Passiflora Seed Germination

My poor passiflora never had a chance :(

 

Yuck. That right there, in a nutshell, is why I left Canada.

 

I am in the process of getting some new varieties myself, but in seed form. I am doing some trades with people from this as well as another gardening forum. Right now, the only variety I have is 'caerulea', but I have very few seeds for trading, until I can collect more from the fruits this season. I never like to part with my last couple of seeds, in case things don't work out and I unable to obtain anymore.

Sorry to hear that your PF vine didn't make it, WillandLynn! Better luck next time.

: )

 

haha, ya Vancouver Island had some funky weather this year! I must say i really DONT miss the canadian winters! thats a good dump though for qualicum beach though, being right by the sea. it last long?

 

It might not be snowing here, but it's bloody well cold - especially at night and in the mornings. We have two seasons here - summer and winter!

My passion flower vine is dwindling along right now, but definitely surviving. I can tell it's waiting for things to warm up out there, before it takes off like crazy. It has developed some new shoots for me though, so that's a good sign. It's also really healthy looking too.

I have another PF vine inside my apartment, that I am holding back on putting out, just to make sure that I am not without a PF success story this season. I am just so excited about seeing the flowers and then the fruits. I will be taking some serious pictures, believe me!

: )

 

Hey Kada,
This last winter on Vancouver Island was a record breaker. We had snow on the ground(and lots of it), for well over a month and a half. Qualicum Beach was among the worst hit communities. I measured at over 40 inches in some places and that was within view of the ocean. They had to remove it from my street with a loader and dumptrucks. I was on my way home from work(in four wheel drive of course), and had to wait at the end of my street briefly while finished loading. I chatted to the dumptruck driver and when I inquired as to where they were dumping the snow, he informed me "Up at the ballfields parking lot, and it gonna f$$kin melt until summer!" Pardon me, but am just repeating what he told me, and it was there well into March. I climbed it one day :)

 

As to having a Passionflower vine, I believe if you are in USA zone 6 (or lower) only Passiflora incarnata is hardy. The top will always die, but the vines come back from the roots. But they only come up very late -- in my case in zone 6 on the US eastern seaboard, in June. I formly had some planted in a vineyard and did successfully get some fruit with ripe seeds. Currently, even though I am some miles further south, I have them planted amoung apple trees, and I only get a few fruit and it does not ripen fully. I find P. incarnata to not be very tasty, you could survive on it if lost in the woods, but otherwise you wouldn't want to eat it.

As to germination, years ago I was told to soak the seeds for 24 hours in very strong and fairly warm tea for 24 hours. I don't know if better ideas have supplanted this. Bottom heat (or heat in general) helps germination tremendously.

 

I never soak my passiflora seeds but I do use a heat mat. They usually pop in 3-4 weeks. I have Caerulaea and Incarnata as well.


: )