How to Grow a Norfolk Island Pine Hydroponically

Spread some newspaper over your work surface. Take your Norfolk Island pine out of its nursery pot and remove the excess soilless potting mix from its roots. Rinse the root ball gently in tepid water to remove the mix from the roots of the plant.

Cut a strip of white felt 1 1/2 inches wide and 16 inches long with scissors. Work the top 4 inches of the strip through the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot.

Fill the bottom 2 inches of the pot with the gravel and vermiculite mix, ensuring the felt wick stays upright. The pot should be the same size as the nursery pot if the plant is new, or 2 inches in diameter larger than the original pot if the Norfolk Island pine was potbound. Hold the Norfolk Island pine upright in the center of the pot and gently fill in around the roots with the gravel mix. The plant should be at the same level as it was in its original container, just as if you were planting it in soil. Firm the mix gently around the roots with your hands so the plant stands upright. As the roots develop, it will have firmer support.

Wrap a measuring tape around the pot under its rim. Cut a hole in the center of the lid of the 5-gallon bucket with a utility knife to the same circumference as this measurement. With the lid on the bucket, make a small mark where the bottom of the lid sits against the sidewall of the bucket. Remove the lid. Cut a notch with a hacksaw from the edge of the bucket to 1/2 inch below that mark and about 1/2 inch wide.

Fill the bottom of the 5-gallon bucket with 2.5 gallons of water. Add 1/2 teaspoon potassium phosphate, 5/8 teaspoon potassium nitrate, 1 teaspoon calcium nitrate and 1 teaspoon Epsom salts. Mix well with a stir stick. According to Alabama Cooperative Extension, this basic hydroponic nutrient mixture is recommended for slow-growing foliage plants, like the Norfolk Island pine. The nutrients are commonly available from online hydroponics retailers, as well as from garden centers. Pour 1/2 gallon of the mixture into a watering can.

Move the bucket to a site that receives direct sun for at least a few hours a day and indirect sun the rest of the time. Place the airstone -- attached to the air pump via plastic tubing -- in the bottom of the bucket. Run the tubing thorough the notch cut in Step 4 and the air pump on the floor next to the bucket. Put the lid on the bucket.

Insert the plant, with the wick extending downward, into the hole in the top of the bucket's lid. The bottom of the plant pot should be sitting above the nutrient mixture with the wick extending into the mixture to the bottom of the bucket. Plug in the air pump to keep the nutrient mixture aerated.

Pour the 1/2 gallon of reserved nutrient mixture into the gravel mix around the base of your Norfolk Island pine. You should hear it flow through the gravel and into the bucket.

Fill the top of the bucket lid, between the pot rim and the rim at the edge of the bucket, with gravel and pour in a small amount of plain water. As the water evaporates, it provides the humidity that the soft, needled foliage of the Norfolk Island pine needs to thrive. A humidifier set nearby is an effective alternative.