How to cultivate Pitosforo
How to cultivate Pitosforo
Pittosporum is a genus of plants from the Pittosporaceae family, with origins in Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. These are trees with arboreal or shrubby habit, which can reach several meters in height. This plant produces small inedible green berries. In Italy, especially in the South, in Sardinia and Sicily it is cultivated for ornament and to build hedges along the sea coasts.
In this card we will see how to cultivate Pitosforo, following the most suitable agronomic measures and the most appropriate techniques for its forms of farming.
Pitosforo is an evergreen shrubby plant with twisted branches, oblong and opposite leaves of bright green color.
The flowers, gathered in terminal umbels formed by small fragrant flowers with corolla composed of five white-cream petals. The fruits, as mentioned, are spherical capsules which enclose small seeds with a resinous coating. Flowering occurs between the months of March and July.
It is a plant that grows well in sunny places and very tolerant of brackish winds, typical of marine areas.
From the soil point of view, Pitosforo also grows on arid soils and with the sole availability of rainwater. In the south it is often found in chalky, chalky and therefore rather arid soils but for optimal growth it is good that the substrate is light and organic with perfect drainage.
As for the water supplies, as mentioned, it is a plant that, except for the first two years after the plant, can live exclusively with the humidity that the soil accumulates with rainwater; for this reason it is a very suitable plant in coastal areas where there is little availability of irrigation water or this is destined for more demanding crops.
In any case if you want more abundant blooms it is good to irrigate regularly during the period of vegetative growth.
As far as fertilizations are concerned, Pitosforo can grow in rather arid soils and, in any case, it is good to plant mature manure or organic room in the planting hole before it is planted, which allow it to grow more in the first few years. Subsequently you can always intervene with organic substances to make at the end of the winter period by placing it at the base of the plants and mixing it with the first layers of soil.
As regards the propagation of Pitosforo this is possible both by seed and by semi-woody cutting.
For sowing it is necessary to start from the operation of spreading the seeds in a cold box, in the period of March. The seeds must be covered with a few mm of mixed organic-sandy substrate and irrigated to keep the first cm of soil always moist. Once the young seedlings are sprinkled, the irrigation must be carried out with less intensity to avoid radical rot.
In the technique of propagation by cuttings, we need to take some branches from the mother plant, 15-25 cm long, deprive them of almost all the leaves and place them in a peat and sand substrate until new shoots appear. Also here the irrigation must follow the same criterion seen before.
For the planting of pitosforo it is necessary to wait for the period between April and May by digging holes of double pot size
Also important is the pruning technique which has two objectives; that of giving shape to the hedges (if the plant is cultivated with this objective) and to always eliminate dry, damaged or sick branches. Pruning is carried out annually from April to June, eliminating precisely the dry and damaged branches, balancing those that are too long to give the plant a harmonious and compact shape.
It must also be said that the pitosforo can be governed, with appropriate pruning, also in the form of a globular sapling.
Lastly, it should be remembered that Pitosforo can also be bred in pots; in this case it must be repotted in a larger container when the roots come out of the watering drainage holes. The plant is extracted with its earthen bread and repotted using new soil. A final consideration for the Pitosforo plant diseases. Although it is a very resistant plant, it tends to become softer especially when it is exceeded with fertilizers and in particular with those based on nitric nitrogen (which should never be made in this form). In these cases the Pitosforo can be subjected above all to infestations of aphids, cochineals and, consequently, of fumaggini.In these cases excellent are the treatments with products that can also be prepared at home based on macerated of nettle and / or soap Marseille.
With these devices you will have protected the useful entomofauna, the microflore and microfauna of the ecosystem and, moreover, these are very economical operations.