You can get bags with the seeds of exotic passion flower species everywhere in specialist shops - the temptation is of course great to use them to grow new passiflora for your own collection. Of course, you can also obtain the seeds yourself from ripe fruit or propagate existing plants using cuttings.
Grow passiflora from seed
In contrast to the propagation of cuttings, breeding from seeds does not produce genetically identical clones of the mother plant, but new plants. This is important if you want to breed yourself - clones of the same passion flower plant cannot fertilize each other in many species. Speaking of fruit: For seed propagation, of course, you first need ripe fruit from which the seeds can be obtained. You can either buy these in the supermarket (e.g. passion fruit) or breed them yourself, although this usually requires manual fertilization. In addition, many Passiflora are not self-fertile, i. H. You need a second plant. With a bit of luck (and in good summer weather with lots of sun and warmth), the passion fruits will ripen on your Passiflora. However, not all species are edible.
Passiflora seedlings need a lot of patience
Cut open the ripe fruit and remove the pulp with the seeds inside. You can either suck them off (in the case of the edible varieties) or carefully clean them with the help of kitchen paper. Afterwards, some Passiflora growers swear by soaking the seeds in warm orange juice for a day or two to simulate the putrefaction process. But this is not absolutely necessary, fresh seeds can instead be sown in coconut substrate or potting soil. Only dried seeds should be soaked in lukewarm water for at least 24 hours to increase their germination. You need a lot of patience to grow young passion flowers from seed, as it can sometimes take months to germinate.
Particularly uncomplicated: Propagation from cuttings
In contrast, the propagation of Passiflora from cuttings is much faster and more promising. In addition, these plants bloom much faster, since passion flowers grown from seed usually only open their beautiful flowers for the first time in the second year.
Cut and grow Passiflora cuttings
- Choose a young but mature and healthy shoot.
- Cut it off with a clean and sharp knife.
- Divide the shoot into several cuttings, each with a maximum of two leaves.
- Remove excess leaves.
- Cut the remaining leaves in half.
- Dip the end to be rooted in a rooting powder.
- Plant the cuttings in potting soil.
- Keep the substrate evenly moist.
- Place a clear plastic bag with air holes over the young plants.
- Put the potties in a warm and bright place.
tips and tricks
If you are growing a new, perhaps particularly rare type of passion flower and want to buy seeds for it, opt for offers from well-known brand manufacturers if possible. Many exotic passion flowers offered on various trading platforms are just P. edulis, ergo commercially available passion fruit or grenadilla. Their seeds also lose a lot of germination capacity due to improper drying, so that you have most likely thrown your money out the window.