You may not get any seeds---mine has never made any. (I think it has to be pollenated by ANTS, of all things!)I grew mine from seed and have always kept it in a gallon pot. I've heard it roots easily from cuttings, but so far that has NOT been true for me!

The first year I had it I had alot of seed. Last year I had one seed pod containing one good seed. Don't know what the difference was. My only problem is that it blooms in late summer/fall and the seed do not have time to ripen before time to bring it in. I carefully removed the runners containing the seedpods from where they were running and moved the whole thing into the greenhouse so they could ripen.

Patsy

You do not plant the seeds in winter to grow in spring. you plant in spring for spring. To make them sprout there is a trick. I dont know what everyone esle does. But. This gives me 90% germination! You nick the seed right near where the root will come out. I use a nail clipper and just clip a chip out of the corner of the seed, where the seed was attached to the seed pod,soak them in HOT water for 24hrs. Just make it hot at first then it will cool over night. Then the seeds will be plump. Place them on a soaking wet folded paper towel, small enough to fit in a small Zip lock plastic bag. Put the seeds at the fold in the paper towel and put the paper towel in the bag and zip it shut for 3-5 days in full sun,or as much sun as you can give it. Check it after 3 days for root tips starting. Once you have tips started..plant the seed into GOOD soil about 1/2 in deep. Put them in full sun and they will grow from there! I have just started 9 more seeds today. And by Monday I will have roots starting. Now I just need to pot up all my plant into big pots...I am told that is why they are not growing into the big vines that they should be by now! But thats the trick I use to sprout these expensive seeds!

I germinated mine much like PoohBear - I found that scarifying and soaking was necessary, and I could tell the ones that would sprout because they became very plump and the color of the seed coat lightened to a rich brown. If the others didn't get this way, I nicked them again, resoaked, and often got another to get going.

I had 4 of 6 seeds sprout. But wo seedlings were lost to some unknown force, be it a slug, bird, or neighbor's toddler! All I want is one to grow and get going - I've got 2... wish me luck!

I gave 4 seedlings to friends of mine who live in zone 8 that I started from seed last fall. The tallest of their vines are now 30' tall (growing on a 20' trellis but have started climbing the trees around the trellises) and are producing seed pods like crazy. They want to know when to harvest in order to assure the highest number of viable seeds for next year.

I germinated the seeds in glass jars that I lined with paper towel and filled with about 1/2" of water so the paper towel wicked it up. I knicked each seed and placed it between the paper towel and the side of the jars above the water line so the seeds were kept in a bright damp environment but not directly in the water. I had a very successful germination rate but lost about half of them once I transplanted them to pots. The seedlings seem very delicate.

I have also started plants from cuttings of new growth off existing vines and rooting them in water. The success rate when transplanted to pots was about the same as with seeds but the vines seem to produce more flowers the first year than those started from seed.

Anyway, any suggestions on when to harvest the seed pods would be great. They have their vines planted in the ground. I live in zone 10 but I grow my vines in pots on a 5th floor balcony since I live in an apartment so I get no ants up this high to pollinate my vines and never get any seeds. Thanks!

John

How big a pot does it take to support such a large vine? I just got mine in the spring and it has 3 tendrils about 4 ft long already. It in in about a 6 in. pot now. (Also, I will have to find room for it in the house come winter.)thanks, Brandy

Brandy my vines started from seed were in a pot that is 20 inches in diameter and 18 inches tall. I had it next to a styrax tree so that the vines could grow into it one year and another year it was placed next to a Bradford pear for it to grow in. The vines were in that pot for three years until last fall when I decided I had grown tired of bringing the pot in to overwinter so I just let it sit outside overwinter and the tubers rottted.

John, the one year my vine produced seed the seed pods were like green bean pods but longer--probably a foot or so in length. The pods turn brown when the seed are mature. I got 12 seeds total from the two pods that year. The plants take a long growing season to mature before frost gets them in my zone. The one year the vine produced viable seeds was a season where the warm temperatures arrived early in the spring and it stayed hot all summer long. I accidently found the seed pods when cutting the vines back to bring them in to overwinter in my garage. At that time, I took pictures of them and posted them on this forum. I think the pictures were stored online at either Sony Imagestation but I left that site and started using Photobucket since then. Will see if I can find the photos and post them!

Here is a shot of one of the seedpods and seeds from the Vigna caracalla. And I see that I actually got 16 seeds from them in 2004!

Brandy this isn't the best of shots but the Vigna plant and pot are to the far left in the photo and the vines grew up into the neighbor's Bradford pear tree. That year 2005 I believe I had about 12 seedpods form but the spring was cool and the pods didn't have a chance to mature before I had to cut the vines out of the Bradford pear tree to bring it inside for the winter. You can see some of the blooms if you look closely!

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nick,just found your post & pics,love 'em.could ya tell me ,what is right behind vigna & trumphet plants those leaves are beautiful.you sent me some vigna seeds a couple of yrs ago., i did'nt have any luck;good luck that is, with them,i don't know what i did wrong.

I have a snail and a corkscrew vine and neither has ever produced seeds. The snail vine is loaded with ants but they seem interested in farming those nasty black aphids. I hose them off and they're back by the following day. Surprisingly they don't cause any damage and are only on the blooms. I winter my vines over inside under HID lights so they continue to grow and bloom over the winter but they do get cut back so I can get them in the house or greenhouse (depends if I'm heating the GH) and cut again to get them back out in the spring. Each one is in a 20" diameter pot with a trellis.
Karyn

Hi sewnmom, sorry you didn't have luck with germinating the seed. The big tall tree is a Bradford pear and the other evergreen needlelike bush is one form of cryptomeria. I don't know exactly since both the Bradford pear and the cryptomeria are on the neighbor's lot and the original owners of that house who planted them are no longer the owners of the house. Luckily the new neighbors removed the Bradford pear which shed all its leaves in my yard! The cryptomeria on either side of where it was planted are now growing and will soon fill the open area in.

Thanks for the seed info!!! These were from vines I started from seed indoors last fall and their tallest vines are easily 30' tall since they latched onto the trees on each side of the trellis and kept on climbing. They are amazing and the leaves are much, much larger than the ones I grow in a pot on a trellis.

I grow my vines in a 20" foam pot with good drainiage and a nice layer of mulch to keep the soil cool in our zone 10 heat. The friends of mine in zone 8 have quite a few seed pods already and a lot of blooms yet. The pods are long and green like string beans but since they are 20+ feet above the ground it's hard to tell how long they are. I will forward the info to them on letting them ripen before picking. They have 4 vines so I suspect they will get lots of seed since they have set pods already. They will keep some seeds and they are going to give the rest to me to sell on e-Bay next spring.

My vines are blooming for the second time this summer but not nearly as heavily as they did back in June. Since I live on a balcony, I have to keep them pruned back to about 8 feet or they'll take over the neighbor's overhead balcony. After I prune them for awhile, they will begin to cascade over into a nice weeping affect as the vines fill in. I took lots of close up shots of the blooms with my macro lens last year and this year.

Glad to be of help John. One thing about the seed pods is that they will begin to twist in shape as the pods age as a natural mechanism to get the seeds out and into a hospitable growing location. Make sure they don't wait too long to harvest the pods or they might split open and drop the seeds. Once the pods start turning brown, the seeds inside are developed and can be removed. You might want to allow them to dry out for a while before putting them into a plastic baggie or they might still contain enough moisture to start molding in the packaging.

Mine typically continued blooming right up to frost regardless of whether there were seed pods developing or not. The smell up close is fantastic!

I understand how you feel John. I had mine that I started from seed for three years. Last fall, I decided I had had enough with carting it and the brugmansia in the picture above into the garage to overwinter it so I basically hacked up the brugmansia and gave the cuttings to friends and left the Vigna caracalla vines outside in its pot. Needless to say it didn't survive the winter and I am now thinking of ordering more seeds to restart it next spring.

None of the pictures or info here seem to fit my plant. My pods are purple from beginning to a light faded dried purple when completely dry on the vines. The vines and stalk of the plant are purple, the leaves green with light purple veins. Never had any ants, only three huge black carpenter bees which appeared after seed pods were already forming. The pods are identical to pea pods in size and shape but are purple. Two -four seeds per pod and literally thousands of pods. It bloomed starting in August and has just now lost all of it's flowers, which were about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch or so, purple and a little bit of white, and hung along a stalk with about 10-15 flowers per stalk. The fragrance when the flower is newly open is like Dentyne gum but is not real strong. I'm in Tucson and sure this will freeze this winter because I get down to 18 degrees many nights. I planted this from one seed directly in the ground in May of this year, and neither nicked nor soaked the seed, which is black with a white outer strip on one side. Any thoughts?

Deserthaven, sounds like your plant is Dolichos lablab or purple hyacinth beans.

Here is a link that might be useful: Purple Hyacinth Bean plants

I was wondering if there was any way that it will grow in zone 5 or maybe inside? I really want to get this corkscrew vine but I'm not sure if it will live. Please answer.

It won't overwinter in the ground outside in your zone, or my zone 7a garden either, but you can grow it in a pot and bring the pot into a frost free area where the temps stay above freezing and allow the plant to go dormant over the winter. The following spring after your last frosts it can be taken back outside for the next year.

Hello everybody. I bought a couple of these vines for my wife and have planted them next to our fence. Can anybody tell me if these vines are able to overwinter in Fredericksburg, Va (I beleive it is zone 7b)? Thanks for any help.

Paul

Nope they definitely will not overwinter in zone 7b.

nckvilledudes,
Thank you for your response. I guess I'll need to either take cuttings or digg them and take them in.

does anyone know how deer feel about this plant....I would love to grow it for a season but not if its gonna be deer food.

I live Downunder so we dont have freezing weather. My plants just die off during Autumn and shoot again Spring and then they go mental. The perfume is just so strong & beautiful. I collect the seed pods when the vine is dying off & put them in an open jar inside till it is heading for warmer weather then I put them in warm water for a couple to 3 days.. I just put them in a pot all together outside and see what happens.. I planted out four small plants today so I am very happy with that.. My plants did get covered with little black ants I notice but it was a European wasp that bit me while trying to pick a flower OUCH.. It isn't difficult.. Mine is a Snail creeper and a lovely white/lilac colour. That is what we call them here I gave a 18" tap root I pulled out to my cousin as I didn't want the vine to choke my magnolia so she just threw it in the ground, I found it in her garden this week about 14" high. I haven't tried cuttings at this stage but it may be worth a try. Good luck to all trying for the first time.. Dee..

Hi, I have one plant that is several years old in a container. It looks like it has formed a caudex and I need to repot it this spring into a larger container. Do I need to plant the caudex under the soil, or leave at the same level it is planted at? I was wondering since it is probably root bound would that cause a caudex to form. It looks like roots have tried to grow about the soil line.
Thank you.

i cant find the plants or seeds any place in chicago area i heard one lady found the plants at Walmart?!

Glad I came over here, because I planted this vine for the first time this month. I was able to buy three nice sized transplants. The nursery people didn't know a whole lot about it, and I think this is the first time they've offered it.

I wanted Cup and Saucer vine but they didn't have them this year (I always buy C&S because it grows so fast and fills the trellis - blooms a little later than others but I still like it). Anyhow, one of the Vigna plants has started to twine really well, and one has already developed buds but only at the very bottom. All three haven't really leafed out much tho. Do you think planting three is "two-too many"? I'm anxious to see if I get the bloom and the perfume other posters mention.

I'm hypothesizing that it is the Bumble Bee which pollinates this vine, and not any form of Ant (Argentine or otherwise). The ants are there merely to harvest the sweet sap.

I had no Bumbles visit my vines last year, and produced no seed pods (though I had a riot of ants). This year, two Black and one Golden Bumble Bee have been regular visitors, and my vines are laden with seed pods. I believe they are the only natural pollinators strong enough to breach the coiled hood and extract the pollen.

My two cents.

This thread is so old, but I'm hoping y'all can give some advice. I have seed pods this year after 2 years. Yay! I live in zone 8, and the plant finally got hit by frost the last few nights mid-November. The pods are all still green. I want to cut the vines back, because they are no longer pretty after the frost, but really, really want some seeds! If I cut the vines down and bring the green pods inside, will they dry out on their own and be viable, or do I need to keep letting the in-ground vine 'grow' even though it's been hit by frost? Any advice is welcomed, thanks!