moving it, why not put it up at this time of year? I have a good reason not to. Basically, because in Australia, it'll be the middle of summer, it's gonna be bloody hot.
00:09:14
Speaker
And I mean, even if you're in the Northern hemisphere, it's the midwinter. It's just not the time to do it. Christmas time, you're not repotting it. Okay. I think what we should do is repot it in spring. Um, in Australia, it's obviously before Christmas in the lead up to Christmas, you can repot it, it can recover, you can feed it. Um, and it'll be beautiful by the time Christmas comes. But yeah, let's not do that in summer.
00:09:39
Speaker
I like to keep my tree in a black plastic pot. Now, a problem that you'll face with this is that in the height of summer, in the depths of winter, your tree will suffer because it doesn't have the correct conditions around the root ball. You want to keep the temperature even around the root ball. So now let's go into ways to insulate.
00:10:05
Speaker
If you have a small yard or if you have, you know, just a patio or whatever, I would recommend putting it into something like a terracotta pot that is going to hold a bit of thermal mass around it, warm up in the winter when the sun hits it and keep those roots at a nice, even temperature as to not... These trees just don't like the flux of the heat and the cold. You just want a nice, even temperature around the roots.
Maintaining Even Root Temperature
00:10:33
Speaker
Now, do you want to hear my experimental idea? I mean, I don't know if it's experimental, but look, I'll tell you anyway. I'm going to dig.
00:10:41
Speaker
a large hole in my backyard. I'm going to fill that hole with stones at the bottom for drainage. You know, no root rot. We don't want the root rot throughout the rest of the year either. So, stones in the bottom of this hole for drainage. I'm going to put my plastic pot back into that hole. Then I'm going to backfill with soil. Now, what I'm hoping this will do
00:11:03
Speaker
is enable the earth to regulate the temperature. So it's mimicking the soil temperature that would naturally occur if it was planted directly into the ground. Some little things you're going to encounter with this is that if you haven't potted it up or if you're not keeping on top of potting it up, you know, you potentially are going to get roots growing down through the base of the pot and it's going to be stuck in the ground.
00:11:31
Speaker
I kind of like to pull this pot out, you know, again in spring or autumn to repot, so what I'll be doing then is making sure that those roots aren't kind of spilling out through the holes in the bottom of the pot. Another idea that I've seen for protecting these roots is to have your plastic pot,
00:11:54
Speaker
put it into a larger plastic pot or any pot really, and then backfill with things like leaves and organic matter that will protect the roots within that larger pot so that it can act as an insulator for those roots. Let me know actually, if you guys have any ideas on how to achieve this,
00:12:19
Speaker
Send me an email, send me a message on Instagram at Growing Media and let me know how you're doing this.
Choosing Potting Mix & Fertilizer
00:12:28
Speaker
It's now spring or potentially autumn. The weather is nice and even and it's time to pot up. What are we doing? How are we doing it? When you come to pot up, you don't want to go to a huge size pot. This is with any plant, really. You don't want to like max out the pot going, oh, well, it'll fit in that in five years time. No, no, no, no. We're potting for a year. So don't go any more than double the size of the pot that you already have it in. That's really important. Otherwise your plants just sort of swimming around in there, not knowing what to do.
00:12:59
Speaker
Okay, so you've got your pot size, you're ready to go. I'm going to choose a premium potting mix. Look, I'm going to go for the better quality product because this tree is important to me and I want it to survive year after year after year and grow healthy.
00:13:14
Speaker
I want a light free draining mix. I'm probably also going to mix through some granular slow release fertilizer, you know, something like an Osmocote that will keep it healthy all year round. If you really wanted to, which I haven't experimented with yet, but I'm willing to give it a go, maybe on a different tree, I could potentially do an organic mix with some homemade compost and things like that in it.
00:13:42
Speaker
Now, one thing to be aware of when you're using like homemade compost in your pots is that that compost is rich with life, life that will break down your other potting mix in the pot. So either you got to keep topping it up as you go, which look, hey, feed in the soil. It's all good. It's a nice organic method to do it with. But just be aware that yes, your potting mix will break down quicker and you will have to top it up.
00:14:09
Speaker
One good thing about the compost is that compost tends to have a lower pH, so it's on a bit more of an acidic side, which is perfect for these trees. Most of them want to sit between 5.5 to 6 on the pH scale, so they like it a little bit acidy, which is great.
00:14:31
Speaker
Another thing to think about when you're potting up your Christmas tree is that they're not going to want their root ball affected like many plants when you're potting them up. Try and leave that root ball intact and untouched.
00:14:44
Speaker
After you've sized up your pot, you've got all of your new potting mix, maybe some of your homemade compost. What I think you should do is give it a good drink through as any other plant and I would give it a sea sole as well. Then I'm going to let that drain through and then I'm going to put it back into its insulated hole in the ground so that it can continue to have that consistent temperature around the roots for the rest of the year.
Pests & Diseases: Natural Remedies
00:15:12
Speaker
Now, let's have a look at the pests and diseases that may occur with these trees.
00:15:20
Speaker
As I mentioned before, Phytophthora is probably your biggest one to watch out for. So that's over watering. I've mentioned it before. Just watch it. Come on, guys. But I have with me What Garden Pest or Disease Is That by Judy McMaugh. So I'm going to have a flick through back to the index and have a quick look.
00:15:44
Speaker
Great book, by the way, if you're in Australia. The latest edition has organic and chemical solutions in it for almost every pest and disease you'll get in Australia. Honestly, this is like my Bible when it comes to gardening and when it comes to pests and diseases in the garden. So, I'm looking at spruce because that's the one that I have.
00:16:07
Speaker
spruce and it says sea conifers. So here we go, back to conifers. So something to look out for with pests and diseases is a browning or blackening of the foliage. This will be caused by aphids or spruce spider mites. So something to look out for there. If I had either of these problems, the way that I would solve them would be the most natural way possible.
00:16:32
Speaker
Of course we can laden our trees with chemicals, but I am not really about that. I would be either using a water and soap solution for my aphids. I would, or even just spraying them off with a hose on a jet setting. And eventually what you'll end up seeing is that the ladybugs and the predators will start to come to it. But what you want to do is minimize the damage
00:17:02
Speaker
in the beginning by a little bit of intervention that's not chemical. Now, if you've got a really bad problem or if you've missed it, you haven't caught it, yes, chemical probably is the way to go, even though it hurts my soul to say.
00:17:19
Speaker
Another thing you can do if your garden is not quite really a part of the ecosystem is a Bugs for Bugs solution. Now that's a brand name, but a controlled bug release. You can release natural predators like ladybugs that will come in and munch and devour on those big fat juicy aphids for them. And hopefully they'll stick around if you've got other pests for them to eat as well.
00:17:46
Speaker
Another interesting point that Judy McMaugh in her book talks about is the fact that hot dry winds will make the foliage appear dull. Areas where the winds are salt laden aren't great for these trees and areas with high pollution may affect the foliage also. So there are a few things to look out for as well as the root rot phytophthora we were talking about earlier.
00:18:12
Speaker
She says, conifer pests and diseases should be taken seriously and controlled because if part of the plant has to be removed, the elegant formal shape will be destroyed. And that's what we want to avoid here,
Maintaining Tree Aesthetics
00:18:26
Speaker
guys. This is our Christmas tree. We want it to have that beautiful, full shape. So, keep an eye on those pests and diseases really closely.
00:18:36
Speaker
Make it a part of your weekly, daily, even walk around the garden inspecting your plants to see what's going on, because if you miss it, it's done. And as we spoke about before, aesthetics at Christmas time are everything.
00:18:53
Speaker
So to sum up, these trees can be a little bit finicky and there are a lot of work for only a couple of weeks of Christmas joy. But if you're a gardener like I am, which if you're listening to this show, you are, it's worth it. It's worth seeing your friends and family sitting around it opening their homemade gifts, their sustainably sourced gifts, wrapped in brown paper. It's all worth it.
00:19:19
Speaker
It's a sheer joy to grow these plants. And I hope you'll give it a go within the next year. If not for this year, you've got a week or so to go and find on. Give it a go. Look, gardening's about having fun, trying new things. If it doesn't work, it's a shame. But look, we'll try and we'll try again.
Conclusion and Holiday Wishes
00:19:42
Speaker
Thank you so much for listening to the show today, guys. It's actually my last show of the year. I'm gonna take a little break so I can work on some more episodes for you. I believe that I will be back at the very start of March. I know it's a long break, but it'll be worth it. Trust me, I've got some big things in store for us. I hope you have a magical holiday period with your family. And I hope to see you again in the new year. You can follow the pod at Growing Media Oz.
00:20:10
Speaker
on Instagram, hey, and Facebook. I've just made a Facebook page. It's rather lonely. Go and give it a like. But really, thank you so much for all the support over the last few months. I'm your host, Michael Haw. And, uh, hooroo. Oh, well, hang on. I won't see you in a fortnight. I'll see you next year.