PlantSowGrow
How to plant and care for Pittosporum (Tom Thumb)
Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Tom Thumb'
🌸 Flower
🔁 Perennial
A neat, rounded evergreen ball of glossy, deep-purple wavy leaves — ideal in pots and small gardens.
Growing Pittosporum (Tom Thumb): what it needs
- Light
- Full sun · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Water well for the first summer, then in dry spells
- Soil
- Fertile, well-drained soil
- Spacing
- 60 cm
- Height
- 90 cm
- In pots
- Grows well in containers
- Feeding
- Balanced feed in spring
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 8–10
Step by step
- On planting day
Plant
Plant at the same depth as it was in its pot, 60 cm apart, and firm in.
- 0–1 days after “Plant”
Water In Well
Give a full can of water, then keep moist for the first few weeks while roots establish.
- 7–14 days after “Water In Well”
Mulch Around the Base
Spread 5 cm of compost or bark around the plant, keeping it off the stems.
Every year
- AprilLight Clip
Lightly clip to shape in spring if needed.
- DecemberWinter Protection
In cold areas, protect pots from hard frost.
