I've done cuttings of all three of those with good success. I used rooting hormone, perlite with a bit of peat moss, bottom heat, and a misting system.

Thanks for the feedback daveh. I'll try to follow your advice more carefully next time around (except no mist system). Actually, at the moment I'm pretty close, with a P. manicata and a P. tripartita var. mollissima in 100% perlite, 65-75 F with about 5 F of bottom heat and Rootone. I also have the same species in an "aeroponic" bubbler system.

I posted a similar question on the Cloudforest Cafe, and the consensus seemed to be to try a cool greenhouse. Since we pretty consistently have cool greenhouse temps in the South Bay for the next two months, I also set up a couple exoniensis cuttings outside in full shade (with a humidity dome) in 1:1:1 perlite:pumice:peat (the pumice is because the particle size of my perlite is a bit small).

I bought 3 plants at this month's Strybing sale: two P. x exoniensis and one P. manicata. It's not as greedy as it sounds--I'm only keeping one exoniensis, the other two are going to friends. Anyway, you guys grow great plants--thanks!

So people know what I'm talking about, the P. x exoniensis have 10 and 12 buds each. They are a huge relative to their one gallon pots (I'd like to repot asap but I don't want the buds to abort):

A picture of some of the buds:

Not bad for $15.

Wow what a nice exoniensis for $15!!! I paid $15 plus shipping for a 8" plant. Where did you get that?
Mine is the same size now and still no bud in sight. Wah...I can't wait anymore.

I have had many passies root in just water successfully, but not the exoniensis yet. I'm still trying in water though.
I usually cut or actually tear right below the leaf node. I also take that leaf off and most of the others so that it puts energy into rooting. I usually put it in a clear plastic cup so that light gets in and I keep it in a well lit area.

Hi passionlove,

The plant is from Strybing Arboretum (San Francisco Botanical Garden) in Golden Gate Park. There's no charge to get in. Once a month they have plant sales--here's their schedule:

http://www.sfbotanicalgarden.org/plant_sales/plant_sales.htm

They're only from 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. and a line forms ahead of time, but it's pretty short. What gets me is how low key they are. Not too many people show up, and there's no mad race to grab the plants. I think if you showed up half an hour or an hour late you could still get really nice Passifloras no problem, at least both times I was there. Actually I thought the selection was not as good this time. Last time they had: P. antioquiensis, P. antioquiensis x parritae, all for $15 for a 1 gallon pot. They also had P. exoniensis x parritae, which I ended up buying, for $12. Exoniensis was at both sales, and was roughly twice as big (in bulk) as the others, although all I've mentioned so far needed repotting. There was also an umbilicata hybrid, which I don't know much about and there may have been others. They did have the exo x parritae this time, but not the antio nor the hybrid.

They also have a P. parritae and P. membranacea on their grounds. I don't know if they propagate these for sales or not. I assume there are many other species and hybrids that show up at these sales.

Beyond the Passiflora (that Strybing is so famous for), they sell all sorts of things at the sales. Two examples I've heard of are Deppea splendens and Brugmansia vulcanicola. But what really strikes me about the sales (and you only have to look at the Passiflora prices to see this), the point of these sales is to make these plants available to the public, not to cash in on them because they are "rare". (As an aside, I believe Grassy Knoll has a similar mindset--$15 each for 4 inch P. antioquiensis and P. membranacea among others, although she is of course running a business).

By the way, if you click on daveh_sf's profile, it will tell you that he works as a volunteer propagating the Passiflora. So he's in part responsible for these great plants.

I'm curious--how well does exoniensis do (in general) in Florida? Will it bloom in spite of the hot days and warm nights? I ask because I know someone who might want one of these plants if they can in fact adapt well to the climate.

By the way, if you are pruning your plant for cuttings, if you don't already you may want to leave the longest vines alone. My very limited experience suggeests that's where the buds tend to come from.

Thanks for the kind words about the Strybing sales. I might add a few things: 1)The monthly sales are nice, but the May sale is the BIG one - I've heard from some people who travel from out of state to go to the May sale, and people line up an hour or more ahead of time for the members-only preview sale. 2) If you don't see what you're looking for at a sale, just ask. We don't put all our stock out (It's a lot of schlepping plants back and forth, and most of us are pretty old). 3) We try to propagate parritae, but it's very difficult from cuttings and it rarely sets seed. We have some nice parritae hybrids though. 4) The best way by far to get great plants is to be a volunteer at the nursery! We always need more help, in vines and other areas. No experience required.

Here is a link that might be useful: Strybing volunteer opportunities

Hey Mark,
Thanks for the info. Yeah I have read about the Strybing before on these forums. I always wish I could go there. Maybe one day when I have to go for a business trip to California. Too bad I don't live closer..:(

As far as the exoniensis in FL goes, mine has done pretty well. I bought it last summer, and have put it in a part shady area. It had some droopy leaves during the summer, but it made it. I also had to water it pretty much every day. This year I may just bring it inside during the really hot days.
As far as the blooms go, I still don't have any. I would imagine that it would blooms best in late fall.

daveh,

I've never been to one of the sales, but I can imagine. I used to live in Pasadena and the Huntington sales were amazing--people would line up 2 hours in advance with their wagons. On the other hand, I went to the UC-Santa Cruz nonmember's sale last year and was incredibly disappointed--everything was already cleaned out by the member's sale just before (no Proteas, no Leucospermums, one or two Banksias...). I've heard that even the member's sale there is a free for all, and that you have to plan in advance exactly what you want and run for it.

The thing that I like about the monthly sales at Strybing is that they are so low-key (do most people even know they exist?), so that even really amazing plants are often still there after 30 minutes. In February the Passiflora table was really sleepy and I imagine that P. antioquiensis, P. exoniensis, P. antio x parritae and P. exo x parritae were still there for quite a while. There just wasn't a mob of people there to grab them.

As you say, the people working there were incredibly helpful. I met up with someone at the sale this month to exchange some plant material, and he asked for a particular plant that was not on the sale table (possibly P. bogotensis? I'm not sure). Anyway, the guy went right back to the greenhouse and got it for him. It's great to hear that's standard practice--pretty amazing. It sounds like if you really want a particular plant the monthly sales might make more sense if it's that easy.

daveh--If you are still reading this thread, I have a question. The themed sales later in the year: perennials, native plants, etc. (also each month)--do they have a substantial representation of other plants, or are there fewer? I've heard that a native plant sale is not for example, just a native plant sale, but a general sale with an emphasis on natives. So in this particular case would there be fewer non-native plants?

Also regarding volunteering--do they make it so that people can do it only one the weekend? Many botanical gardens are geared so only retirees can volunteer.

Passionlove--that's interesting. I'm always amazed by the plants that "shouldn't" do well in Florida yet survive, or even thrive. Another Andean species, Solanum quitoense or Naranjilla comes to mind.

From a book chapter on the plant (actually a really nice book online on a Purdue site):

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/naranjilla_ars.html#Climate

"In Colombia, the naranjilla flourishes in humid regions at elevations between 3,600 and 7,900 ft (1,600 and 2,400 m) where the annual rainfall is about 60 in (150 cm). Precipitation up to 120 in (250 cm) is tolerable if well distributed throughout the year. In Panama, the naranjilla has made good growth at altitudes from 4,000 to 6,000 ft (1,200-1,800 m). It is grown in southern Florida at near sea-level. The best plantations in Ecuador are between 5,000 and 6,000 ft (1,500-1,800 m), where the mean temperature is 62.6 to 66.2º F (17º-19º C). The naranjilla cannot tolerate temperatures over 85º F (29.4º C). It is not adapted to full sun but favors semi-shade."

It does get above 85 F in South Florida, right?

Mark,

The themed sales at Strybing are general sales with an emphasis on some area like ferns, natives, etc. So yes, there are passifloras at every sale.

Volunteers at Strybing can come on Wednesdays, Fridays, or Saturdays and are asked to do a minimum of 4 hrs/week. Also there's lots of extra volunteers just for the May sale.