Sticky Seeds, Pittosporum – Care, Cutting and Propagation

Sticky Pittosporum are usually very undemanding container plants that thrive in both sunny and semi-shady locations. They are just as suitable for a temperate conservatory as for the balcony or terrace.
From mid-May, after the ice saints, you can put them outside and bring them inside before the first night frosts. In locations with particularly mild winters, such as the Rhine Valley, this plant can also be planted in the garden.

Substrate

• High-quality potting soil is suitable as a substrate.
• This should have coarse-grained components such as grit, coarse sand, lava debris or gravel.
• These components make the substrate loose and permeable.
• Soils with a high peat content are rather unsuitable.
• The same applies to heavy soils that tend to become waterlogged.

watering and fertilizing

This plant should be watered regularly, although it can cope relatively well with short periods of drought. However, prolonged drought can lead to leaf loss and bare plants. During the growth phase, depending on the weather, it should be watered about twice a week with low-lime water if possible. On particularly hot days, possibly more often. In summer it should not be watered in the midday hours, but either in the morning or in the evening hours.

In order to cover the nutrient requirements of the evergreen sticky seeds, you should fertilize them with a special container plant fertilizer about every two weeks from April to September. The nutrient requirements of specimens planted out in the garden can be met by working in compost in March/April and again in June/July. Alternatively, mineral or organic commercial fertilizers can be administered.

repot

• Sticky Seed plants are relatively strong growers.
• As a result, young specimens should be repotted into fresh substrate every year if possible.
• For older plants, it is sufficient to transplant them every 4-5 years.
• As a rule, the more undisturbed they can grow, the better the development of sticky seeds.

hibernate

Since these plants are only partially frost hardy, ie up to a maximum of -5 degrees, they should overwinter frost-free. To do this, they must be brought into the house before the first night frosts. There they should get a bright and cool place with temperatures between 5 and 8 degrees. In a winter quarter with little light, the room temperature should be below 5 degrees, but not below 0 degrees.

If it overwinters too dark, Sticky Pittosporum loses its leaves. In some cases, entire branches can also die off. This plant is particularly sensitive to late frosts, which can lead to complete death. Accordingly, you should only put them outside again when no more night frosts are to be expected, i.e. usually after the ice saints or after May 15th.

Watering is only moderate in the winter quarters, so that the root ball always remains slightly moist and does not dry out completely. Specimens planted in the garden should be protected from severe frosts with appropriate winter protection. Don’t fertilize in winter.

To cut

A pruning is not absolutely necessary for the sticky seeds, but it makes sense, especially since this plant is also very tolerant of pruning. It is best to cut back the entire shrub in spring before new growth. If possible, you should always cut about 1 cm above the so-called leaf whorls. There is talk of a whorl of leaves when there are three or more leaves at a leaf node.
A leaf node, in turn, is the thickened part of the stem from which the leaves form. When cutting, you can easily cut back into the old wood. Due to its compatibility with pruning, sticky seeds are also well suited for topiary, for example in the form of a cone, pyramid or sphere, but also as a single-trunk tree.

Propagation by seed

Sticky seeds, Pittosporum can be propagated by seed or cuttings. You can use seeds from existing plants, for example. These bright red seeds are in the ellipsoidal to spherical and up to 1.5 cm large capsule fruits in a sticky liquid.

The seeds are sown in spring or May in pots in an appropriately permeable substrate. Then the substrate should be kept moderately moist and placed in a sunny place with temperatures of at least 20 degrees.
It usually takes several weeks to germinate. Once germination has taken place, the seedlings grow into sizeable plants. In the first year it is advisable to prune the young plants several times so that they branch well. When no more night frosts are to be expected, the plants can slowly go outside.

Through cuttings

For propagation by cuttings, you can take cuttings from semi-mature shoots in spring or summer. These should be about 8-10 cm long and cut below a leaf node. Then remove the bottom leaves and place the cuttings in small pots in a sandy substrate, eg a mixture of equal parts peat and sand.

Now the sticky seeds are lightly poured on and a translucent foil or plastic bag is put over the cuttings or the pot. It is best to place the pot in a bright place without direct sun. You should always keep the substrate slightly moist.

After about 5-6 weeks, the first new shoots should appear on the cuttings. If this is the case, the foil is removed so that the cutting can get used to the new light and temperature conditions for the next 1-2 weeks.

Now it is only poured when the substrate has dried well. If the new shoots are about 7-10 cm high, you can fertilize for the first time. When the first roots emerge from the top of the earth, the cutting is transplanted into a larger planter in commercially available standard soil.

diseases and pests

This plant is relatively insensitive to diseases. As far as pests are concerned, it is particularly susceptible to aphids, scale insects but also mealybugs.

aphids

Plants are particularly susceptible to aphids during the winter. The air in the room is then usually relatively dry and there is often a lack of light. In addition to the aphids themselves, which can be seen on leaves or young shoots, an aphid infestation can also be recognized by sticky honeydew on the leaves. These are the sugary excrements of this pest.
Furthermore, the leaves roll up, curl up and yellow spots form. The aphids can also lead to an infestation with sooty mold fungi. A corresponding fungal attack can be recognized by the black discoloration of the leaves.

To combat the pest, affected plants should first be isolated from healthy ones to prevent spread or infection. In the case of an initial infestation, it may be sufficient to spray the affected plant with a stronger jet of water. In the case of a stronger infestation, the specialist trade offers ready-to-use plant protection products in the form of sprays, buds or sticks.

In order to prevent an infestation, you should always ensure a healthy room climate with sufficiently high humidity, because aphids tend to infest already weakened plants.

scale insects

A scale insect infestation can usually be recognized by the small, brown, upward-curved dorsal shield of this pest . Since these are very small, they are often overlooked and an infestation is only discovered when it is already advanced and the leaves and flowers have become crippled and the leaves have become discolored.

Here, too, affected sticky seeds should be separated from the others as quickly as possible. Under no circumstances should scale insects be wiped off, because the female insects could still contain hatched larvae, which can then be spread over the entire plant by wiping them off.

To combat it, systemic agents from specialist shops are usually required, which are available in the form of sprays or sticks that are stuck into the substrate.

Mealybugs or mealybugs

Mealybugs or mealybugs can be recognized by white wax threads that resemble a cotton ball and small webs. Like aphids, mealybugs and mealybugs can also cause sooty mold. To combat this, the trade offers appropriate pesticides, which usually have to be used several times at certain intervals.

sorts

• Narrow-leaved sticky seed (Pittosporum tenuifolium) – The narrow-leaved sticky seed reaches heights of growth of up to 1.50 m. It produces strongly fragrant dark red to purple flowers. The laurel-like leaves are light green with a whitish midrib. It is very suitable for a topiary.
• Sticky Seed (Pittosporum tenuifolium) – ‘Silverqueen’ – This shrub features striking blackening of the trunk and branches and a slender crown. Small red-brown, sweet-scented flowers appear on older specimens in summer. It can reach growth heights of 0.50 – 2.50 m.
• Chinese Sticky Seed (Pittosporum tobira) – The Chinese Sticky Seed grows up to 2m tall. The orange blossom-scented, creamy-white, star-shaped flowers appear profusely from May to June. He is very cut tolerant. Since it tends to bare, a pruning makes sense.
• Variegated Sticky Seed (Pittosporum tobira) – ‘Variegatum’ – This variegated sticky seed has an upright, compact habit. It grows up to 2.50 m high. The dark green leaves are lighter colored at the edges. The fragrant light yellow flowers appear from August to September.
• Curled Sticky Seed (Pittosporum undulatum) – Curled Sticky Seed captivates both with its creamy white flowers and its leaves, which are noticeably wavy at the edges. It reaches growth heights of up to 3 m.

Conclusion
Pittosporum sticky seeds are ornamental foliage plants with shiny leathery leaves, which are cultivated as an evergreen shrub, subshrub or small tree in a container. They are not hardy, should be watered and fertilized regularly and also repotted. Before the first night frosts, they have to move to their winter quarters. Above all, you have to ensure an optimal room climate there, among other things by regularly spraying the plants, because it is precisely during this time that they are particularly susceptible to pest infestation.