Family of passionflowers. Homeland South America, Australia, Asia, Fr. Madagascar. Among the people, passiflora was named - passionflower. Passiflora is grown as an ampel plant, to decorate an apartment, balcony or loggia. Passiflora flowers are beautiful, unusual, but not durable. Passiflora grows quickly, easily tolerates pruning, needs support or trellises for garter.
Types of passiflora
- Passiflora caerulea blue is a climbing vine with feathery, deeply dissected leaves, the stems have simple, non-branched antennae located in the axils of the leaves, which themselves stretch to the support. The flowers are solitary, up to 10 cm in diameter, having a slight aroma. The fruit is an orange egg-shaped berry, up to 6 cm long.
- The three-banded Passiflora trifasciata is a rare vine in indoor floriculture with a ribbed stem and three-lobed leaves, in a dark pattern of which there are grayish-purple stripes along the main veins, violet-purple on the reverse side. The flowers are yellowish-white up to 4 cm in diameter, the fruits are a gray rounded berry up to 2.5 cm in diameter.
- Passiflora edible (edulis) Passiflora edulis, or Passion fruit - liana, has three-lobed, deeply dissected leaves, with a finely toothed edge, saturated green, up to 20 cm long. Flowers are single, about 3 cm in diameter. The fruits are oblong, yellow to dark purple when ripe, filled with numerous seeds. There are several different variations of passion fruit, such as Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa golden passion fruit, has bright yellow fruits that can grow to grapefruit size.
- Passiflora citrina - a rarer, but no less interesting liana, is miniature: stems up to 3-4 m long. The leaves are 2-lobed, up to 5 cm long and 3-4 cm wide. The flowers are tubular-star-shaped, with narrow petals, lemon-yellow, solitary or in pairs in the axils of the leaves. The flower has about 6 cm diameter petals about 3 cm long and 3-4 mm wide. The plant needs cross-pollination to set fruit. The fruit is oblong, reddish in color, about 4.5 by 2.5 cm in full maturity.
Photos of other varieties and types of passiflora
Passiflora care
Temperature: Moderate to cool, 18 to 24 ° C in summer. In a too warm room, the leaves turn yellow and dry, not many buds and flowers are formed, the plant quickly loses its decorative attractiveness. Since autumn, passiflora needs a cooler room, with a temperature of about 13-16 ° C. If it is not possible to keep the passiflora cool in winter, then it is better to grow it as an annual plant, resuming each spring from seeds. In a warm room with a heating system, the passiflora will bald, having lost all the leaves, and may even die.
Lighting: Maximum lighting. On the southern window, the passiflora may be covered with flowers and buds, but in the hottest hours you may need shading - not from the sun, but from the heat! On the north window, the passiflora will grow and bloom if the window is not shaded by anything, but flowering will be scarce - the passiflora requires at least 4 hours of sunlight per day. Therefore, the southeast and west window, not shaded by trees, is well suited for cultivation.
Watering: The main thing is uniform, without overdrying and waterlogging. In the warm period, in spring and summer (as well as during warm wintering) - plentiful, after the upper part of the soil dries, the next day. In winter, watering depending on the temperature: if it is cold, then rare, after the earth dries from above, not immediately, but after a few days - the colder, the rarer.
Important: the soil should not dry out completely, to the state of dust. Although in natural conditions, passiflora grows on well-drained soil containing a fair amount of rubble, along roads in rather arid areas . Some species, like lemon passiflora, grow in hilly areas, moist pine forests (600-1500 m above sea level), but the soil there is quite loose and airy. Therefore, the passiflora tolerates re-drying quite stoically, although some of the leaves (lower) will inevitably turn yellow and fly around. At the same time, when the earth is constantly wet, roots can rot, the plant suffers from hypoxia and can die. To avoid this, it is important to correctly compose the soil mixture.
Top dressing: From April to August, fertilizers for indoor flowering plants, the dose is taken about half the recommended one. Top dressing every two weeks. Choose fertilizers where the ratio of N: P: K is equal, or potassium (K) is slightly higher.
Humidity: In the warm season, they are sprayed at a time when the sun's rays do not hit the leaves.
Transplant: Annually in the spring. Before transplantation, even before the appearance of buds, the passiflora is cut off by about 1/3 of the length of the branches. Passiflora roots are not powerful enough, develop slowly, so never use too large pots (with a margin), the maximum pot size for an adult bush is 20-25 cm, rooted cuttings are enough 12 cm pot.
The soil for passiflora is quite nutritious, but well drained, not retaining water for a long time. Therefore, well-fertilized garden land is not suitable, as is peat with compost. Ideally, the soil should consist of 1 part of turf, 1 part of sheet, 1 part of small gravel (zeolite crumb). Acidity is on average from 6.1 to 7.5, but an average pH of 6.2-6.3 is preferable. You can use the finished soil from the store based on middle peat, on one part of it you must add 1/2 parts of fine gravel (2-3 mm), a little biohumus. Avoid adding nitrogen-rich mixtures.
Reproduction
Passiflora is propagated by seeds in early spring and stem cuttings in summer. Rooting cuttings is best done in pure vermiculite. It takes up to 3 months to form roots.
It is best to use fresh seeds that germinate quite easily. Seeds that have been stored for a long time have almost no chance of success, rare ones can germinate for up to 12 months.
To improve germination, the seeds must be lightly sawn with a claw file on one or two sides. Then soak them in lukewarm water for a day. For now, prepare the soil - universal soil or sheet earth in half with coarse sand (or vermiculite). Plant seeds to a depth of 2-5 mm.
Important: if you can't germinate passiflora seeds, then keep in mind that temperature fluctuations play a significant role. Ideally, the temperature for germination of passiflora seeds should change per day: the first 16 hours after planting + 20 ° C, then bring to 30 ° C for 8 hours. The next day is also 12 hours at 20 ° C, 8 hours at 30 ° C. If you cannot maintain such a temperature graph, then set a constant temperature of 26 ° C. But usually such a schedule is easy to establish using an electric heater, a shoe dryer or a conventional heating battery.
The germination time with alternating temperatures takes two to four weeks, with constant (in fresh seeds) - from four to eight weeks. As soon as shoots appear, provide them with high-quality lighting, lasting at least 12 hours.
Growing problems
Passiflora is one of not many indoor plants, which is distinguished not only by its unpretentiousness, but also by the ability to grow, develop and even bloom well on any window - both on the north and south, if only the window was well enough lit.
- The plant slows down growth, the leaves turn yellow - not enough watering, in spring and summer the soil should be moist all the time.
- The ends of long stems are sluggish and drooping - if the temperature is too high and dry air, not enough watering.
- The plant is all sluggish, the leaves are pale drooping - waterlogging of the soil (after watering the water from the pallet must be drained), when transplanting, make drainage at the bottom of the pot.
- New leaves are formed small - with a lack of nutrients, with a lack of lighting.
- Passiflora berries remain yellow, covered with black spots, leaves shrivel - too low temperature and high humidity, possibly with a sharp reduction in light (in autumn).
- Passiflora does not bloom - if it is planted in a too large pot, if the plant is poorly leafed or the leaves are small, then from a lack of nutrients, if the leaves are large, intensely green, then from an excess of fertilizer. In addition, the passionflower does not bloom or blooms poorly in low light.
Attention: Passfiflora is prone to damage by various types of ticks. If yellowing leaves appear, gray spots and interspersed on them, inspect the crown for pests.