Has anyone had luck growing passiflora from seed? I ordered seeds from several varieties, and planted them over a month ago. They're not doing anything yet, should I panic? There were no instructions on the packet, other than how to plant them. (1/4 inch deep, only water when top of surface is dry to touch)
passiflora from seed?
Hi Kim - There's a couple of other threads about germinating passion flowers seeds - http://davesgarden.com/showthread/138988.html
http://davesgarden.com/showthread/190508.html
Yours will probably come up - they just take a long time. If you can give them bottom heat it might help.
I had some on bottom heat for over 4 months and still nothing. Will put the pots outside in the spring and see what happens. Maybe I should try chilling them again and see if that will help.
I have tried several varieties from seed and germination has always been poor for me.I consider 1 or 2 plants from a packet good news.Often it's nothing.I did manage to get one Quadrangularis and one Alata from the last batch I tried.
I have been soaking in orange juice and in Gibberellic acid.
I think freshness is a big factor and seeds that are bought from mail order companies seem like they're rarely fresh. This year I've had germination from
incarnata
edulis
mollisima
caerula
malformis
incarnata x edulis
gracilis
Still waiting on many others tho. I'm not giving up yet.
I have never grown these but got seeds
for some and was told to soak them in
pineapple juice. Has anyone heard of this
before? Another lady told me to soak
many kinds of seeds in brewed lipton
tea without sugar at room temperature.
I do not know what the tea does but i
am going to try it.
Tea contains tannic acid or perhaps it is the caffeine. I know that the seed coat on passifloras is very hard and needs to be broken down somewhat before they will sprout.
Poppysue,
I'm going to soak more seeds again and leave them until they get "yucky" (I like that terminology) and try them on bottom heat again. I was also told to pour boiling water over the seeds first and soak one day and then in orange juice. The boiling water softens the hard seed coat somewhat.
Joydie
What I do is barely nick the outer shell of the seed and soak in an acidic juice or hot water (from the tap) and hydrogen perxide over night. I have had good luck with the following: Passiflora Sanguinolenta, Vitifolia, Trifasciata, Coriacea, Citrina, Cuneata, Foetida, Apetala and Aurantia.
Randy