"Lemon" Cypress

Ironbeaver

Chumono
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I know. It will probably die in my solarium. I was bored and wanted to try it. It was cheap.

I forgot to take a before. It was a bushy Christmas plant. After some initial cutting, it looked like this:20171122_123637.jpgI spent some time clipping and wiring and ended up with this:
20171122_135612.jpg
I removed the excess soil and slipped it into a nearby pot with minimal root disturbance. Left the branches a bit long, I'll see what happens and start shortening later.
My idea is a far image of a larch in autumn.
 

miker

Chumono
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It might live long-term, especially if you can give it some winter chill each year, without hard freezes, since it is not a really hardy conifer, but not tropical. It is native to an island off Southern California, if I'm not mistaken.

That said, I wintered mine in SE Pennsylvania with the pot buried in mulch last winter and it lived.
 

substratum

Shohin
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Is this tree still living? My wife just bought one of these as a Grinch Christmas tree... wondering if it has a future in a pot or as bonsai.
 

Leo in N E Illinois

The Professor
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@substratum
You are in Florida, it should do well in your area, it will likely survive a few degrees of frost too. Do keep it outdoors most of the winter to get the cooling off at night it needs to set spring growth. Bring it in only to avoid hard freezes, where you will be below freezing for more than a few hours.

I don't know if the OP's tree is still alive. Hopefully they will drop in and let us know.

When pruning your lemon cypress, probably best to not remove more than 25% of the foliage at one time. Let it grow for 6 to 12 months before removing another 25% of the foliage. You might get away with removing more, but the lemon cypress is not as forgiving as a juniper. They are more like a Hinoki cypress, or a spruce in that too much done all at once will kill hit.

When you have more experience, (or rather more experienced growers) you might get away with being more aggressive with your pruning, but until you get the feel of how well it grows for you, take off less at a time is better.
 

Ironbeaver

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It died... I think it was too much all at once. I might try another one or two, but skip repotting.
 
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