I far as I'm concerned you can't have too many. I think they are beautiful. I'm in 7a and they normally come back. The winter of 08-09 was especially cold and wet. That was the first year they died. I don't know if they'll survive your winter You can keep a couple in pots and store them dormant in a garage or cool basement over the winter in case the ones outside don't return.

I usually soak my older passie seeds in a mild acid, like OJ. They don't need to be filed as the seed coat is permable.

Filing seed coats allows fungus in and can rot the seed before it has a chance to germinate. of course, some seeds are more prone to fungal attacks than others. It can also lead to damp off.

OJ is better than vinegar because the Vitamin C can help germination - although I generally do nothing special to passiflora seeds.

I don't believe it's the vitamin C in OJ that helps with germination. The fermenting juice helps remove the germination inhibitors. If the seed is fresh I don't do anything and I often plant seeds while still in the arils. I soak all dry seeds unless I know that they are fresh.

Fermentation does not remove "germination inhibitors" If you leave the seeds in the juice so it ferments, the seeds will also start fermenting reducing the germination rate.

There are reasons Vitamin C helps germination of many seeds but I won't waste my time trying to discuss it.

Nancyanne,

I think when Karyn is getting at is that fermentation produces alcohol. With alcohol in the mix, some germination inhibitors might diffuse out of the seeds more readily (they are more soluble in a water/alcohol mixture than in pure water), enhancing germination . Myles Irvine discusses this in his site (see link at bottom) and identifies one possible such inhibitor as abscisic acid.

Fermentation mimics the natural process that occurs when fruit ferment. To harvest a number of different types of seeds, including tomatoes, a process of fermentation is recommended (or required).

Yeast are responsible for fermentation and there is no reason to assume they will enter an intact seed and ferment it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Myles Irvine's comments on Passiflora seed germination

Nancyanne these forums are for sharing info. If you would explain how vitamin C is helpful in seed germination or just provide a link for the info it would be much more helpful then just dismissing it. I'm aware of the benefits of some of the B vitamins but didn't know about benefit of C.

Fermentation mimics the natural process that occurs when fruit ferment. To harvest a number of different types of seeds, including tomatoes, a process of fermentation is recommended (or required).

Tomato seeds don't have to be fermented. The fermentation of tomato seeds merely separates the seeds from the pulp. I never ferment, I just squeeze them out on a paper towel and let them dry and got at least 90% germination.