Getting the best from a Passiflora

Hi,

I planted a Passiaflora in late Spring this year; it's in good quality compost in a planter (approx 1m x 50cm x 50cm), growing up the side of my daughter's playhouse via a trellis.

It showed decent growth this year, spreading to cover most of the side of the playhouse. It produced lots of flower buds, but only one or two ever seemed to be open at a time, unfortunately. It's east facing (not ideal, I know) and in the summer gets full sun from around 10am-3pm. I watered it regularly when the weather was dry but didn't feed it.

I'd be grateful to hear from anyone who has tips on how to ensure it survives winter and how to maximise flowering next year. I'd like a bit more growth next year so that I can train it to completely cover the trellis, but don't really need as much new growth next year as it produced this year.

Things I'm wondering about are - should I protect it over winter, and if so is wrapping the base/main stems of the plant and the soil surrounding the roots good enough?
Should I prune it back to encourage more flowering? If so, how hard and when? Should I feed it regularly during Spring/Summer? Is there a trick to getting more flower buds to open at the same time next year?

Thanks,

Andy

 

Before anyone can give you the proper advice, are you able to tell us which variety it is?
Most are not hardy, but there are a couple of varieties which can overwinter in situ.

 

Andy, as much sun as possible for plenty of flowers. You say about 5 hours of sun and I think that is okish

Couple of things though.....what does "good quality compost" mean? If it is a multi purpose compost that is not ideal. I would use a john innes soil based compost.....it holds moisture and nutrients better. If your compost dried out your passiflora would likely abort any flowers.

agree with M about the variety being important to identify but I suspect you have the common relatively hardy variety....caerulea. Down here we are lucky enough to be able to grow some of the more tender ones.

caerulea grows in my nephew's garden in a similar aspect, viz., getting sun for about 5 or 6 hours a day and produces a good amount of flowers....currently flowering. I took a cutting 12 months ago and planted it out on a sunnier wall there and fully expect it to produce a whole lot more flowers next summer as I do think the more sun it gets the more flowers you will have.
(I grew one here for a few years against a sunny warm wall and it flowered its socks off .....replaced it though as it proved to be a tad too invasive)

Protection? I would fleece it over winter; container too.
Feeding? Fish blood and bone at the start of the season but then once a fortnight with a high potash feed is how I would treat it
Pruning? It will produce a lot more growth next year though Andy. I would prune in spring after last frost and then tie in as it grows to suit your requirements. You can prune unruly or unwanted stems back to suit you in the summer too.
Take cuttings too. They root easily and quickly. Your planter is not very big so you may want to repot in a couple of years

Hope this helps Andy

 

I'd just add that most I've tried need one year to get established, second year will, or should, be better flower wise, if you dont prune hard, it sets them back, especially if not well established.

I see you are in East Yorkshire @AndyS , not sure how cold it gets there, but it mostly depends on what kind of winter we get, so bearing in mind you probably have P. cerulea it's usually ok down to about minus 5C, as long as it is not prolonged frost.
Being in a container is going to make it just a bit more susceptible to cold conditions, especially if it receives no winter sun.

 

Sorry, I don't get online that often - very 1990s I know!

It's a cerulea.

Thanks.

 

When you say prune hard, are we talking taking the main stems right back down to a few inches from the soil? Or just cutting back all the flowering/leafy growth?

Being almost coastal we don't usually get temps that low, but I'll use some fleece around the container and plant as per @Verdun 's excellent advice. Due to the shape of the container (it's a rectangular 2-tier planter with the Passiaflora in the top tier) I won't be able to wrap the whole thing neatly as with a plant pot - so is it ok just to drape fleece over the plant and around the container and peg it down?

Noted. I'll give this a go, thanks.

I was rather hoping to keep it where it is, partly because my daughter likes it climbing up her playhouse and partly because our garden is rather small so I don't have many other options for where to put it! If I don't repot it will it end up starved and withering in a couple of years, even if I prune it back hard each spring and feed as per your suggestion?

Thanks for all the help, everyone

 

Thanks for all your help, @Verdun

I've wrapped some fleece around plant and container - looks like we're going to be in for a perishing winter up here, so I hope that's enough to save it!

Re: pruning - how far back would you suggest taking it after the frosts?

Thanks again,
Andy