Help with new passiflora caerulea, please

gwynne2006

16 years ago

The passiflora incarnata that I got off ebay is doing well, but of course I got impatient and ordered a passiflora caerulea from Ron. It looks great!

I am a little unsure how to care for it, however. My passiflora incarnata started with very small vines and I will put up a trellis as it grows. It is not at the stage where I need to wind it around anything yet.

The passiflora caerulea is already two of three feet long! There is a flower blooming and lots of buds. Even though it is a vine, for some reason, I had a vision in my mind of it arriving and standing straight up. Silly, I know.

I have several questions.

Do I thread it through my trellis? I imagine it needs support. Has anyone ever grown one without a place for it to climb?

How much light does it need to thrive? There are only limited parts of my balcony where I can put a trellis without it being an eyesore and I dont want to get complaints from the condo association. I do have an iron fence at the edge of my balcony. Would that be preferable to a plastic trellis?

Can passifloras be moved indoors during the winter if you can not plant them?

How deep of a pot do I need? I dont know anything about the root system and if the roots like to burrow.

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide. I want to get the passiflora caerulea situated by this weekend and hope to get information so I can get the best size pot and location for it.

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Comments (4)

MissSherry
16 years ago
I think your iron fence would be a great place for your passionvine! You can tie some twine from the bottom of the fence to the top and wind the vine around the twine - passionvine tendrils have a hard time catching onto iron or wooden bars or fence slats. Once it grows to the top of the balcony on the twine, it will grow sideways on its own - it'll bloom more sideways. The vine will soon cover up the twine entirely, so you can just leave it, but if it continues to show and you don't like the looks of it, you can cut if off once the vine has grown to the top and is self-supporting. What floor are you on? If you're higher than first floor, I'd think it'd look pretty to have your p. caerulea hanging down over the fence - your condo association wouldn't gripe about that, would they?
I've never grown a passionvine in a pot, but I'd assume you'd have to pot it up to a bigger pot as needed. My p. caerulea vines keep some of their leaves all winter long, but where you are, yours will probably get killed back by a freeze. Since the roots of yours will be in a pot, more exposed to cold than they would be if they were in the ground, you might need to bring it in before your temps are forecast to be, say, under 25 degrees.
Hope this helps!
Now I want to see the vine that stands straight up! Hehehe! You're a hoot!
MissSherry
susanlynne48
16 years ago
In winter, you might just want to set it in front of your balcony doors. I'm assuming you have some sliding glass doors that open onto the balcony, right? You'll probably have to cut it back some to bring it indoors, and provide it was something to climb on as well. Three stakes set in the pot like a "wigwam", should work just fine. It will probably slow down it's growth during that time anyway. Now, don't blame me if you coddle it so much it wants to climb all around your living room, up over the curtain rod and around your furniture! LOL!

Passion vines are vigorous vines IMHO! I planted a 3' P. caerulea about 5 weeks ago and it is already about 12' long!

Your incarnata is probably going to behave a lot like mine. Once the weather REALLY heats up, it will take off. Until then, it grows in small spurts. Mine is up from the ground about 4-6", but as the weather gets "consistently" warm, it will take off like a bat out of....well, you get the picture!

You may have to give it a good size pot eventually - up to 16-18" at least because I think passifloras have a good-sized root system. Just follow the plant's lead on that. Once you see roots peeking out the bottom of the pot, it's time to give it a larger pot. Got from 4" to 6", and then from 6" to 8", and then from 8" to 10", and so on. You may be able to skip a size and to to the larger pot, say 6" to 10" with this vine because of it's vigor. Just don't overwater it then.

My passi leaves droop when they need water. Passi's are good at conveying to you what they want and need - much better than some plants.

Passi's like lots and lots of sun, so give it the most sun exposure you can. They will take some shade, preferably in the late afternoon or evening. My gets shade from the West sun, and it does fine. Probably doesn't bloom as much, but if I do get buds, the Gulf Frits usually eat them anyway, so it's no big loss to me.

Hope this helps!

Susan
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gwynne2006
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you, Misssherry, I never thought about the twine. I am on the second floor. Currently, no one lives below me. But anyone can complain to the management about something looking unsightly. And my condo is the second one as you drive in! Well, if the plant gets too large, you will just have to send me some of your caterpillars to eat it!

I asked my parents and they said I can leave my plants in their basement for the winter. So I will try for the smallest size pot possible to making lugging it around easier.

Susanlynne, sliding balcony doors? Now I am laughing. I live in a small one bedroom apartment. It is so packed with things I am lucky to be able to get to the balcony door to open it. It is just a regular door. At one point, my apartment was so cluttered I didnt actually get to the balcony for several years. You can send your gulf frits to me too!

Thank you for the help.
tdogmom
16 years ago
You can also use cut up pantyhose to tie up your plant. :) Twist-ties (found on bread bags) also work. Passis will attach themselves pretty readily once they get started.

Help with new passiflora caerulea, please

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MissSherry

susanlynne48

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Help with new passiflora caerulea, please

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MissSherry

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gwynne2006
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