A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Plant Propagation Passion Flowers

Anyone here familiar with Passiflora? I would like to try to grow some from seeds and need tips on the best way to do it. Thanks!

are you talking about the passion vines? they make that flower that is so odd it's beautiful?

passiflora is the genus with many species. I've successfully grown a passiflora from fresh seed from a supermarket fruit (I bought a fruit just for the seed). The fruit was $1.99 (the round purple/blackish ones) and had a ton of seeds. The seeds germinate in about 2 weeks, and the leaves won't have three lobes, instead they are regular leaves. I sprouted mine in paper towel in a baggie on my desk (no extra heat, but some extra heat might speed up germination). Transplanted the germinated seeds (when the root first started to poke out about half an inch long)...did six two a 4" pot and thinned out to two (if I knew I'd be so successful, I would have transplanted less per pot). Keep transplanting into a larger pot until it's time to harden off. I forgot to harden off the seedlings and they died a horrible sun burnt death. I started mine in January or February, and they filled a 1 meter (dollar-store) trellis when it went outside. As with most seeds, the fresher the sooner they germinate. Make sure you clean the seeds real well before drying or putting them in a paper towel or else they're going to go moldy.

Do you know what species you had? I think I have P. Encarnata but the fruit doesn't look like it. I put some of the seeds that were fresh in some pete moss in a mini greenhouse on my front porch today. It seems to have worked for my Daylillies and Trumpet flowers. I didn't have enough pots so I used some tupperwear. I still have some seeds left over that I don't want to plant just yet until I see if my method works. Any suggestions on how to store them. Thanks for all of the help!!!
Oh, and what does "harden off" mean?

Harden off simply means to acclimatize them outside. Inside, even if you have special grow lights, the light that the plants get isn't as strong as the sun's rays. To harden off, you leave your plant in shade outside for a few hours to start with and slowly leave the plant outside longer, and then a few hours in partial sun, a few hours in full sun, etc. I would say it takes about two weeks to harden them off, and even then, the shock of the transplant might cause them to loose their leaves, etc. Sun burnt leaves are paper thin and white.

I'm not too sure on the species, but I am guessing (the round ones from the supermarket) are probably Passiflora edulis. I think P. incarnata is one of the hardier ones. Sounds like a fine setup you've got here. I usually sterilized potting soil, with some vermiculite mixed in it, and I used those spikes of fertilizer that you find at the dollar store after the plants were 6" tall. The tupperware is fine as long as you pole holes at the bottom to allow any excess water to drain out or it might drown your seedlings!!!! I just cleaned off the flesh from the seed, then air dried them...make sure you get them dried if you are storing in little baggies or else they will rot and get moldy.

:ding:

Now you know why we love having Kenny here.........He is keen ...Cute too.

I use anything , even Margarine tubs......Throwaways later.
Passiflora wont germinate for me.......Beats me how some of the others do.

Thanks kenny charmer as usual.
We missed you here............

Thanks Kenny! I will follow your suggestions and update you on how it turns out. I will poke some holes in the bowls. I had been using a 10cc syringe to apply just enough water to the mix. I thought that the soil was supposed to remain "just damp" so I applied it sparingly.


Dodge--I see you are from Western PA. I moved to NC from Pittsburgh 3 years ago. Small world!

Bet your not sorry you moved.......
That was about 50 mile from me .

Kenny is cool .

Hi Kenny.....


what happened to my package...? Did it arrive or not..? No news from u.... been wondering....

Kenny just got home, was away for 5 weeks and we missed him lots.

He should be here soon..