In my experience, fresh cuttings can indeed put out aggressive vegetative growth like the kind you've described. However, that's not necessarily indicative of the health of the cutting. Root growth is what matters most, and I've had cuttings that put out shiny new stems and leaves only to fall over dead a week later because it never managed to root itself. I've encountered this mostly with incarnata (to which point I've given up--it's much easier just to dig up a sucker) but others can do it, too.

My suggestion is to leave them in their incubators until you see some actual roots in the growing medium. Good luck!

jblaschke,

Thanks for the info--I was totally unaware of that. The new growth really is surprisingly vigorous--the longest one is over 2 inches long. For some reason I thought that Passifloras were among the plants that put out roots first--maybe there was a comment on this forum that growth of leaves suggested root growth(?). I don't know. Regardless, I think it makes more sense for a plant to "wait" to put out tons of new growth before establishing itself. In nature the cutting is unlikely to have been deliberately planted, and I can't understand offhand why it would want to risk it. Is there a botanist who might have an answer?

So the next question, of course, is should I cut the new growth off? Something tells me this is not even a question. (But are there extra dormant bud(s)?) However, I have a source for a lot more cuttings, so I'll just leave it and see what happens.

I'd leave it and see what happens. Most passis do indeed put out roots first, so yours may be rooting as we speak. The starches in the stems provide the energy for new growth, so that's why its capable of "leafing out" even though there are no roots--the cut end of the stem is still able to draw enough water in your moist growth environment.

Incarnata is, I've learned, the absolute worst culprit at this. Even among professional botanists/researchers, it's proven reluctant to root even under lab conditions. I found this out the hard way. Out of close to four dozen cuttings taken a couple of years back, I had a grand total of one actually root.

Other passis are much better behaved. I've read reports where botanists in South and Central America collected specimen cuttings during week-long excursions in the field, placing them in plastic baggies with moist towels only to find them putting out roots within a couple of days. Would that all passis root that easily!

The key with P. incarnata - other than digging up a sucker which as jblaschke suggests is the easiest way to do it - is to stick the cuttings in for about a month or so until they form calluses, then scarify the calluses and put them back in - applying rooting hormone may help too. The main thing is patience. It took about 8 months for me to root P. elegans and the very similar P. actinia I have also found tricky.

Here is a link that might be useful: Passiflora incarnata

An update: a third cutting (2 above ground nodes) has put on new growth at one node and I believe is starting to at the second.

I have yet to notice evidence of roots of any of the 3, however the mix of perlite and peat may not make it immediately obvious even through a clear container. There's a lot of condensation, which doesn't help either.

I'll keep this up to date, but I just wanted to emphasize that I may not see roots until long after they start growing.

I saw a plant at a nursery today that, to my memory, looked the same as the parent of these cuttings. That plant is P. 'Lady Lavendar'. I had mentioned before that it looked like pictures of 'Jeannette', however I would suspect what's popular in the trade is what it probably is. Both are at least 50% P. caerulea.

Lavender Lady or Amethyst. Both are very similar hybrids, with the former name being used as a synonym for the latter for many years. The former's a new hybrid by Patrick Worley (IIRC). It can be differentiated from Amethyst by the fact that it's sterile--Amethyst will set fruit when pollenated by caerulea.

Hi Jblaschke
The latest thinking is that Lavender Lady and Amethyst are the same. Having grown both side by side I can testify to that. See more info in the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Passiflora 'Amethyst'

Myles, by "the same" do you mean that they're both a repeat of the same cross? That wouldn't surprise me in the least. But obviously Amethyst has been around for many, many years while Worley's Lavender Lady has a much recent history.

As I understand it, Lavender Lady is sterile. Have you found this to be the case?

And given all that, how is it that Worley--great breeder he may be--could basically duplicate the Amethyst hybrid then register it under a synonym name for Amethyst? I'm not trying to stir the pot here, but who vets new hybrids, and what's involved?

Hi Jblaschke
Check out the Amethyst Group paper on my page about Amethyst for suggestions as to what has happened here. The Passiflora Registrar Dr Les King has made a very detailed study of this.
They are exactly the same plant. There was no effective vetting of hybrids in those days. How this came about no one will ever know but I know in my garden a moment's inattention can lead to labels being dropped and swapped.

An update on the cuttings: I can be really impatient, so without seeing evidence of root growth by looking through my clear plastic containers, I decided to be a little more aggressive. I checked directly which cuttings, if any, had in fact put out roots. After 18 days, it turns out one has just started to. It's one of the two that had shown strong new growth after only 3 1/2 days. Hopefully I didn't damage its roots...

Just to follow up: all 4 are now rooted. Those that showed the biggest immediate flush of growth have the most extensive roots and new growth, although all show strong new growth.

Now hopefully I can find homes for all these guys. I think one will go in a hanging pot. If anyone has experience with Lady Lavender (which I suspect this is) in a hanging pot, I'm curious what pot size/conditions and the results.

More follow-up. A cutting that has remained indoors the whole time (South window, no direct sun this time of year), has decided to bloom. This has not been replanted yet--it's still in the perlite/peat medium used for rooting. This was started about May 1st (2 1/2 months ago).

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That's amazing that it's blooming, assuming that it has few roots, and it's in the dark! I ordered and planted 'Amethyst' from Grassy Knoll, and I got my first blooms recently. If you'd like to compare your flower to my 'Amethyst' -
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Sherry

Hi misssherry,

I have to admit I was surprised when the bud kept swelling and swelling. I assume people grow this hybrid inside in the winter. Can they do it without too much effort (extra lights, etc.)?

You may be able to notice that it's not really putting on vegetative growth at the moment. I need to repot it and get it out in the sun--thanks for reminding me. Sometimes dying plants will bloom as a last act--they might as well spread some seed. I don't think that's the case here, though.

Your flower is flawless. Elizabeth at Grassy Knoll sellss great plants. I've bought two P. edulis clones (Frederick and Nancy Garrison) from her over the last several weeks. She sent me Frederick with a big fat bud--it bloomed in several days--then grew a fruit. I got Nancy Garrison more recently and just put her in the ground a few days ago. She's starting to grow like crazy and has a *tiny* bud that I hope she won't abort.