Advise on rooting these Passiflora cuttings

Hello -

A dear woman and fellow DG member sent me these beautiful Passiflora cuttings. I have never tried to root these before. Can anyone give me advise on how best to go about this?

Diane

I'd like to know as well. :-)

Diane, you might try asking this over on the Vines and Climbers forum. Hope someone can help you out.

Hi Diane, we've had a couple long -- and I mean long -- threads about rooting passifloras earlier this year. Here's what I learned:

1. Passiflora cuttings root best in the spring when they are in growth mode;

2. Some types are easier to root than others;

3. Some types will root in jars of water; some will rot in jars of water;

3. Humidity is essential to the rooting process so a plastic bag or humidity dome should be used to keep the leaves green;

4. Oasis cubes on a tray of moist pebbles with a humidity dome worked best for me; and

5. A good rooting hormone helps quite a bit.

This is how I rooted mine in the picture below. I put this tray of cuttings in a large zippered plastic bag like the kind you get when you buy a blanket or a comforter.

I hope this helps!

Diane, I would mist your leaves right away and put a large clear plastic bag over the cuttings and the jar of water and seal them in. The humidity will help perk up those droopy leaves. You can let air in from time to time, but the humidity is needed for the rooting process. Also, cut off all lower leaves and threads and keep only the top two leaves on each cutting. Eventually, the larger leaves will drop, but you want them to stay on for as long as possible.

Oh, thank you so much for the advise Clare_CA -- I will get mine into a "blanket bag" when I get home.

Diane

Good luck, Diane, and let us know how it goes. I will try some myself in the spring, but I've got to get some more Oasis cubes.

Thanks Clare_CA. I suppose its best to wait for spring?

That is what we found, but if you have cuttings now, you have no choice but to try now. We found that, when the vine starts to put on growth in the spring before flowering, cuttings are more willing to root. Summer is also a good time, but all flower buds need to be cut off of the cuttings.

Clare - I ran all over my house this morning looking for the blanket bag I had with the zipper to no avail. So at lunch today I bought a box of clear kitchen trash bags. I will use one of those tonight. If I understood your suggestion above - I should leave them in the jar of water they are in, and put the whole thing inside the plastic bag - blow it up with air maybe? and seal it up like a greenhouse? Its worth a shot anyway. I'm thinking perhaps I should remove some of the lower leaves - what do you think? And then how long a wait am I in for if I am sucessful at all - a month? more?

Diane Krny

I just rooted some edulis 'frederick' in a 4" pot with rootone and potting soil. I was amazed how quickly they took. I put a cut down plasic newspaper wrapper over the pot to form a little terrarium and place it in a sheltered corner of the yard. The daily newspaper wrapper is just the right size for 4" pots. I cut them to about 9" and blow into the bag before I stretch it over the last corner. I have had success with hibiscus, passion flower, rex begonia, fuchsia and many others.

Diane, a large zip lock baggy is better if you can find one, but the trash bag will work if you can seal it up tight at the top to prevent air from escaping. You don't need to fill it with air yourself. Yes, I would remove some of the lower leaves and tendrils and only keep the leaves at the top of the cutting. You can continue to try to root them in the jar of water and put the whole thing inside the plastic and keep it sealed shut for a few weeks. I had roots start after about three weeks. You can also put the cuttings in Oasis cubes or two-inch pots with potting soil and put them in a plastic bag for humidity. If you use potting soil or Oasis cubes, I would circulate the air a little more often, like once a week.