Passionfruit

[John_NY]

January28 - Bought some passionfruit in a supermarket.

February 6 - Planted the seeds.
http://home.earthlink.net/~kjohnson29/passionfruitseeds.jpg

April 25 - Seedlings coming along.
http://home.earthlink.net/~johnson29/passionseedling2.jpg

September 25 - Flowers.
http://www.johngrows.com/passionflowerresized.jpg

October 17 - Fruit.
http://home.earthlink.net/~2johnson29/passionfruit%20001.jpg

[Ann B.]

Fantastic!

I have one that looks just like that... It has never produced fruit, but then again, this year, I didn't see a single bloom. Yet, there are a dozen or so that popped up. I think the vine didn't bloom because it is now in too much shade. The baby pecan nearby is no longer a baby. It is getting quite large and shading many things that need to be moved.

I won't complain. That give me some shade garden space that was lost due to other downed trees.

Thanks, John!

[John_NY]

I thought that was pretty good, considering we are in New York. Of course, in the next few days, it will have to come in the greenhouse to finish.

[3girls]

John, you apparently have quite a greenhouse. How big is it? Is it heated? How do you manage all the exotics you seem to have. Perhaps I'm in the wrong thread for these questions, but I also read the gh forum regularly. Tell us about it, please.

[Ann B.]

Whatever he is doing, he is doing RIGHT! John has been a member of this forum for a long time, and I have learned a lot from him.

And you are correct that he is growing things that cannot be grown without protection.

I would love to know more about your greenhouse also, John!

How do you do it?

[Dazed_Lily]

Oh John ! That passion flower thread just caught my eye. I was going to BUY a plant for $10 ! What a doofus I would be after reading this. Do the seeds need any special planting care or just pop into the soil ? Cool !
P.S. I would also like to hear about the GH. :cool:

[John_NY]

There was nothing special done with the passion fruit seeds; they were just planted in 72 cell trays. They did, however, take a while to germinate. Possibly, soaking them first would speed up the germination. The young plants were moved outside in May,, and we're just bringing them back into the greenhouse now. The plant in the picture is in a hanging basket.
The greenhouse I have now is 17 feet wide by 100 feet long. It's covered with inflated double poly, and is heated with a 200,000 btu Sundair hot air furnace.

[Ann B.]

Cathy,

The problem that you will probably run into with passiflora vines grown from store bought seeds is that they will not be hardy in your zone. However, if you want to overwinter them in the patio, or a location in your home that does not get below 25-30 degrees, most will go dormant (herbaceous) and then come back when you take them outside in the spring.

Your best bet if you want to grow them outside year around is to get one of the varieties that are hardy in your area. Perhaps 'Incarnata' and some say that 'Incense' is hardy, but the latter can be difficult to grow due to its susceptibility to viruses. Still, it is gorgeous.

Nice greenhouse John! And double inflated poly at that! No wonder you can grow all of these tropicals. NICE!!!!

[Dazed_Lily]

Oh, Incarnata was the one I was going to buy. For some reason I assumed that John;s was incarnata. What was I thinking ! Ann, don't you have a red one ? Wowee Zowee !

[sue salley]

John that looks very much like our native passaflora. The vine near me bloomed and bloomed all summer and formed many pods. It broke my heart when they mowed that field before the pods got ripe. I would have had beau coup seeds to harvest and share. If it is hardy here it might be hardy in Kansas. I am zone 6b.

[sue salley]

Ann, The passion flower is full of blooms right now and has several seed pods the size of lemons. Hopefully they won't mow that field again until they ripen. I would love to have some to grow and share. These would probably be hardy for Cathy since they are native here (both zone 6).
The pink butterfly weed is also blooming but no seed pods yet. If it gets mowed before seeds form I will send you a couple of small plants this fall with the epi cactus. Just don't let me forget what I am sending as I have a short memory. I treated the seed I collected last year in the fridge in potting soil for a month or so and they came right up. I will have to look up the passiflora in my wildflower book to see the best way to handle them. This is a great book from the New England Wildflower Society for propagating wildflowers. It is very detailed.

[Ann B.]

Every once in awhile, when I am tired and hot and don't feel like even lifting a pencil, I search for threads on Landspro that need to be placed on their appropriate new forum. I spotted this one the other day, but it was time for bed, so I made note of passifloras to be 'moved'. I have to tell you that some of these threads bring back a lot of good memories.

I'm going to move this one before I respond.

[Ann B.]

Sue,

The best luck that I have had is to soak the pulp off, sort of like tomatoe seeds, when they are fresh.

Then, I simply put them in between a loosely folded paper towel which I slipped into a ziploc, zipped tight and placed under fluorescents. When the hard shell split and exposed the embryo, I planted them and they grew just great.

I lost the seedlings during Ivan. They were in the worst of worst spots, and crushed so badly that I didn't try to save them.

I am looking forward to this one pod of Incense ripening. It is heavy, so I believe it will have fruit and seeds.

Save a few seeds for me, too! And I definitely want some of those pink butterfly weeds, also. I don't need very many, just enough to get a good start of them.

Thanks for thinking of me!

[sue salley]

Ann, I will have to keep my seed over winter or winter sow, which ever the book says works best. If we do get seed I might try bothways just to be safe. Some of the wildflowers do well wintersowed here. Lets just pray they don't mow for a while.

[sue salley]

Me and my big mouth. The field was being mowed when I got up this morning! I checked yesterday and there were dozens of big GREEN seed pods on the passiflora and no milkweed seed yet. Now there is nothing.
I will get Marty to check at the farm and see if he can find some ripe pods later. And Ann I will send you some plants of the pink milkweed. Just don't let me forget when it cools down this fall.
BTW my night blooming cerus had 2 big blooms the other night. Of course I was at work and missed them. Not doing too good lately am I?

[Ann B.]

Two of my epi's bloomed last night also. I didn't realize that the one was ready yet, and gee! I didn't even know the other was even there.

The nights must be getting cooler because more and more of my roses are blooming again. Also, I see buds on one of the camileas. I see quite a few seed pods on the other. I do need to make some tutu's for those because they open spill to the ground. Then I think the squirrels eat them.

I'm still watching the Incense fruit. It hasn't gotten any bigger, but it sure is green!