Pittosporum - Pittosporum

Pittosporum: variety description

Pittosporum (Pittosporum) is a genus that includes many different vegetation, belongs to the family Pittosporaceae. Pittosporum growing wild can be found in the subtropics and tropics of East Asian, Australian territory and Oceania, as well as in some places on the African continent.

This genus includes over one hundred and fifty varieties of different vegetation. The most popular is Pittosporum tobira. This crop was first grown in a garden plot, however, it later began to be cultivated as a houseplant.

Pittosporum: plant video

The Pittosporum plant is characterized by a rather low tree that grows up to six meters, it looks like a bush and branches strongly. The internodes of the shoots are rather shortened, the crown is flattened. The leaves are arranged in a spiral, they are of a simple shape, like leather, sitting on shortened petioles. The leaves are ten cm long, four cm wide. The leaves are oblong, in the form of an inverse egg, the outer surface has a dark green color, glossy, on it you can see a streak of lemon-yellow color. Over the years, the lower part of the shoot loses all foliage, it remains only at the end. As a result, the bush resembles a fluffy bouquet.

In the spring, the indoor flower Pittosporum blooms profusely. The appearance of flowers occurs in the leaf axils at the tops of the stem. Their color is white, they include five petals, in a cross section they are three cm. Inflorescences are small. In the place of flowers, in the future, spherical green fruits appear. Rather large grains ripen in them, covered with a substance resembling resin. When the fruits are fully ripe, the dried capsules crack and open, and the seeds do not fly out, but remain inside for a long time.

The greens of Pittosporum have several varieties and subspecies. A variety was obtained with variegated foliage, called "Variegata", which has an uneven whitish border along the edge of the leaf.

Pittosporum care

The indoor flower Pittosporum is quite unpretentious to care for, but moreover, it must be provided with special growing conditions.

Illumination level.

Wild Pittosporum greens are thermophilic, and if grown in a room, shading from the direct sun is required. When choosing a place for growing a plant, you need to take into account that with a lack of illumination, all leaves may fall off. And with excessive illumination, the leaves will grow vertically, this will destroy the original flattened crown.

In the winter season, there should be good illumination, for this reason the Pittosporum plant must be supplemented with phytolamps. Daylight hours should be about thirteen hours.

Greens Pittosporum: photo of the variety

Temperature conditions.

When it is warm, the temperature conditions in the place where the pittosporum grows should be in the range of eighteen to twenty-two degrees. The Pittosporum plant does not respond well to heat. In winter, the tree is at a dormant stage, for this reason, it is advisable to reduce the temperature regime to seven to ten degrees.

Watering.

Pittosporum is tolerated for short dry periods. Watering should be done in moderation. Watering is carried out after the surface soil layer dries up two to three cm deep. If it is cold in winter, watering is not done as often. Between watering, the soil mixture must necessarily dry out by half.If you overflow the plant, then its reaction will be negative. The root system will rot, the tree will die.

Moisture level.

In winter, when the heating is on, as well as in the heat, the leaves are sprayed with warm and necessarily boiled water, make sure that there are no whitish streaks on the outside of the leaves. At other times, spraying is not carried out, but warm sprinkling is required for hygiene.

Circumcision procedure.

In the spring, a formative circumcision is required. You also need to pinch young stems. Formative pruning should be carried out especially in adult specimens, after the foliage has fallen from the bottom of the stems.

Often, a wire frame is used to form a crown. The branches are quite flexible, they can be directed in the desired direction.

Soil mix.

The soil should be slightly acidic and fertile. It also needs to be water and breathable. To prepare the substrate, sod and leafy soil, sand in equal parts are combined. Remember good drainage, thanks to it, water will not stagnate in the soil mixture, because it can cause rot and death of the tree (especially during the cold winter season).

Fertilization.

Top dressing is carried out when the greens of Pittosporum grow intensively, namely, a couple of times every 30 days. For this purpose, organic matter and minerals are used, dressings are applied in turn. You can also feed with a complex for indoor vegetation (the dosage is indicated on the pack).

Transplanting.

Young Pittosporum plants are transplanted once a year, the capacity is changed to a container of a larger size. The tree reacts poorly to transplantation, it begins to grow slowly. Due to the fact that the plant adapts for a long time, the transplant is carried out by the transshipment method so as not to harm the soil coma.

Adult trees are rarely replanted; in large vegetation, the surface soil layer is systematically replaced.

Pittosporum: indoor flower reproduction

Greens Pittosporum: photo of the variety

Reproduction of Pittosporum is carried out by cuttings and the seed method. On the cuttings, you need to cut off the tops of the stems, they should be about ten cm in length. Before planting in vermiculite or sand (coarse grain), the cuttings are treated with a preparation to stimulate root formation. Cuttings take root after four weeks. Flowering begins only after five to six years.

It is not so easy to spread resin seed by seed. If you do not have experience, it is possible that the seedlings may simply die. Also, at first, there is practically no growth of seedlings. Therefore, pittosporum reproduces by this method only in that situation, if it is necessary to obtain a large number of young plants.

Diseases and harmful insects

Indoor flower Pittosporum: photo of the variety

The Pittosporum plant is immune to harmful insects. If the moisture content is very low, then the tree can be attacked by spider mites. To get rid of the pest, sprinkling with warm water is arranged, and large plants are treated with insecticidal preparations.

Usually, Pittosporum greens get sick if you care for it illiterately. In bright light, the leaves turn pale, then turn yellow. In low light, the color of the leaves can become one tone, and the stems can stretch out. The resin seed plant responds very badly to excess moisture.