When to collect seeds?

A house I'm working on has what I think is a Passion Flower from reading this forum and seeing the photos I'm pretty sure that's what it is, I'll get a pic taken and posted it tomorrow. It has at least a couple dozen or more seed pods which are egg shaped and about the size of a small chicken egg. They are still green and I'm sure to early to take. The home owner wanted me to cut them down while I was there making some other repairs, they where mixed in with a bunch of real weeds like poke, horse weed, Va. Creeper, hackberry to name a few. I told her this one wasn't a weed I didn't think, let me do a little reserch and I'll see if I can transplant it. So wise people of the vine world, when can it be transplanted, (not now it's to hot and dry) and the when can you take the pods? I'm in zone 7 so fall is still a ways off. The elderly lady said I could have it if I wanted it, she's "sick of it going all over the place."

Thanks in advance for your help.
Dave

Edit: A few more looks through the photos I'm about 99.9% it's a Maypop, Passion Flower

This message was edited Aug 16, 2005 12:04 AM

I looked at some of the plant files, and didn't see anything about transplating - just that you could propagate from cuttings and seeds. http://www.passionflow.co.uk/ Maybe this will help.

If she is patient with it, it would be best to transplant after the heat breaks and we start getting our wonderful cooling fronts. The pods will have more time, and can ripen correctly, on the vine, and the plant will transplant more easily, without as much risk of going into shock...

If she cannot wait, and wants it "cleaned up" right now, just dig as much of the root ball , and disturb as little of the root ball, as is possible...

Temporarily pot it up and set it somewhere under a tree, or such, so it will be shaded, but still get light. Once you know it is successfully recovered, you can plant it permanently, in a more sunny spot...do not fertilize while the roots are recovering, but superthrive, or a root stimulator could be helpful...

The pods will not be ready until the pods start to turn color and shrivel, or wrinkle a little bit...

If it has to come out right away, the plant would best be able to stay alive if you cut off the pods. (this will spare the plant the energy of finishing them) so it could focus on staying alive.

If you are more interested in harvesting the seeds(which will turn into multiple plants), then I'd just try to carefully transplant the vine, and hope it stays alive long enough to finish the seeds...

Another option is that you could transplant the mother vine to a pot and cut the stems with pods on them, off,(to save it energy)and then put stems with pods on them, in the fridge, so they could continue to slowly ripen in there...staying on the stem and being in the cold, would both help preserve the pods longer so that they can continue to ripen in there...
Also, the trim that the mother plant would get would help it transplant better...not just because it is saving energy from the pods, but also because the recommendation for ANY thing transplanted, is to cut back by 1/3. Your 1/3 could easily be the vines with pods.(thus saving the plant, AND the seeds)

You have several choices, depending on what route you want to go, and how patient this woman will be with it, lol...
-T

Thanks,
She decided to wait until this fall, so I can move them then. I was down there is morning finishing up some work and at first she wanted them g-o-n-e gone. I expressed an interest in them but explained that if I moved them now they would DIE! And it was to hot and if I stated digging them in this heat I would DIE! So she agreed to wait.
Well I don't guess I will die in this heat been moving Iris since I got home, they've been in the same location for over 40 years and never thinned. There are zillions of them. now it's time for food!