Congratulations on the great deal! I've been fortunate enough to encounter some good dealers on eBay (and some mediocre ones as well) so when you come across someone like this, you make a note of it.

I'm glad you were finally able to find a nice plant. Good luck with it. That variety does have some beautiful flowers, one of my favorites.
Karyn

I have great luck on ebay .Nice find not to often do you get a plant so big anywhere.I useally stay away from the ones who ship bare root useally bare root means dead to me here in texas.

I ship bareroot when I put Incense or incarnata up for auction, but that's because I'm digging them up out of my yard maybe an hour before I head to the post office! ;-) I usually send so many roots along that I tell the auction winners not to worry if the vine dies back, that within a month they'll have new shoots growing.

But I'd say that's a special case. Rooted cuttings shipped bareroot do tend to go into shock more often than not. I've gotten good plants from Georgia Vines, but a Fledermouse from them a few months back lost every single leaf over the course of a month before putting on vigorous new growth. If I hadn't known what was happening and had the sense to just leave the plant alone to recover on its own, efforts to "save" it (ie extra fertilizer, extra water, repotting...) probably would've guaranteed its demise.

I've found that soaking a bareroot plant in B-1 and/or Superthrive for a few hours prior to potting it up reduces the amount of shock considerably. I absolutely agree with jblaschke about not coddling a newly transplanted passie (or other plant). You usually end up doing more harm than good. I've also received some very nice plants on Ebay but the nicest passies I've ever bought have come from Zone 9 Tropicals (an online nursery).
Karyn

Hey Congrats on your new plant...
I started one from seed so it will take for ever to get a bloom...LOL The Fledermouse is the one I got from GV that didn't fair so well...Very sad over the loss BUT...I hope to get the chance to get another one and have better luck...I haven't looked at Z 9 T..I'll have to check it out.
Chena

Yeah, my Fledermouse (and shouldn't that be "Fledermaus"? Is the former spelling Americanized from German, or was it registered as such? It simply looks odd to me) arrived well-packaged with 5-6 nice leaves on it, but after potting it up the leaves began to yellow. After about a week, the first one dropped, and by the end of the month it was a bare stick. I only watered it about once a week, just enough to keep the soil from completely drying out. I emailed Georgia Vines to see if there were any conditions it was picky about--too much sun, too little, humidity etc.--and they replied that it wasn't particularly demanding, growing in varied conditions for them. So I just left it on the window sill and waited. About a week after the last leaf dropped, one of the dormant buds on the vine swelled and started growing. Now it's got a dozen leaves and growing vigorously.

A couple of years ago, when I first started getting into passis, my approach was the exact opposite. I ended up with a lot of dead plants. The lesson: less is more. :-)

I am glad you got a nice plant. I hope it does well for you. I agree about the vit.B and/or superthrive. I think I have saved many plants that way. I agree that one shouldn't fertilize a sick plant that is in shock. You'll kill it for sure, just like fertilizing a very dry plant before you water it :)-been there done that lol!
I started an alata from seed early last spring, it grew so slowly last year, it was a joke. This year it has taken off and finally got about 4 ft and looks like it will try to branch now. No flowers yet but has the typical square stem and oval leaves. I hope it is gonna bloom true.
~SJN

Does anyone know if a alata is poisonous to butterfly caterpillars I know some of the red passifloras are is this one.

I have seen the Fledermouse/maus spelled so many different ways it made me laugh..

As far as I know 'Angie83'....I have never seen a caterpillar on my Ruby Glo. So if Alata is a 'parent' of Ruby Glo...then the butterflies don't like it for eating. I never had caterpillars on my vines. I had the butterflies, but never had caterpillars. So I guess they feed from the blooms, but dont lay eggs. That is at least on the Ruby Glo. I got lucky with this big one on EBay. I wish I would have saved the name to buy more. But the tiny ones from GeorgiaVines,...who promised to replace my dead EXPENSIVE vines from her,...that offer dried up faster than her 'vines'. There I said it. This huge one is worth the inexpensive price I paid. It is amazing the difference in what sellers consider as a 'shippable size'.

Just look up the seller in your Ebay wins history.
Karyn

Or if you used PP you can find it there.

Yeah I looked up the seller and bought another. It is obvious that I will never get the replacement plants that 'Georgia Vines' had promised me...for this one or the White variety...so..I will stick to the reliable seller.