AusBonsai

How many out there are growing spruce. I have one and although it fights on it never stays healthy for me.
What are peoples care notes for the spruce. Part shade, Full sun do they like to dry out a little as most conifer do?
Thanks

Have tried a Picea Abies ( Norway Spruce) that only lasted a year.
And Picea Albertiana Conica that stayed for several years but never did much and has now gone to god

Ken

Thanks KC maybe I am not doing so bad but I think I can still be doing better!

My spruce have also gone past their use by date. They come from very cold climates - cool summer (by our standards) with below freezing temperatures in winter (let it snow, let it snow, let it snow). Except for alpine areas they struggle to survive in Australia. It's the heat that kills them. They cannot take up enough water to cope. Even in England they are known to struggle (as bonsai) during the warmer months if they are potted in shallow pots. If you can create a micro climate for your spruce to mimic cool summers you're half way there.

My spruce seem to be OK ,touch wood!!. When you water spruce you have to spray on the foliage ..I change the mix this year from 50%sand down to 30% and replace that with mulch and they are still the same .Very slow growing (albertiana conica) (only 1cm a year for the last 6years) . They give a good display in september and that is it. You have to keep an eye on the foliage at all time ,as soon as you see the change in colour to a lesser green then do some thing about it .Idont feed them at all just water them well .I gave one to my friend and she placed them in the kitchen window and lasted for one week and there were nothing I could do.
Hoang

I have a spruce growing up here in North Qld where it is hot, hot, hot and humid. I can't say it is doing well, but is alive and growing slowly. I have had it about 9 months. If I can keep it alive up here, you guys down south should be able to grow them.

I find in the hot north, my plants do better being watered with a sprinkler twice per day so that the entire plant is watered, foliage as well. I have arranged my plants so the ones that like it less wet are on the outer fringes of the sprinkler's range. We went to Tasmania for 10 days over Christmas, and I left the sprinkler on an automatic timer. When I came home, not one single plant had suffered from it.

Glenda

Had two one lasted two years Albertiana conica the other went 3 years ago when I was going backward and forward to the hospital to visit MRS pup who nearly carked it
The tree did It was a different one it was a drawf variety which for the life of me I cannot remember if it comes back I will post. I did have it for 12 years. so the might be something in my archives

The one thing I have learnt from this is they are bloody hard to grow, in a hot DRY climate and must NEVER be allowed to dry even for one day.
Never go without a watering when the weather is above 22 or above.
Cheers Pup

Thanks for the help Guys. This was what I often thought of as my ugliest tree so it was not getting the best care of the collection. The soil could be better as I was too unsure to replace too much. I thought it was getting overwatered for a conifer as the soil never really dried out but maybe that is what has been saving it. It has been in almost full sun so if it likes things a bit cooler just fixing that should help alot.
It surprised me by booming last spring with great fresh growth but It is back to the scruffy thing of last year.
It definitely needs a new set of roots but I will see if I can get it growing better for the whole season before I try that.
Thanks again for the help

Spruce hate the hot sun last year on black saturday many of the dwarf spruce in my garden were killed by the heat, some of them had been in the garden for 20 years and were well established plants. I would give them morning sun and light shade during the heat of the day.
Craig

Hi Bretts, I don't have a spruce and when I found out that it's hard to keep as bonsai for many people, I was thinking that I will never keep one. Then I look at this pic from the net and it's so gorgeous!

Heres one that survived, its a dwarf form of abies koreana.