I have a type of passi..not sure which one. Waiting for a bloom to open to take a picture of it. They are small and run several on the same line but they are purple and very pretty. Anyway, two days ago, one of the flowers bloomed and now in its place is a small "ball" LOoks like a "pod" This is the first time in 4 years I have seen what I believe is a seed pod on one of my passi's. It fell off the vine today with the wind and want to know where to go from here. i don;t know how long to keep the pod closed. Should i keep it in the dark? The heat? Open it and preserve seeds? Wait for it it open itself? Holey moley, excitement level is thru the roof. LOL
I bought this plant from home depot and bought it only because it was such a different passi then I usually see there. Actually bought 2 that i had never seen before. This one very small flowers and small leaves. Other one has enormous leaves.
Chris
Florida Zone 9
New Passiflora...need pod help
I don't grow passies, but my guess is that was just the last remains of the flower, seeds wouldn't form within 2 days of there being a flower there, plus passies make fruit and the seeds are inside there rather than seed pods. Some types make fruit that's edible and some types it's not and some hybrids may be sterile and not make fruit at all, but I think that's the only way they can make seeds.
let the fruit shrivel up for a few weeks then open it if the seeds are dark there fertile
What happens if I open it and they are not dark. Can i baggie them and put them in dark until ready or did I ruin it?
Flutter
lol not sure just wait on a nother fruit
I am soo impatient LOL Making me wait...
Flutter
Flutter,
If the closed flower falls from the vine within a few days, then the flower was not successfully fertilized. When they are successfully fertilized, you will see the "pod" start to grow unmistakeably after 4 or 5 days, and get greener. The fruits usually take a few weeks to reach full size then another 6 to 12 weeks to ripen. Most passie fruits are at least 2 inches long when mature. You should always allow the fruits to fall from the vine naturally, then let them further ripen inside until the fruit gets shriveled (anywhere from a few days to a few weeks). When you cut open the fruit, you will find dark seeds (if they are not dark they are not ripe) surrounded by pulp sacs (called arils). There are different methods for removing the pulp sacs, but what I usually do is pop the sacs between my fingers, and spread the seeds out on a plate. Make sure they are not touching one another. Within a couple of hours, sometimes more, the pulp sacs will have dried enough to be easily removed. You should probably plant a few seeds at that time, since fresh seeds are said to germinate better. Here is a pic of 2 Passiflora "Incense" pods (these are actually the ovaries) that were not successfully fertilized, along with an incarnata fruit that fell a few days ago
Don't be discouraged if you didn't get a true fruit. Most hybrids will set fruit only rarely, and usually have to be hand pollinated in the bud stage to do so. Also, most hybrids are pollen sterile, but can accept pollen from another flower. I hope this helps.
Mark
