GTIBoy,

First off, disregard the bit about cutting it back in early March. That's utter nonsense, and sounds like advice that's meant for another plant. It would be disastrous to treat a Picea pungens in this manner.

Get a small bamboo stake and some of the green hort. tape they sell in nurseries or in the big-box store. Tie the main stem to the stake to straighten it. As the plant grows, it will firm up in the position you set it in. It may be necessary to do this for the first several years with an increasingly larger stake but eventually it will grow upright without staking.

What are your plans for planting/potting up?

Alex

Hi Alex, So basically I need to straighten it up. Will the plant grow side branches at the bottom? As it looks abit bare there.

Plans were for it to be potted up in potting compost or some John Innes.

Not sure what these soils requirements for these are really. If you could let me know that would great Thanks.

This post was edited by gtiboy on Thu, Jan 2, 14 at 9:33

I'd just plant it straight up when you pot it up and don't bother with staking it up. It will grow straight up from there on.
As Alex says, "Cutting it back is pure nonsense".
Mike

where are you ...

why are you potting it.. rather than planting it in the ground??? ... at the appropriate time of year, of course ...

once it gets going.. it will grow over one foot per year ...

i see no evidence of a graft ... are you sure your source sent an actual hoopsi ??? ... based on those pruning instructions.. i wonder ?????

in mother earth.. as noted by others .. i would bare root it.. and plant it so its basically upright .... insuring proper planting depth ...

proper planting to me for me.. in MI ... is ground thaw in early april .... until then.. i would just do a pot in pot for a bigger root mass ...

conifers/trees... are extremely hard to grow as houseplants ....

it will not grow branches lower down ... when it it 5 feet tall.. those branches there.. will droop to the ground ...

you have a lot of expectations for what is probably a 2 or 3 foot tall long lived plant ...

mine was basically this size at planting.. a pic of it is below .... with its annual growth noted on the pic ...

ken

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