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WANTED: Inducing flowering in passiflora

19 years ago

Please healp this passiflora novice - I have a 12' long passion vine in my greenhouse which has given me ONE flower/fruit in it's entire 2-year existence.

Is there a way to induce flowring in passifloras? Sorry, can't tell you the variety - it looks and tastes like Edulis but shouldn't be (that wasn't one of the 4 varieites it might be). I started about 4 different varieties a couple of years ago and they took so long to germinate that the tags faded. I have since forgotten what those 4 were, I know one was Quadrangularis, and another was Mollissima and the fruit certainly wasn't sweet or large. I know aht Mollissima fruit looks and tastes like and it wasnt that either.

Second question - are there any special tricks to rooting passiflora cuttings?

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Comments (3)

cranebill
19 years ago
AdrianaG,

Sorry I can't advise you. In fact I was going to post a nearly identical question on this forum but when I saw yours I thought it best to wait and see the responses.
But there haven't been any (?).

I've got two vigourous Passiflora vines that I grew from a packet of mixed seed. They are probably the same variety, as they have identical leaf shape and overall form and habit, but I don't know what the might be. The plants grow very well and I have frequently had to cut them back. I keep them in a bright room during winter and outdoors in full sun during summer. They are growing together in a 14" planter and are being supported by a trellis. All seems well...but in three years, these plants have not produced a single bloom. What's the problem?

AdrianaG, I hope we hear from someone soon.

cranebill
patsy_b
19 years ago
I have grown several varieties of passiflora from seed. I am by far NO expert. Here is what I have found. From seed most will not flower until the second year. They all need bright light. Most do better in at least 1/2 day of full sun. Some only bloom in certain seasons. Incense, Lady Margaret, Lavender Lady, Blue Bouquet,Incarnata, Caeruleas, and probably many more that I can not remember right now start blooming in the spring and bloom until frost. Alata, Eudlis, Vitiflora for me bloom when the weather cools in the fall. I do not fertilize my in ground passifloras at all. The ones in the pots I only fertilize with fertilizer for blooming plants.

I have one passiflora that I grew from seed that the mother plant was vitiflora and the pollen I used was Constance Elliot that is 3 or 4 years old that has never bloomed. If it does not this summer it will be tossed.

Patsy
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Vlad, I've just read this thread going through pretty much the same process myself. I found a lot of useful info over in the passiflora forum where the serious passiflora diehearts live. I also vacillate between kiwi/passionfruit/grapes/climbing berries. My parents have a beautiful kiwi plant in CA that doesn't produce. No matter what they do (they baby the thing, hand pollinate it, protect it from everything) it won't produce fruit, just foliage. My mom is ready to chop the thing down to replace it with something else. That made me give kiwi some second thoughts. In NZ and Australia, kiwi is much more a native plant. In regards to passionfruit, I understand there are quite number of different edible passionfruit varieties. I've heard you can order them from a place in FL and get the seeds that way) I've never tasted maypop from the US before, but from all the descriptions I've read, it doesn't sound like it can compare to the more delectable tropical forms. I've only eaten Australian passionfruit. I have just spent a year in Australia, and since then, I've been on a quest for passionfruit for my eldest son, blueberries/( perhaps serviceberries?) for my youngest son, and I think I'll have to quell my daughter with something other than mangoes and guavas (maybe strawberries?). It's hard to live in the Mid-Atlantic and love tropical fruits. It's been disappointing buying good looking but tasteless fruit in the stores. I'm learning that's it's probably better to grow your own or learn to eat native fruits. I'm a slow newbie at all of this:) I appreciate the concept of edibles (but have never grown anything but herbs/veggies) and love the seductive beauty of the passionflower and anything that is fragrant too. Given that I have a so little space for planting, I am always trying to find plants that multi-task (interesting, hardy, edible and fragrant). Low maintenance is also high on my criteria list. How low maintenance would containing passioflora be, I wonder? I don't know if I can deal with a bathtub. What other container options are you considering? Good luck!
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chills71
19 years ago
I also have non-blooming passionflowers. One I believe to be an edulis (it is huge) is about 2 years old, the other is unknown (seed bought online by my wife who doesn't remember where she got it) and 3+ years old.

The Edulis one I can tell you rooted very easily for me. I just cut off a stem about 12-14 inches long and pushed 4-5 inches of it into potting soil. It has been in there for 3 months and has pushed out about 6 more inches of growth and as many more leaves (so I am betting it has rooted).

I started giving them bloom boosting fertilizer and epsom salts once a month just after Christmas. If there is no bloom by June, I will be planting both of them into the ground and letting them live or die based upon the climate (I've got 5 other blooming passionflowers in pots to take care of, two slackers can pass away or be identified (the second one definately is a different variety than Edulis) by their hardiness.

~Chills

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