I have no idea what's going on with my Lady Margaret. I brought it in for the winter, and it's in a south window, temperature a constant 70°. It continued to bloom, but now the leaves are turning yellowish, and the blooms have slowed considerably and are much smaller. I fear I'm going to lose it. It looked so good when it was outside. My mom has the same, brought hers in, and the foliage is a deep green, large, lush and it's blooming like crazy. I don't know what to do! :-(
Passiflora 'Lady Margaret' is suffering! :-(
Here's a scan of leaves that just came off of it:
do you have cats?
Yes, but they don't go near it where I have it.
id check the soil just in case or its geting to much sun
Hmmm.....now the too much sun thing is a real possibility, since it's in direct sun in a south window. Of course, this being in the north, we don't actually see the sun a whole lot this time of year, so I don't know that it's THAT harsh, but I'll try moving it to an east window and see what happens.
And believe me, I'd know if one of the cats was in this. I have a palm that they DO get into, and there is always a bit of soil on the floor when they do. The palm doesn't seem to mind them, though. LOL.
Your picture of yours looks like mine USED to look when I had it on the patio this summer. It was pretty shaded there, come to think of it. It only got a bit of morning sun.
"Too much sun" and Passiflora are hard phrases to put together for me, even here, where the sun is so much more intense. I'll venture to guess it is a different cultural need.
Potentials:
Too much water/ Too little water-Dried out once or twice too long?
Too little ( or too much) nutrients (did you dig it out of the ground, or was it always in a pot, Kylee?)
When did you bring it in, and what sort of position did it have outdoors?
Crazy-sounding, but what colour of pot is it in?
To me, the leaves look like they were not directly damaged, but they are suffering (yellow, but green veins) from root damage.
K. James
(ed. to add: I saw the Chihuly installations at Saint Louis)
This message was edited Dec 15, 2006 12:33 AM
I agree with James that too much sun in general shouldn't be a problem for passi's, but it's the change in amt of sunlight that can cause problems. If you had it in a somewhat shady location outside and then moved it inside and it's getting a lot more light than it was used to, you can have problems. The trick is to introduce it gradually to more light, give it a few more hours in the window every day until you've worked it up to being there all day. You mentioned that you had it outside on a shaded patio where it only got a little sun so that could be the problem. It also could be overwatering (or underwatering, but my experience is that overwatering is much more common!), this will cause leaves to first turn yellow and then eventually brown and fall off. Or I wonder if it could be shock from the difference in humidity--you had it out on your patio where presumably there was a decent amt of humidity, and now you've brought it inside in the winter to the nice dry air of your house. I don't know if that could cause problems for passi's or not, but I know I've had trouble with other plants that I buy mail order from places like Florida when I get them here and they suffer greatly from the drastic reduction in humidity. Usually the leaves go crispy brown around the edges and then they fall off never noticed the yellowing in that situation but it's still something to consider.
It's in the same pot it's always been in since I brought it home last spring, which is a terra cotta clay pot. I did let it get a bit dry a couple of times. I don't think it went totally dry, but more than I usually do. I thought maybe it was due to lack of iron, so I fed it a few times with chelated iron. It didn't really affect it much. Once I brought it in, it just bloomed like crazy for several weeks! That was at the beginning of October. It's just been doing this since a few weeks ago. Also, is it normal for these to smell horrible? When I remove the spent flowers, it always has sticky sap and it smells horrid! My other passi ('Clear Sky') doesn't have this smell!
Oooooh! What did you think of the Chihuly exhibit? I hope to make it there, as my aunt and uncle live just across the river.
In my experience, horrible smell usually means something is rotting. Could have been caused by too much water, but it could have been something else too. You might try repotting it in fresh soil, make sure to get off as much of the current soil as possible and give the roots a bit of a rinse in some dilute hydrogen peroxide, then put it in a new pot with new soil (or if you want to re-use the same pot, I would soak it in some bleach for a while and then rinse it well before putting the plant back in it)
I know that rotting smell, and it's not that. This plant has always had this smell. It's a weird green kind of smell. I think it's just the way these smell. My other passi has a distinctive smell, too, but it's not the same as this one. When I commented about the smell, I didn't mean to imply that I thought it was something wrong with it, although I did ask if it was normal. LOL.
I am thinking of repotting it, although I don't relish the thought of doing that. I have a square trellis thing that it's climbing on and around, in the square terra cotta pot, and it will be quite awkward to do. But I don't want to lose it, either, so I may attempt it.
I'm going to do the hydrogen peroxide thing, as well as SuperThrive, which I haven't done in awhile. Maybe between all that, it will start to recover.
In my humble opinion, kbaumle, and as others have pointed out, I think your Lady Margaret is just going through a bit of adjustment shock. Mine grew like a weed all summer in the garden, and I thought it would continue to thrive in my south-facing sun porch when I recently brought it in for the winter. I was surprised and concerned when it developed a number of yellow leaves, stopped blooming and started looking scraggly. Despite the strong temptation to "baby" it with fertilizers and stimulants, I just cut back a bit on the watering, gave it some time, and hoped it would get it back together. Within two weeks it was lush and green again and now has at least twenty buds coming - in Minnesota in December! I think we sometimes underestimate the shock to plants of bringing them indoors for the winter - they just need time to adjust.
Just my opinion here...but I would be a bit hesitant about repotting it when it is not doing well, unless you are quite sure that the soil is the problem (as ecrane3 so wisely points out about the possible rotting smell). Repotting is just more shock that may drive the weakend plant over the edge. Adding a topdressing of fresh soil would probably be appreciated, however.
As for the smell....I just went out and sniffed my LM (fortunately, no one was watching!) and I didn't pick up anything. But that doesn't mean much - I can barely suppress gagging when I am working on my Passiflora 'St. Rule', but others don't pick up an offensive odor at all. Passifloras are complex plants and their scents strike eveyone in differnet ways.
Good luck with your LM - I hope it gets back to the business of thriving and blooming soon!
Erick
Sorry...when you mentioned the bad smell I assumed that was one of the recent symptoms when the plant started to decline, not something that had been there all along. If it's the plant's natural smell then I wouldn't worry about it, so forget about the repotting business (unless you have other reason to believe that there's some sort of fungal infection, I was guessing that based on the foul smell)
I agree with ecrane3 - if the bad smell has a rotting edge to it (it's pretty noticeable), re-potting is definitely in order to save the plant. That could especially be true if you've been over-watering the plant to 'help' it recover indoors.
I made a note about the dilute hydrogen peroxide rinse for future reference. That sounds like a good extra step to increase the odds of the re-potted plant to recover. Thank you ecrane3.
Erick
I'm not going to repot it. I think it probably is just the shock from bringing it in. My other one is going through a bit of that, too, just not as severe (and the not the yellowing), but this will be its second winter, so it's older and bigger. I think I'll just ignore it a bit instead of trying to fuss over it like I have been and see what happens.
Yes, this plant has always had this kind of smell. Definitely not a rotting kind of smell at all.
And why do I always forget that epsom salts thing? I have some and I'll do that next time I water.
Thanks so much for all of your help, EVERYONE!!
Smell- could be that honeydew sort of residual junk the plants emit from their nectaries. Those little bumps on the petioles. I understand that this can be to attract ants to guard the plant from pests. It's plant BO. Stress causes odour meant to deter attackers. Like sagebrush, culinary herbs, and all. Just a guess.
Kind of like badly-cooked food smell?
As pretty as it was, I wasn't impressed with Chihuly. With an education in art, I saw simple things that just plainly were failed- unmaximized potential... It would take some time to explain... The ideas and all were nice, clever and neat, though.
Kenton, I think the smell IS exactly that - the honeydew type of stuff. 'Lady Margaret' seems to have a lot more of that than my 'Clear Sky.'
I thoroughly enjoyed Chihuly at the Conservatory (Franklin Park in Columbus, OH). I suppose he tries to do something a little different everywhere he goes, so maybe his ideas didn't work so well in St. Louis.
Remember how I once dreamed of 'Clear Sky?' Now that I've figured out stem cutting technique, I've got them coming out of my ears!
(But let us recall, that Mr. Chihuly himself isn't actually doing... well, anything. According to a docent I talked to.
I thought the installantions at MOBot were fun but elementary. Literally.
I'm just jaded or too picky.
True, although I think he directs the technique or design or something, but it's his employees that are actually making things and putting them together.
Now I do like that picture you posted. I really do!
And good on you with the 'Clear Sky'!!
Question: Do you fertilize them much? I had ordered 'Lady Margaret' from Logee's last year, and it promptly died on me, so they replaced it and I had no better luck with the second one. (The one I have now, I purchased at Lowe's, as did my mom, and you should see HERS. It's GORGEOUS.) Logee's told me they like poor soil and to not fertilize it too much.
One of my favorite pictures from the Chihuly exhibit:
I don't fertilize unless they have not grown for some time when they should have. The cuttings I have I am going ot leave be- they are sensitive with their young roots and all and I won't touch them until they put on a good flush of growth, then they will go in the ground, hopefully. (They are under lights now) Passiflora, as a generalisation, will grow with fertilizer and bloom without. Soiless mixes of potting mix are nutritious for a start. I'd only fertilize potted plants- with a mature root system and if I thought it ran out of nutrients, and want it bigger.
Last spring, I fell this gallon Clear Sky for a full nasty price at the florists- a rare behaviour for me, especially when I'm near-broke, but it grew nicely on the fence in my garden this summer, and its successful cuttings make it a good investment.
(K)
Dear Kylee,
I have an opportunity to purchase a Lady Margaret passie. I was wondering if this issue was settled. If I do, then I will keep in the pot but outdoors until I can safely plant it in April. What I would like to know is if this red passiflora attracts GF butterflies. Almost everything that I have planted in my garden attracts butterflies, either as a larval host or nectar plant. I would appreciate any information from anyone about this passiflora as a larval host.
Thanks,
Chuck Bernard