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krstofer_gw

Questions:

Krstofer
18 years ago


I'm always reading the passiflora germination & growing techniques of others as I'm by no means an expert.. Pretty much I leave 'em alone & they grow. Any tips / tricks I can get to make them grow better & flower more I'm willing to try..

This evening I found a site- Rare exotic seeds, and while reading their passiflora germination & growing tips I came across a couple things I haven't heard before:

Flowering:

Pruning is a must to keep the vine healthy. Prune off less vigorous growth and occasionally prune back vigorous growth to promote flowering.

I haven't heard of trimming the plant to cause flowering, as far as I know they flower on new growth.. Perhaps the pruning will cause new growth then said new growth will flower?

Pot size:

If their pot is too large or if they have an unrestricted root run then the whole plant will simply get bigger and bigger but it will refuse to flower and therefore produce the fruits. By limiting the pot size you are limiting the ability to grow and this is seen as a threat, so the natural mechanism is to produce seed for the next generation. A suitably sized pot for an adult plant would generally be of 12 inches in diameter.

Lots of mine have grown through the bottom of the pot (they sit right on the ground) and thus have become huge. Some have flowered, while others just grow. So any truth to this "if it's in the ground it will just get huge" statement? Or will they flower sooner if left in a pot, restricting the root growth? I've had various passifloras flower in pots ranging from 6" all the way up to 'in the ground'.. Isn't it age / time of year rather than growing room that dictates flowering?

What am I growing? Pics & info here.

Comments (4)

  • jblaschke
    18 years ago

    I dunno about the "if it's in the ground it'll just get huge" statement. Maybe for some species of passiflora. But for my incense, it's in the ground, it's getting HUGE, and it's flowering like all get-out. All the daughter shoots coming up dozens of feet away, too. Gotta mow regularly to keep the yard from becoming a jungle!

  • singhin
    18 years ago

    Hi Krstofer,

    With all due respect to your "I just leave'em alone and they grow" comment. Give yourself a little more credit than that. I've read many of your posts even before I joined this forum. I've been on your website, beautiful pics. It's pretty impressive to me for just "leave'em alone and they grow".

    You set up what sounds like some pretty intense lighting situations, you have timers set up for watering that also deliver a little bit of fertilizer each time (most people that I know of just water w/timers-no fertilizer), humidity controls in terrariums, you stuff tomato cages in the pots so its easier to bring them inside in the winter, etc. I don't think that's leave them alone and they grow.:)

    As to the pruning - if you think about it - it kinda makes sense. Deadheading encourages new blooms on a lot of flowers,(I realize deadheading and pruning are different but somewhat similar in aspect) pruning roses encourages new growth as well as on some rebloomers, new flowers, as well as Trumpet Vines and many, many others. So it does sound logical to me that pruning the passion vines might encourage them to flower on the new growth. I am strictly a layman on this stuff tho, just sort of thinking out loud so to speak.

    If you try it-make sure and let us know.

  • chills71
    18 years ago

    As far as the pruning thing goes. I find that my Vitifolia , Incense and lavender Lady all put on new growth before starting a flowering and if the growing tip is broken off of the new growth that flowering ceases on that stem. (new buds stop forming).

    Pruning older growth to encourage new growth may encourage flowering, but pruning new growth inhibits flowering.

    Just my observations.

    ~Chills

  • sultry_jasmine_nights (Florida-9a-ish)
    18 years ago

    Hi Krstopher,
    Thanks for the interesting post. There is a school of thought out there , that believes that enviornmental stress placed on plants (i.e. water stress, rootbound etc) will cause the plant to think it may die and flower prematurely to produce seeds and go on with the species. Plants planted normally in the ground will also flower at thier usual times according to temp., time of year, increases/decreases in daylight etc. I think that the plant that is stressed (theory) just hurries up and flowers, perhaps. It does seem to work on some types of plants like annuals. More research probably needs to be done on this.
    You are probably right in your observation about the cutting back promoting new growth and subsequent flowering (that would be my guess also). On alot of vines when you cut back the tips it cause more branching~ more branches=more flowering opportunities-it would seem..

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