I've started seeds and found that germination is higher if you soak the fresh seeds in an acid solution for about a week. I used orange juice, but I've heard others say they used pineapple juice or a mild vinegar solution. Cuttings didn't work for me. Root runners are the easiest method I've found. When you locate one that's 3-4 inches tall and 3-4 feet from the mother vine, use a sharp spade to cut through the lateral root and gently tease it out of the ground. Then you can pot it up or transplant in another area.

Janet

You might also try soaking seeds overnight in a closed container in your refrigerator in a solution of 75% water and 25% Clorox, which gets rid of any bacteria, fungi, or sprouting inhibitors. I learned this technique from a Master's thesis on propagating sawgrass from seed.

Thanks for all the advice. Janet, I'll try digging the root runners following your directions. It sounds like the easiest and most foolproof method.

mike

P. incarnata seeds (Maypop) will have better germination if cold stratified. That and P. incense put out loads of runners that can be dug and transplanted. I also have good results with the tropical varieties just water rooting them using bottom heat.
Karyn

I ordered maypop seeds and planted about 20 of them. I finally got 4 plants. I did soak them in water for a while.

I bought maypop seeds early this year and wintersowed them. I had great success with them.

I don't even bother digging up the little ones I find growing. Instead, I just grab 'hold by the base and pull! I shove whatever comes up into a pot of soil, water, and that's it. It seems like this stuff grows like a weed. The same thing goes for Mexican Flame Vine...I've got runners of both all over the place so I keep pots of soil in different locations so that when I spot one, I just pull up and shove in. ;P

When someone asks, "Do you have any butterfly plants" I say, "I'll give you a Passiflora!" and the person is always thrilled. To purchase one around here they are quite expensive and it was little work for me to plant.

Thanks for all the quick responses. They are most appreciated and very helpful. The grab/hold/pull method is especially tempting to try.

mike

I have Blue Passion Flower, Hardy Passionflower
Passiflora caerulea...aka "the monster" in my yard. I had bought it from a local nursery several years ago & have moved it twice when I didn't like the way it looked where I had planted it.
It is considered a hardy, evergreen in zones 6 & up. It gets freeze burned & dies back to the ground when we get weather in the teens here in North Texas.
I, like many of you, just pull up the suckers(didn't know that is what the little ones were called...LOL) cover the root with rooting hormone & stick it in a 4" pot. I have given a lot away & the GFs can't leave it alone!!! I am probably going to cut it back to the ground this year because I can't see my fence or arbor because it has gotten so thick this year. I am finally seeing more GFs flying around & am hoping they will eat it down some.;o) I had a starting that grew through a pot I had started it in...that I left in another location, that the GFs have layed all their eggs on...so I transferred a bunch of the cats to my "monster" because they had eaten the smaller plant down to sticks. I'm not sure why they keep laying their eggs on the smaller plant & not the "monster" but I'm glad I'm finally getting more butterflies now that fall is approaching here in North Texas...we have not had the butterfly numbers we normally have this year.;o(((

Hey y'all,
I know this is a old posting, but I need a lil help..
I found a field of MAYPOP close to my home and Fritillaries are all over it, now I wanna bring some home to start at my place..
I went and got me a few cuttings, since I have Fritillary-caterpillars here..but I really wanna start that gorgeous vine on my property, I have enough room for it..
What is the easiest way for me to do that??
I just cannot afford buying those vines.. :(
Any help is greatly appreciated..
Susanne(SUE)

I've never been successful at rooting maypops, Sue, but I have been successful at growing them from seeds. I've got two P. incarnata 'alba' (white flowering form) seedlings in my rooting cage right now that I'll be planting out pretty soon.
The seeds are odd. I plant mine fresh with the natural stuff surrounding the actual seed intact - I can't remember what that stuff is, but it's the sour stuff that you can make juice from if you have the patience to squeeze it out. A lot of people say take it off and soak the seeds in orange juice, but why? The natural juice is acidic. Some will come up right away, and others won't come up until next year, but the germination rate is always low for me. Still, it only takes a few to wind up with a whole field of it - you saw for yourself how it spreads from underground roots.
There's probably some way you could start them from the underground root itself - maybe somebody else will know.
Sherry

If it's in a field, can you dig it up?

I received a vine of the "incense" variety this summer from a kind soul on this forum. I think it was a sucker. I think she let the roots grow in water for a while before she sent it to me. It's taken off like wildfire.

Lisa

Thanks Sherry for the quick response..
I hope someone will know since I really wanna get the vine established here..
Hope all is well for you and you have tons of FLUTTERBY'S
Butterfly-Greetings
Susanne(SUE)

Dear Lisa,
its the Maypop and I tried to dig up some of it, it aint that easy, I guess the rootsystem is so established, I cannot dig deep enough to get the entire root.. :(
Gosh I wish I would know how to get it...
Susanne(SUE)

If you can get some side roots, maybe you can work with those.

What I have done is to go about a foot to each side of the shoot that you are trying to dig up and dig down till you find the root and cut it there. Then take that and plant it in a long rectangular pot to get it started. I have had great success doing this so that I can keep the vine alive to palnt early the next spring since it dies out here in late fall and is later showing up than some of the others that do not die back. You will have to dig down about a half foot or so to get to the runner.

Thanks for all the responses,
Mary, I wil try to to some more digging next week, just like you explained to me, thanks so so much .. I will let y'all know how it will turn out..Wish it would rain a lil here so the ground gets softer..
Have a great Butterfly-Weekend
Susanne(SUE)

I bought some passion flower plants. Why didn't they flower

Does anyone have some maypop seeds they would like to share or sale to me? Thanks so much and Happy Mothers Day!