I've recently come into possession of quite a few plants through a combination trade/gift. I have p. alata, p. edulis and p. vitifolia x p. coccinea available for trade. All are seed-grown plants approximately one year old. All are approximately 6 feet in length (yes, you read that right). All are in 3.5" pots, and pretty much root-bound, so they'll need to be moved to larger pots ASAP. The edulis was originally sold as p. quadrangularis seed, which the mature plants obviously aren't. I have no idea what variety of edulis form the parentage of these plants. The stems are reddish, which seems to be a yellow flavicarpa trait, but the tendrils are all green, which is a purple edulis trait. It's possible these could be a edulis x edulis var. flavicarpa hybrid, in which case the fruit would be red, but I have no way to tell. These plants have not flowered. As usual, I'm interested in all sorts of passiflora for trade.

I don't mean to discourage you from planting seeds you already have. You should just be aware that germination can be slow and they may take a while to bloom. A lot of nonviable seeds are sold as well. I would believe the germination rate if they tested it themselves in the last couple weeks (very, very few seed sources do this). Even then seeds can lose viability quickly. All of those will be killed off by frost/freeze. I think I've seen P. alata given as surviving 30 F, P. edulis is usually somewhere in the 20s, maybe around 30 or 32 for P. edulis flavicarpa. These are all numbers for plants in the ground. Some can come back from the roots. In pots, I think you should assume they would die around 32, and protect them from all frost. P. caerulea is more hardy. I'm not sure at what temp it will die back to the ground (20s?). If it is in the ground, it came come back from the roots in colder climates, probably zone 7, maybe colder with some luck, mulching, etc. As I say, I think you are borderline--for growing it in the ground. In a pot I would keep it above freezing. All three of those species are rapidly growing vines, especially when planted in the ground. Cutting back any of those generates a tremendous number of cuttings. A lot of cuttings end up in the trash or composted. I don't grow any of those at the moment, and only have a couple small Passifloras right now due to a move. I may have something rooted in a couple months, possibly P. caerulea, but not the other two. My general problem is that I tend to grow the cool-growing plants that don't like the heat (or cold) of the rest of the country. You can find rooted (and generally potted) cuttings on Ebay or at online nurseries such as Grassy Knoll, etc. They will cost more than seeds, but if you get them from a good place they are closer to a sure thing, and it often puts you ahead by as much as a year. Of course, it's the only way to propagate a hybrid. You might be able to find unrooted cuttings rarely on a place like Ebay or sometimes for trade or for postage. In this case, things need to be good on both ends--the person needs to send properly prepared/shipped cuttings, and the person receiving them needs to be good at rooting cuttings. Sometimes the weather in transit or the post office can be a problem. Some species/hybrids should be easy, but there are more things that can go wrong. By the way, if you see a P. edulis for sale and they have a photo, the plants with unlobed leaves are seedlings (or misidentified). I think a rooted cutting might be quicker to bloom than a seedling of the same size. All three of those should be easy or fairly easy to propagate from cuttings. P. edulis might be the hardest, and I find they are much easier with bottom heat. Some people find P. edulis to be easy regardless.

The seeds are finally starting to germinate. They were fresh, so that would seem to be on the long side for a P. edulis. The germination conditions were a bit odd, though. At about the time they were planted, the sun shifted so that it shines directly in that window most of the days. These guys are in a high humidity environment, so they got steamed--very hot and very humid. I suppose it didn't hurt in the end. I think the best assumption at this point would be that these are in fact P. edulis. I was in communication with one individual (I would like to give credit but this was a private email) who suggested a way to tell whether it is a hybrid or not. The petiole glands of P. edulis lie right at the base of the leaf; those of P. vitifolia at the other end of the petiole. If it's a hybrid, they will presumably no longer lie at the postion of the P. edulis ones. If they have moved (say to an intermediate position) that would be clear evidence that a hybrid was made. And apparently the petiole glands can even be visualized on the first seed leaves. No need to wait for the flowers, hopefully. I will update this when I can.

The majority of passifloras are tropical/sub-tropical. There's a few varieties that are cold hardy. If you want one that you can keep outside year round you should get a rooted sucker from your neighbor as it's aclimated to your zone. It's probably P. incarnata. You can grow other tropical varieties but need to keep them inside over the winter.