The various passion flowers are not only pleasingly easy to care for, but also easy to grow yourself. Young Passiflora bloom particularly quickly when propagated from cuttings. In contrast to propagation by seed, you can also obtain offspring from (often sterile) hybrids in this way.
Propagation of cuttings in passion flowers - a guide
Two things are very important when growing passion flower cuttings: cleanliness and warmth. To cut the offshoot, use clean scissors that have been disinfected if possible beforehand, with sharp nail scissors being particularly suitable. Cut so that the cut surfaces are as smooth as possible and do not fray, you should also cut directly on the stem. Both of these measures prevent mold and other pathogens from finding a gateway and ruining your efforts. Furthermore, especially young Passiflora love the heat, which is why cuttings root all the better in a warm, maybe even heated location.
The step-by-step guide
- Select a healthy shoot about 20 centimeters long.
- This should not have any brown spots and should also be free of pests.
- A side shoot without flower buds is best.
- Remove all sprout tendrils.
- Dissect the shoot into individual cuttings.
- These should have a maximum of three leaves, with the bottom one being removed.
- The cutting point of the shoot should be as sloping as possible to make it easier for the plantlet to absorb water.
- A little tip: The rooting point, i.e. “below”, is where the shoot axis is. Stems are always under a leaf, while the leaves always turn towards the light.
- Shorten the leaves by about half.
- Dip the shoot end in a rooting substrate.
- Plant the cuttings in a peat pot or in potting soil.
- Cactus soil also shows very good results.
- Keep the substrate evenly moist, but avoid wet conditions.
Care for young plants properly
The ideal location for the young plant is bright and warm - for example above a heater on a south-facing window or similar. To increase the humidity, you can also put a plastic bag with air holes over the cutting. A (heated) indoor greenhouse or a converted aquarium are also ideal. Incidentally, the young plant feels most comfortable at temperatures between 20 and 25 °C.
tips and tricks
As a rule, cut off shoots of the Passiflora root very quickly, only some species are a bit more demanding. The propagation of cuttings, for example in the case of Passiflora racemosa and P. alata, is less successful.