Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
floridabear

Rooting Passiflora Cuttings

floridabear
15 years ago

I have been reading some of the past old posts on how to root certain passion vines. and I keep reading that people are using 'Dip and Root'? I think that is what I keep reading. Where do you get this to get them to root? I have no trouble finding rooting powders. But this stuff, I have never heard of let alone found anywhere. Is it needed for hard to root varieties? Or for all passion vines? I am going to try to root the 'common' red passion vine, the one that I have heard called the Cardinal passion vine. It grows like a weed and it seems to pop up in lawns all over the place, where it is planted. IF I can manage to dig up a root with a plant on it, i will,but if I have to go with cuttings, I will. Do I HAVE to find this Dip and Root stuff? Or will they root without it? any rooting hints? I have no luck with ones like Alata,Ruby Glow...this much thinner stemmed one, I would think might root easier. Is it?

Comments (9)

  • mark4321_gw
    15 years ago

    First off, you don't need to find Dip and Root (Dip and Grow?). I'm sure some people swear by powder or liquid (or nothing at all).

    You should find out what species/hybrid you are talking about. I'm not personally familiar with the one you describe--probably others are. Here's a set of pictures to start with--the Passiflora entries on Dave's Garden.

    http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/b/Passifloraceae/Passiflora/none/cultivar/0/

    I googled Cardinal Passion Vine (and its variants: Passilora, passionflower, etc.) and found nothing.

    Some of those that come up from the roots are difficult to root from stem cuttings.

    A general procedure for rooting most of them:

    Use a cutting of 2 or more nodes. Cut about 1/4 inch below the bottom node.

    Remove the bottom leaf and tendril. How many of the remaining leaves you take off is personal choice, but leave at least half a leaf (this is what I do unless it's a terminal cutting).

    Dip the very bottom end in rooting hormone (whichever you prefer). I dip only the very tip.

    Fill pot, or what I prefer--a clear plastic cup with holes in the bottom (you can see root formation)--with the appropriate medium (I prefer moist perlite).

    Push a hole into the perlite with a pen, a finger, whatever works.

    Insert the cutting into the hole and gently push the perlite around the stem.

    Put in a very high humidity environment. If I'm using a plastic cup I invert another on top as a dome (if the cutting fits).

    Put in a bright, but not sunny area.

    Bottom heat helps for many species and hybrids

    If after a month it hasn't rooted, try scarifying the callus (for example lightly cut with a razor blade), treat it with rooting hormone again and return it to its rooting area.

    Hopefully if there are mistakes or ommissions someone will point that out.

    Also see Myles Irvine's site (or others) for directions on rooting cuttings.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Myles' (passionflow) cuttings page

  • floridabear
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Turns out the one I want to root is the 'Vitifolia' variety, or Grape Leaf Crimson Passion vine. If that makes any difference.
    I found out thanks to 'Mark4321' giving me the site to go to , to look up the passionvine that I am looking to root. Is it hard to root, or is it an easy one?

  • mark4321_gw
    15 years ago

    That's Passiflora vitifolia. There's actually a recent thread about rooting it already--scroll down to "Advice needed for first time to root Passiflora cuttings".

    I was totally unaware that it can spread by suckers--I'm very, very surprised nobody pointed this out in that thread--that may be your quickest way to get a new plant.

    It's also commonly sold out here (zone 9b) however my impression is they tend to be killed off every couple years by frost. If you do a search there is incredible disagreement as to how hardy it is--Kartuz says 32 F (and many others say zone 10) whereas Dave's Garden says zone 7. This could be because it spreads through the roots.

    I've not tried to root P. vitifolia. The other thread seems mixed on whether it's easy or difficult. Perhaps the guy who started that thread can comment on what he found out.

    It sounds like layering is another possibility. I have no experience using that technique; perhaps others can comment.

  • jblaschke
    15 years ago

    I've used powdered rooting hormone as well as Dip N' Grow. I have to say I've had more success with the liquid Dip N' Grow than powder, but I've heard of others having opposite results. I've also heard that a kind of gel rooting hormone is superior to both, but I haven't ever seen this. Dip N' Grow can be found at dedicated plant nurseries--I've never seen anything other than powder at big box stores.

    I've never heard of vitifolia suckering. I had one planted out in my yard one year, but it didn't do well. Didn't sucker. Didn't flower. It survived my winter (zone 8b) but was partially sheltered. In my experience, it's not a particularly difficult passi to root from cuttings (not nearly as difficult as incarnata, for instance). The advice given above is sound. Keep the cuttings warm and moist and be patient!

  • mark4321_gw
    15 years ago

    Regarding suckers--this may be the site I saw that suggests P. vitifolia spreads that way:

    http://www.learn2grow.com/PlantDatabase/Plants/PlantDetails.aspx?plantID=10eeb1aa-2128-4e4c-b48c-4260b1d8b49c

    However, I'm not finding anything else to support this. Here's another possibility--could the plant be P. 'Lady Margaret'? There's a bit of confusion out there if you try to find it's ancestry; apparently this is correct: P. miniata x P. incarnata. P. miniata is closely related to P. vitifolia and P. coccinea. P. incarnata (maypop) spreads agressively through the roots and would be responsible for this characteristic--if indeed the plant is P. 'Lady Margaret'.

    Here are some pictures:

    http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=off&q=lady%20margaret%20passiflora&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

    Lady Margaret may be easier to propagate from root cuttings than stem cuttings. Perhaps someone else knows.

  • jblaschke
    15 years ago

    I've found my Lady Margaret quite easy to root from stem cuttings. I have (had, actually--it recently died on me) a large LM in a pot, and planted out a cutting in a south-facing flower bed. The one planted out literally bloomed all winter. I had red and white flowers peeking out through the bushes in January. Granted, we had an unusually mild winter, but still.

    I've been expecting to see Lady Margaret suckers coming up, a trait inherited from its incarnata parent, but thus far I've not seen any. Curious. I'd expect LM suckers are far more likely than vitifolia or miniata suckers, though. The true red passiflora just don't seem to conform with many traits we associate with passiflora...

  • jkrup44
    15 years ago

    Hi. I am the one who recently attempted to root vitifolia cuttings documented in the "Advice needed for first time to root Passiflora cuttings" thread. Unfortunately, they failed to take root. But, I started it out wrong and I think that, knowing what I know now, (thanks to the generous advice given to me on this forum) I think I would be successful next time. I used rooting hormone on the cut ends of them, and I donÂt think it helped much. I think my biggest mistake was not immediately keeping these in the shade and not keeping the humidity up around them by covering each cutting with a separate plastic bag. I should have taken smaller cuttings, and I shouldnÂt have taken them from the tips. Had I done these things, I would have probably succeed. If I were you, I would use the instructions on Myles IvrineÂs website in the link above. In short, take cuttings that arenÂt too long, donÂt take them from the tip of the vine, cut the leaves to reduce transpiration (as shown on Myles IrvineÂs site), cover with a plastic bag too keep in humidity, keep in a well shaded area, keep the soil/ Perlite mix moist. Good luck!

  • mark4321_gw
    15 years ago

    jblaschke,

    Someone is sending me 'Lady Margaret' soon and he is attempting to propagate it by root cuttings. He is an experienced grower and I assume he has good reason to suspect this will work.

    I don't know whether he is doing it this way because of the P. incarnata parent, because he has seen suckers, or because he's succeeded in the past--I didn't ask.

  • jblaschke
    15 years ago

    Mark, let us know when the LM cuttings arrive. I'm interested in hearing how the root cuttings on that one turn out.

    I started a dozen vitifolia cuttings last night. The vines on the vit were getting pretty ratty, and needed pruning back anyway. I used powdered rooting hormone, mostly because I was lazy and didn't want to mess with the liquid. We'll see. If these don't take, I'll try again with the liquid.

    I put all my cuttings into a cloning box I made, patterned loosely after the one krstofer built. I've found it works quite well--especially with cooler florescent light. Incandescent bulbs get the insides too hot, and special plant grow lamp bulbs are costly and burn out quickly.

Sponsored
CHC & Family Developments
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars4 Reviews
Industry Leading General Contractors in Franklin County, Ohio