Potted Christmas Trees for inside

[Cheerfulcharlie]

I'm thinking of getting a potted Christmas tree this year. I have seen loads of small ones and we've had one like this for outside the front door for a few years but is it possible to get large ones (6-7ft) for inside? Do they cope with being inside for 4-5 weeks then being in the garden for the rest of the year?

It would cope but how the hell will you move it!? It’s pot will be so big and heavy.

We have a 2ft in a pot which lives in the garden and gets lights put on it. I repotted last year and just that size weighed a lot and reporting was a right spikey faff 😀

I just bought one which was about 5ft including pot, from Tesco for £20. But everywhere else the potted trees seemed to be between 2 & 4 ft for around the same price.

I’ve now repotted it in a larger pot so it’s raised the height to about 5 1/2 foot +.
It was heavy before I repotted it but it weighs an absolute ton now. Luckily it’s for the kitchen and currently just outside the back door. So between me and dh will be easy enough to lift over the step.

A garden centre near me was doing them up to 5/6 ft but they were about £50 Not sure if you’d get a 7ft one though.

Actually the garden centre I mentioned, I just double checked and the largest they do is actually 160 cm so just over 5 ft. Havent seen any, larger than this.

Our little 2-ft potted ones are heavy enough - I tried to rescue a 5ft potted one from the street last year and couldn't lift it to save my life! If you didn't particularly want it all year, have you seen the companies that rent potted Christmas trees? I think it might be £££ but saves the faff!

Thank you - I hadn’t considered how heavy it would be! It would be sitting v close to the French doors and we could lift it onto one of those little trolleys for moving plants so could be possible. How fast do they grow if you repot them in larger pots?

In my experience, potted trees don't cope so well with a few weeks in the warm then being put outside. They sometimes live for a few years but sometimes don't last more than one year.

You want to make sure to keep the soil moist and when bringing outside it would be good to gradually acclimate it, from house to the utility room/ garage and then after a week to take it out.

I have a 2ft potted one every year. It goes in the coldest room in the house and is well watered when in. It goes into a sheltered & sunny outdoor area then planted in late Feb. Yet to have any die yet, all are growing well in different aspects of the garden. This years is going into the school field as we are developing an area. They don’t do well staying in pots in my opinion.

We always have real potted ones. I find they don’t like being inside more than two or three weeks and particularly in a warm room. I often find the branches facing the wall didn’t do well either. I’d not leave a tree in a pot more than 18 -24 months. They really need planting to thrive (and then they really grow!). Nowadays we put our potted Xmas tree outside the window with lights and wind proof decorations instead of inside the house. They much prefer it and it doesn’t clutter the room up either.

@Cheerfulcharlie

Thank you - I hadn’t considered how heavy it would be! It would be sitting v close to the French doors and we could lift it onto one of those little trolleys for moving plants so could be possible. How fast do they grow if you repot them in larger pots?

Yes ours will be next to the french doors as well I figured that as the door will be getting opened regularly for the cats this will help (along with watering) to keep it from overheating and drying out.

The last potted tree I had lasted for three years until it succumbed in a mega heat wave we had (also was in a black pot which didn’t help) it was 3 ft when I bought it and it was nearing 6 ft when he died.

I’m sure I read that potted trees can grow up to a foot per year as they are slower growing than planted trees due to root restriction. I’m also going to get a wheely base for moving it. I have a good spot out of direct sunlight that I’m going to put it.

Not sure how long it’ll last but willing to give it bloody good go as I have nowhere to plant it in my garden!

Make sure it was brown in a pot and not just put in one to sell as they won’t have a good root system. I bought a pot grown tree yesterday, cost me £40 and is just under 5ft, it was pretty heavy and will need repotting as soon as Christmas is over but it’s a lovely tree.

As @Lovemusic33 says most potted trees sold are not pot grown and do not have root systems to survive. So be sure to check if you are hoping to keep it year after year or transplant it into your garden.

There are two ways to grow a potted tree.

First one is that it starts as a seedling in a retainer pot. Where it eventually gets transplanted into the ground along with retainer pot intact. This is to contain the root system and stop it spreading. That way they can dig it back out without touching/damaging the root system. (This is how my tree was grown)

Second is truly pot grown, where it has stayed in the pot from seedling, often the roots will be growing out the top and bottom as it needs a new pot. (My last one)

Either way should have the original pot still intact, then wrapped in plastic. Before being placed into a decorative pot.

I have heard that some trees are dug straight up and plonked into a pot for sale, those are likely to have root damage and won’t survive!

We have two every year. One is about 3ft tall and is ih ab elevated position in the living room. This is it's third Christmas - we repotted it after the first and it lives in the garden between Christmases.

Then in the back room we always have a bigger one. This year's is taller than me, and I'm about 5'8". It cost £25 from Wilko. They last loads better than a cut tree