How to start passifloras from seed pods?

I saw this passiflora last week on a walk. Anyone know the name? It is a pale pink.

The leaves.

The fruit.

Lots were laying under the vine. Too bad this one was not very pretty! I kept them in my car until they were rotting because it made my car smell so good!

How would you clean the seeds to start them?

I think I need a walk in California.

It looks like it might be a mollissima Kell: http://images.google.com/images?q=Passiflora%20mollissima&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&sa=N&tab=wi

The seeds should be soaked in orange juice or passion flower juice (for a day), before sowing, and planted in a good seed compost at a depth of 1/4" The acid in the juice will soften the shell and speed up germination. Keep damp soil, not soaking wet. Keep pot in warm location 68°F to 75°F. Keep the humidity high by covering the top of the pot with clear plastic

When you see some tiny plants starting to sprout, slowly open the top of the pot, a little each day, so that the new seedlings don't go into shock from the humidity being lowered too quickly. Passiflora are notorious for being slow to sprout. If you want to speed up germination, you can use bottom heat technique.


edited to say some also soak them in hot water but I think using pulpy juice is the preferred method.

This message was edited Jul 7, 2006 8:19 PM

Kell if they are still moist inside the pods just plant them goo and all

What great detailed instructions! THANKS!!!

Oh Donna, they are like peach gooey fruit inside. They smell so divine. I bet this kind is edible.

PS I do not think it is Mollisima. I saw that one outside the San Francisco Arboretum last year.

http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/86058/

It was massive. I bit finer in the petal shape and darker pink.

THANKS for all your help, Lilypon

http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/files/pictures/pd/3.3.16-Bananana-Passionfrui.jpg

Kell I wonder if they come in different shades and sizes? The one Cala has her hand over in your link looks smaller (I know it isn't fully opened) and the google images show different shades of pink (from light to dark). The one above is a Government of New Zealand pic of a mossillina

A description:

Passiflora tripartita var. mollissima Holm-Nielsen & Jørgensen (Passifloraceae)


Common names : Sp: curuba de Castilla, curuba sabanera blanca (Colombia), parcha; tacso de Castilla, tacso or puru puru (Ecuador); Po: maracujá-curuba; En: Banana passion fruit, softleaf passion flower. Fr: tacso, curuba.

Origin and geographical distribution : Andes, from Venezuela to Bolivia and northern Chile, 2,000-3,500m, under frost-free climates.

Status : Cultivated. National markets (mainly Colombia).

Description : Vigorous liana with pubescent stems and trilobed leaves, slightly pubescent above and densely pubescent beneath; stipules reniform, permanent; flower pendent, floral tube long (ca. 10 cm), dark green with anthocynanins, bracts oblong, disposed close to the hypanthium, sometimes torn out by its growth; fruit oblong, growing larger at higher elevations, up to 15 x 5 cm (110-180 g); pericarp soft and pale yellow, pulp bright orange, highly aromatic, somewhat tart. The pulp yield is superior to 60%. The plant and its fruits are very susceptible to anthracnosis (see lower fruits on the picture). As commonly observed in the subgenus Tacsonia, P. tripartita var. mollissima hybridizes easily with other species. The most interesting fertile hybrids for breeding have been obtained with P. tarminiana and P. mixta.

Uses : Aril prepared into juices, mixed with milk or water, in many desserts where its original aroma is highly appreciated. The curuba de Castilla is a major passion fruit in Colombia, particularly on the Bogota market.


http://www.ciat.cgiar.org/ipgri/fruits_from_americas/frutales/Ficha%20Passiflora%20tripartita%20mollissima.htm This link contains a really good picture of a cross section of the fruit, the leaves, and a flower that isn't fully opened yet.

This message was edited Jul 8, 2006 2:59 AM

Here's a description of Passiflora tarminiana

Flowers axillary, solitary, pendent; peduncles 3-10 cm, canescent-pubescent; bracts 3-4 x 2-3 cm, united halfway, margins entire, ovate, acuminate, nerves yellowish, reticulate venation visible, located 1 cm from hypanthium base; floral tube (including hypanthium) 6-8 x 0.7-1 cm, light green outside, whitish inside; nectar chamber semiglobose, 1.4-2 cm wide; operculum reflexed, margin recurved; annulus present; sepals and petals bright pink to light pink, one white sport seen, opening perpendicular at anthesis, then becoming reflexed later in the day or on the second day; sepals 4.5-6 x 1.2-2.5 cm, oblong, aristate subterminally, awn 3-4 mm; petals 3-6 mm shorter than the sepals; floral tube/sepal length ratio 1.3-1.6; corona reduced to a tuberculate ring at mouth of floral tube, white with purple base; androgynophore 7-10 cm, white; free staminal filaments 2 cm, white; anthers yellow; ovary fusiform, green, pubescent; styles white, stigmas green.

Passiflora tarminiana http://www.hear.org/pier/imagepages/singles/starr_010423_0066_passiflora_mollissima.htm

This chart may have the name of your passiflora (it also shows the colour/size variations within a species)

This message was edited Jul 8, 2006 1:32 AM

Kell what would you guess would be the width of the flower?

Can't help with the id, but it sure is pretty. Didn't know passifloras came in pink; I thought only red, purple, and white. Learn something new every day at DG.

I just soak the seeds in water 24 hours--but I have found a few that like stratification.

Gee Lilypon, it was not a big one but not small either. LOL. Maybe 1 1/2 inch? I would say it looks more like Passiflora tarminiana but I can't see the stalk on its flower in that pic. The pods did have the best smell ever!!

I am constantly learing too, Phughes!

Thanks dmj1218!

being here in fl... keeping hot and sticky moist is not a problem...

Do you know how long they take to start sprouting?