Hi~
Since finding this forum I have fell in love with passiflora! I'm in zone 5a. I won a passiflora edulis on ebay which I am hoping to grow in a pot outside during summer and overwinter in the house. Am I wasting my time? Can this be done?
O.K. so I received the plant through the mail, bare root. It was in very good shape vine and leaves very sturdy. Potted it up right away outside. It was in the 60's yesterday after a very short time the leaves began to wilt (I expect some wilt) vine still seems very sturdy and there is some new growth at the bottom that looks nice yet. After doing some research here I have since moved the plant into the bathroom and have been trying to keep it as humid as possible. What else should I do? Do you think it will survive? Will this plant throw more shoots or does it grow as one long vine?
I appreciate any advice given!
Thanks
Tracy
Passiflora Edulis bare root
I gotten passi's and they looked like they were dying after a few days
I generally cut them back to minimize the shock and they eventually come back
Hello Tracy.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Passifloras!
You can definitely grow Passiflora edulis (and nearly all other Passifloras as well) outside during the summer and overwinter it indoors. I do that with nearly two dozen species/hybrids with great success.
It sounds like you are doing everything right with your new vine. Just a comment - I have never heard of shipping Passifloras bare root and would never recommend that. Anyways...Just keep doing what you are doing. Until the plant really gets going, give it bright light (but not direct sun), an occasional misting (high humidity is not required), and lightly moist soil. The biggest danger now is overwatering - its roots can't yet pick up much moisture from the soil, so they will simply rot if they are too wet.
Once your Passiflora gets established, you can gradually move it into full sun for the summer.
Passifloras, when happy, grow new shoots from virtually every leaf axis. They do not grow into one long vine. In fact, an occasional trimming and pruning is essential to growing these vines.
If, despite your best efforts, your new vine does not survive, I would be happy to send you another.
Make sure to post updates and pictures!
Erick
I agree with Erick. I'm apalled that sellers are sending out bare root Passiflora. As Summer approaches, and Passiflora are shipped without soil, they're survival rate diminishes markedly. Truthfully, a Passiflora shipped WITH soil will be stressed rather badly and care must be taken immediately upon arrival to rest, rehydrate and restore before it is transplanted.
Customers buying any kind of vine through the mails should be aware that those tender stems are delicate. You may lose leaves, but the three "R's" of mail order Passiflora protocol should have you and your plant enjoying a happy life together.
ALWAYS listen to gordo - she know's what she is talking about!
Here is a picture of my P. edulis var. flavacarpa outside for the season. As this Passionflower becomes a large vine, I have it in a 12" clay pot with a tomato cage trellis. Eventually I will tie in the strings hanging behind it so it grows up the building. It's only been outside for about a week, so it is still adjusting. I expect it to lose most of these leaves, as they are all "indoor leaves", but they will be replaced with hundreds of others (I hope).
Directly in front of it is P. subpeltata, and lthe leafy sticks around it are various Brugmansias that are adjusting to being outdoors as well.
Erick
O.K. Here is a picture of my little guy. What do you think? I have it in the bathroom, there is a skylight in there so it will get light. It doesn't look like it is getting worse and the stem is very firm. It does look a little pathetic though. I have it in a 15 gallon pot with some cocoa shells as mulch. Tell me if I'm doing anything wrong or if there is anything else I should do. The potting mix I have it in is Vigoro premium potting mix with plant food (.011 .08 .05). (Home depots brand).
Erick thank you for the advise and kind offer. Your vine looks great will you really lose all the leaves?? Gordo the person I bought the vine from sells many plants on ebay I figured she was experienced enough to know how they should ship. Guess I was wrong. (not the first time).
Chrestedchik did yours look this bad? I sure hope it survives I was really looking forward to enjoying it this summer.
A 15 GALLON POT!!!!!! HOLY MACANOLI!!!! WAY TOO BIG!!!
Quick! Get your potting mix and cut it 50% with perlite. Put a few inches of it in a 1 GALLON pot, set the plant in and gently backfill around the roots. Water once, let it drain well, then place it near a window that receives bright (but not straight sunlight) light.
Do not water again until the pot is dry halfway down into the soil. Push your index finger in and feel around...
Mist daily once or twice with a fine spray of water.
I almost had the vapors when I saw the size of that pot, Sweetie.
Best of luck and keep us updated. :-)
Well, I didn't want to put it in too small of a pot. LOL Will it stay in a 1 gallon pot or will I have to transplant it again?
You'll probably have to transplant it again eventually, but the rule of thumb is to put a plant in a pot where the size of the pot is proportional to the amount of roots, then pot up one pot size at a time as it gets bigger. Otherwise you're increasing the chances of overwatering it since the roots don't have the capacity to take up anywhere near the amount of water that you put in that huge volume of soil, so they end up spending way too much time sitting in wet soil.
Laughed all the way to Walmart where I promptly bought a one gallon pot, perlite and spray bottle to mist. Am now making DH wait to start his movie until it is repotted. Will post new pic for your approval when I am done. :)
Better?? Lot's of trial and error for this gardener. ;)
So what am I to do with my 15 gallon pot. I have a climbing shell plant coming tell me it's not to big for that too!! LOL How about Wisteria got that coming mail order too. Here I thought I'd have some nice big pots for some nice big vines I wanted to grow. Only vine I have experience with is Clematis and that I can grow in the ground.
The pot size is definitely an improvement--the poor plant still looks sad though, hopefully it'll perk up for you soon. My guess is your shell plant and wisteria are probably going to be small too, any sort of plant that you get in the mail is probably going to be somewhere between a 2.5" pot and a 1 gal pot size, otherwise the shipping becomes prohibitively expensive, so the 15 gal will be way too big for them too. All of them will get big enough eventually to need that size but you don't want to put them in there right from the start. But save the 15 gal pot--something's bound to grow into it someday and then you'll be glad you already have it!
Tracy,
Your re-potting job looks great! The plant looks healthy and will be just fine. You'll be surprised how quickly it gets it together and starts growing like a weed.
Keep the 15 gallon pot. It will be the future home of this vine.
Again, please make sure to post pictures as it grows and flowers.
Erick
Was the p. edulis you received wrapped in damp paper towers or just sent dry?
I send vines bareroot all the time but wrap the root ball in damp paper towel and then put the root ball in a plastic back and tie with a wire wrap or tape. I then roll the whole thing in newspaper and send priority mail. I do with with all my plants including vigna caracallas and have never had anyone lose one. Does anyone want to do a test mailing with me for a p. edulis var flavicarpa seedling in 4 in pot. I will send it to you at no cost and you let me know how it arrives and take pictures. Do I have 1 taker?
The plant was sent in a large garbage bag, not wrapped in anything. I think they misted the inside of the bag. One long stem and root that's all. I'll do the test for you if no one else responded yet. I'll send you my mailing address through D-mail. I'm not sure yet if my plant will survive, I'm sure if it does it probably will not flower this season. I was really looking forward to it!
Tracy
I will send you one Tracy and we can compare how they do.
Budgielover~
You have D-mail.
Thanks!
Tracy
Tracy...Generally, it takes two or more seasons for P. edulis to flower. Some Passiflora will bloom when quite young, but others have to grow to a certain length before they will bloom. P. edulis is one of those Passiflora that must be many feet long before it will bloom or set fruit.
May a recommend a book to you? It is what most people consider the Passiflora Bible, and it can be obtained at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Passiflora-Passionflowers-World-Torsten-Ulmer/dp/0881926485/ref=sr_1_1/104-8497496-1455102?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1179187731&sr=1-1
Hope this link came through alright...
Thanks gordo~
I will definitely be purchasing the book!
O.K. Jan~
My computer and my camera like each other again. Here is the picture of the vine the day you sent it to me. I will post a picture of what it looks like now. I will also post a pic of the vine I got on e-bay which looks different from yours.
Tracy
Here is your vine today~ It is starting to sprout new growth and is doing really well.
Here is the vine I purchased from e-bay. The original vine died but this one popped up and is growing really well. See the difference in the leaves.
Oh great information...printing it all out now!!
One question, though....if it's going in the ground (hardy to my area) do I put it in a pot first after it arrives...or directly in the ground?
This message was edited Jun 11, 2007 7:08 PM
Are you sure the ebay one was listed at var. flavicarpa? The difference may be that the ebay one was started from a cutting where there were more mature leaves. I posted this picture on another thread but I'll post it here for comparison. These are 2 different shape leaves all on the same plant so it is capable of showing variations in size and shape at any stage.
This message was edited Jun 11, 2007 9:01 PM
This is the exact fruit that the seeds were from that produced the plant I sent you.
