How to Grow Bald Cypress Indoors

Indigenous to swampy areas, young bald cypress trees can start out being grown indoors.

A symbol of Southern swamplands, the bald cypress tree is majestic in its stature. Rising to heights of up to 150 feet, the tree is most suitable for being grown outdoors in humid, murky and muddy conditions. However, if you want to grow a bald cypress tree in your house, you can easily do so, as long as you know that a time will come when you will have to move the large tree outdoors to help ensure survival.

Things You'll Need

• Large pot with drain holes
• Garden soil
• Sand
• Watering can

Instructions

1. Start with bald cypress seedlings found at a nursery or through the Florida Division of Forestry. Though you can grow bald cypress from seeds, the process is challenging, as a specific moisture level must be maintained for seeds to germinate and grow.

2. Plant the bald cypress seedlings in a deep container. Make sure the pot has drainage holes along the bottom of the pot, as bald cypress trees require ample amounts of water; yet small seedlings are subject to root rot when kept too wet.

3. Fill the container with a soil mixture containing fertilizer-rich general soil, sand and peat. Use a combination mixture to help ensure the potting mix remains wet and moist at all times; imperative to promoting bald cypress tree growth. Dig a hole deep enough to ensure the entire root ball and base root structure is completely buried underneath the soil.

4. Water the bald cypress tree a minimum of once per week. Additional watering is necessary when growing the bald cypress indoors during warmer months or when indoor heating is being used. The bald cypress tree must not be allowed to dry out, therefore, check the moisture level of the plant every day by inserting you finger in to the soil.

Tips & Warnings

• To prevent seedlings from drying out and dying before being planted, place seedlings received from a nursery in a cellar or garage to be kept cool and dry until properly planted.

• Bald cypress trees can grow to heights of 150 feet and 12 feet in diameter. Keep the pot on a rolling tray to make moving the tree easier as the tree grows and begins to get too heavy to move. A time will come where the bald cypress will need to be transplanted to an outdoor area; preferably by a swamp, pond or lake.

References

• University of Florida IFAS Extension: Planting Cypress
• United States Department of Agriculture Plants Database: Bald Cypress
• University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture Research & Extension: Bald Cypress