Maypop vine problem

I have a 2nd year Maypop vine that is growing like the weed it is, and covered with buds. The problem is that the buds are not fully opening. Here is a pic of one as opened as it gets. There are prolly 10 'flowers' just like that on the vine.

Last year it was a much smaller vine, but the flowers opened all the way. It's in the same place it was last year . . . I don't get it.

The very first flower of the year opened all the way, but it was a huge struggle for it and took all day. Here is a pic of it.

Any help appreciated.

Cheri'

Now that you mention it, my caerulea did the same thing earlier in the spring. It was only for a little while, then the others opened just fine. Let's hope yours do too. I have lots of incarnata buds but none have opened yet.

hmm, I wonder if it hasn't been hot enough? Hard to believe, but it has been a very pleasant spring . . .

Last year it was a new plant, so didn't start blooming until the middle of the summer. I'll just give it some more time and see what happens.

Cheri'

Hey your not alone, My P. Caerulea just started doing that this week. It went from blooming profusly to buds that won't open or barely open. I think its possiblt temp. related or a stress related problem of some sort. If your plant still looks healthy, I wouldn't worry.
I don't think mine is due to lack of heat but we have had some chillt evenings. I think it maybe a lack of ferts or more likely over watering. It could be root bound too now that I recall the pot size I have it in. I have tons of Passiflora's that spent the winter in a greenhouse at my daughter's highschool and they must be wickedly rootbound. They were pretty tite when I took them up there last fall and they have more than doubled in size. I'm very excited though as I started those plants as tiny cuttings early last spring and by midsummer, they were all large blooming beauties. This will be the first summer I get to start off with HUGE specimens of each Passie and I can't wait to see the display they put on this year.
I don't know if this is normal or not but a very cool observation. My P. Belotti was huge when I pulled it from the earth and potted in for winter. It has been blooming non stop since last spring, all through winter and still going strong. I also noticed the cuttings my daughter took off of it for her horticulture classwere also blooming and they were 6 to 12 inches long tops. That is 1 healthy Passiflora and I can't wait to spread it everywhere.

JLD_II, your P. Belotti sounds wonderful.

The only Passi I grow so far is this incarnata. I figure, it grows wild here - I won't kill it, right? LOL! It's hardy, so it stayed in it's pot all winter - it died back (we actually had snow this winter!) but came popping up this spring. It's still growing inches per day. Maybe I need to feed it more. I don't think it's pot bound, it was a seedling last spring in a 5 gallon pot.

I think the problem must be heat related. It's been uncommonly comfortable here this spring, I think it's only gotten into the 90's once, so far! The plant looks healthy, so I'm going to try to wait this out.

Cheri'

I hope you have it well mulched. The roots need a little cool. I am having better luck with incarnata in a large styrofoam decorative pot. I think this offers better temp protection than terracotta or thin plastic. The potted vines spent winter outside, just as the incarnata in the ground did. The potted vines are already flowering. The ground vines are longer, have larger leaves,but have set no buds. Of course, it is always better in the long run to grow pf in the ground. The vine will be more productive---but early is nice too.

Flicker

Yes, it is fairly well mulched, and the roots are shaded. In fact, the pot is pretty well hidden. Good thing, because the pot it's in is a regular black nursery pot! It would really soak up the heat.

Ya know, I had put one seedling in the ground last year, and it did poorly. It's still going, but it is shorter than the potted vine, and has set no buds yet. I was wondering if I should re-pot it. It doesn't seem to like my mostly clay soil. (who does?) I understand they don't like to have their roots disturbed, so I'm hesitant to move it.

Also, it seems to have made an offshoot, about 2 feet away. I didn't know Passi's did that! I dug it up and potted it. It's doing well.

Cheri'

I have a large trellis that has 5 arched sides. At the foot of each arch I dug a big hole in the red clay and filled it with good soil. I have several kinds of pv planted here, including incarnata. It is a second yr plant and has sent out several root suckers. I pot or give away the ones I can't use.
Our in the field near my yard incarnata grows, but it is short and pitiful looking. Repot yours or find a good place to start it in good soil in the ground.

There are several pv that would be hardy in Franklin. Lady Margaret, caerulea, Indigo Dream, Lavender Lady, Dakota Ransom, etc. Lowes has a hardy caerulea they are selling right now. Here is my cearulea.

That looks like a very healthy happy vine! =)

I've pretty much given up on the soil here and plant mostly in raised beds. It'll be a while yet before I get one built in this area. You see, it's not just the clay soil that's the problem, it's a drainage problem, as well. When I dig a big hole and fill it with good soil it's like a big clay bowl of dirt with no drainage. =( It just holds the water and drowns whatever I plant in it. It's actually better to just plant in the nasty clay. Then the excess water runs off, pretty much.

When I get a raised bed built, I will certainly be looking for more hardy passi's. The Maypop will have to tide me over until then.

Cheri'

Man you guys are so lucky to live in a climate that allows so many passion vines to stay in the ground all winter. Lasy summer was the first summer that I had enough different vines to try leaving some in the ground and bring copies of the same indoors for insurance. Itsa darn goodthing my daughter's highschool biology teacher needed a lot of plants for their horticulture experiments. That allowed me to keep large pv's in big pots over winter rather than taking cuttings and starting all over every spring. Anyhow, I tried leaving out Lavender lady, P. Caerulea hardy blue, P. Incarnata, P. Edulis(I knew it wouldn't make it but I ran out of room) and the only survivor was P. Incarnata. There is still a very slight chance that 1 or 2 of the others may come back since it's still very early here. It's not looking good so far. I accidentally got into the rootball of 1 of the Lavender Ladies when planting another plant this spring and found a lump of a mushy root like substance. I even mulched the heck out of them all with grass clippings and a lot of cedar mulch that usually creates a warm compost like heater tha has helped many other plants survive through our harsh winters. Usually by this time of year, my Incarnata is up all over the place but we had so many late freezes, she's barely above the ground in all the places she's planted. It is such a sad and empty spring here this year. Many plant's that are normally starting to bloom by now are barely visible above ground. I sure hope the weather turns around and stays that way.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with all the new tropical plants for next winter. I bought about 12-15 new tropical hibiscus liner's from a coop and they're so cool, I have to find a means of storing them over winter too. Hopefully the Highschool will allow me twice the space I used this past winter.
They used my passion vines for all of their cutting experiments and they really suprised me with all the different rooting methods they tried in several different mediums. They used 7 different methods and 5 of the 7 took on most all varieties. I was really shocked how many different ways worked so ell but I think most of it had to do with the cuttings being in a greenhouse as they didn't use any humidity domes.
I think the main reason they allow me so much storage space is how much money they make from their annual spring plant sale. They sold well rooted Passiflora cuttings for 10$ each! Very few of them were even blooming.
That makes me want to do some mass cloning and sell cuttings at the farmer's market for 1/2 that price. I guess our passie's are even more desirable around here than I ever thought.
Well back to the garden.

Well, I just got in from building a tiny little holding bed, no more than 4' x 4'. I'm exausted! I feel like I'm 100 years old . . .

Then I see that the high today was 98º!

Suddenly I don't feel quite so old. Heck, I'm still standing. =)

O well, spring was nice while it lasted!

JLD_II, I know I'm lucky to live where I do. I would never make it where you live. I would literally die, just like your Passiflora. The one day of snow this past winter almost did me in! So I will fight with the clay in the heat, building raised beds and fretting about the drainage. Just don't give me no snow! LOL!

But my maypop is still not opening it's flowers all the way. =(

Cheri'

LOLOL Cheri'
Surely you can see the beauty in the occasional snowfall can't ya? It can be lovely but a lil can go a long ways. I have it great here compared to many years living in Michigan. Its just plain wrong to have snow on the ground more months of the year than not IMO. If it weren't for snow skiing, I would of been suicidal. I grew up in S. Oklahoma where we lived in the land of red dirt and clay. I loved it dearly there but that red dirt was just a disaster and I don't miss that part 1 bit. I finally have a yard now that has soil as black as coal whenyou dig into it. Man it took many years to get it that way. I wonder if you were to use beneficial microbes in the form of soil conditioners if you could turn more of your yard into soil like this? WE had a high clayish like soil here at first. I ammended our soil with humus, compost and many different microbes like that and now the clay is gone and I have earthworms in every shovel of dirt. Man I sure would like to try experimenting in soil like yours to see if that were possible, I love tinkering with stuff like that.
Hmmm

I spent years trying to amend my soil, I've given up. Maybe I was doing it wrong . . . I dunno. I've added compost, manure, liquid conditioner (microbes and stuff), gypsum . . . the clay ate it all. LOL

But, I've got earthworms in my clay! Apparently it's healthy clay. LOL!

Seriously, I've got lots of oak trees, so digging is not really an option anymore, anyway. The roots are everywhere! But the leaves fall and get chopped up and decay, so it's not just barren clay. There is nutrition, decomposition, all of that going on. Just not a lot of drainage.

Raised beds are the way to go. But I have to be careful where I build them, so I don't kill the oaks.

Cheri'

Your land sounds exactly like our old country. Scrub oak forests growing in all that red and sandy earth. The only oaks around here are ones we had to buy, I sure miss those towering monsters that I took for granted. Those shallow root systems sure made digging practically impossible. I don't miss all those acorns much though. Sounds like you've got it figured out;)

yeah, oaks seem to love clay.

I was digging out that small bed yesterday and thinking how nice it must be to have soil that crumbles. Mine comes away in slices. =(
Anyway, I amend as deep as I can, then build above. It's the only thing that seems to work.

Acorns . . . gotta love 'em. They will trip you like walking on marbles, and they grow into 'weedlings' which thankfully are easily removed from the garden. Worse, they attract squirrels! Grrrr. Don't even get me started on tree rats.

;-)
Cheri'

HAHAHAHA Man alive, those tree rats are something. I declared war on the grey squirrels a few winters ago and I ended up using 2 live traps and catching over 100 in less than 3 months. After removing that generation, the problems went away and their number's are right back up already but none of the destructive behaviours have returned. I love the big, fat red squirrels. I rarely see very many of them anymore and they seem to be breeding with the greys and I'm afraid true red squirrels will be a thing of the past around here really soon. If it hasn't already happened, I haven't seen 1 of those fat bugger's yet this spring sadly. Bumer

I looked at that second flower pic and it doesn't even resemble a maypop. Have you bought any other maypops? Perhaps, there is a hybrid there? I'm so confused. lol
Mark

Woo Hoo!
A bud opened all the way today! I couldn't get a good pic because a fledgling bird is using the trellis as shelter. Over protective parents . . . you know how it is . . . LOL! But the flower opened flat! =)

It's been hot the last few days, in the low 90's yesterday and today, it got to 98º Sunday. I think it's the heat that did it.

zostropz, I went and looked at the Maypop pics in PlantFiles, and mine seems close. That was the first flower of the year, and it only barely got open. I'll try to get another pic tomorrow, if the baby bird has moved on.

I didn't buy it - my sister brought me this vine. Truthfully, they grow wild here, and in Texas where she lives. This vine is a seedling that popped up in a pot, planted by birds I imagine.

JDL_II, we don't have gray squirrels so I guess ours are red. They look brown to me. There are several drays in the trees around the house and now it's squirrel family time! Joy! Big squirrels leading the family around, showing them the sites, teaching them the tricks of trade. It just warms your . . . uh . . . heart. yeah . . .

The worst thing they do is drive the dog into a frenzy and cause him to run thru my gardens, destroying everything in his path. The thing is, they do it on purpose, knowing that I'll lock him up and they will then have the run of the yard. grrr. manipulative rodents.

Glad to hear you've solved your squirrel problem. Hate to hear that the cute ones are disappearing. =(

Cheri'

Man our squirrels were eating the house, roof, patio furnature, lawnmower plastic, birdfeeders, our deck and other items. I had seen squirrels do damage in the past but never just going crazy and destroying everything in sight. The damage they did to our plants was unreal! They'd pull off flower buds just for fun and play with them only to leave them laying everywhere. They almost cleaned out all my passion fruit 2 years ago and dug up hunderds of bulbs. We went tulip crazy 1 year when we got a deal on several hundred bulbs of many hybirds. They bloomed the 1st year and by the next spring...I had 1 tulip come up and I don't even recogonize it or remember planting it.
When I got the traps going...I was catching 3-4 of those rats per day for the 1st 45 days and 2 a day for another 2 mos. And these were on the deck not 5 feet away from my back door! Bold lil suckers. It sure is amazing by merely cleaning out that 1 generation of trouble makers, all the problems ended and they're as thick as they ever were again.
Man it makes my blood boil just thinking about all the damage!LOL

Here is 1 pic of a true P. Incarnata, the color is a tad off so lemme find a better 1 too.

Ok, ya'll got me worried, so I dug up this pic of a bloom from last year. This looks more normal, right? It's from the same vine, so whatever is causing the blooms not to open must be causing them to look odd when they do.

Anyway, I don't have a single bloom on the vine today! =(

Gads! I had no idea squirrels could go so bad! My DD has told me that gray squirrels are nothing like the ones I'm used to. She is right! Ours dig stuff up, but not to that extent. They've been known to get into the wiring (not mine), but I've never heard of them chewing up a lawn mower!

Cheri'

This is my first passion flower that began an addiction. I was so fortunate to actually stumble across this plant growing wild in a ditch next to a cattle pasture right on the Texas/Oklahoma border way out in the country. Our family has a tiny cabin in Kingston OK. and I was walking a long the road around there to find this beauty growing in a pile of rocks and red clay. It must have been growing there for many years as the roots that I managed to dig up with it were enormous. It was a very odd wet Memorial Day weekend oddly enough and I think due to the wet weather, it was blooming. No one in my family can remember it being there and there is no way some one planted it, it remains a mystery. I believe it to be probably 1 of the most accurate pure Incarnata's since it was out there wild. It had a very hard beginning but is now thriving all over the yard in many places. It makes a section of chain link fence beautiful and is the only P. Flower I have that can survive our winter's here. I've read and been told it is also native to my area but I've never seen it growing wild anywhere else and man have I looked hard. Anyhow, here is a better picture of the flower. The foliage under the flower was some sedum growing in the yard and I put the flower on top of it for contrast. I didn't want to make anyone think that the flower was growing out of a pile of sedum. LOL

Beautiful!

I've never seen one growing in the wild here, either, but my Dad tells me that when he was a kid here may pops were a weed. He said that the children used to eat the fruit of the wild vines and that they were very common back then. So I guess they are still out there, just not as common. A lot has changed since my Dad was a boy.

These do grow wild on my sister's property in Texas. That's where this one came from, and there's a lot more out there! LOL. I wanted to go and dig one up but she said wait, she would bring me a seedling. And she did. =) Apparently the birds plant lots of these around that get pulled as weeds. Just goes to prove, one man's trash is another man's treasure. =)

Cheri'

Alrighty, then! With the onset of 90+º temps, the problem has solved itself. =)

And now it's raining, which all of my plants are enjoying! Including this vine. It's been a dry spring.

Thanx for all the input!

Cheri'

Cheri'
You will feel awesome about your Maypop when you see this picture of mine below. Every other year excluding this spring, it would normally be a huge multi-branched plant. I don't think this lil sprig needs any explanation.
Luckily, this is the fastest growing vine I have ever seen. I've seen it grow almost 1 full foot in 1 day when conditions are right. Since taking this picture 2 days ago, i now have 4-5 new vines that have broken ground in other places...FINALLY! I would normally be seeing blooms by the end of next week.
LOL What a sad spring it has been for gardening. I'm going to have record breaking low electricity and water bills though so there is a small bright side to it all. The A/C would normally have been running non stop for the last month plus, we've had it on twice this year.
LOL I sound like a broken record, waah waah. LOL
Thanks for the pics Cheri'