John&Jacq~s Garden

August 2009 Project: how-to prune/propagate a passiflora vine

Hmm…not only this garden blog of ours had been neglected, even our garden had been too!

My garden chores like planting, replanting or repotting, and pruning have been sidetracked by my fixation on unexpected problems that surfaced at my Blogger blog and whilst guiding a friend to create her own blog via email. Too much time spend on the computer, nonetheless worthwhile and rewarding as with gardening too! :D

Fortunately, our garden continues to flourish under the tender loving care of my better half, John, who patiently toil with the regular watering, weeding and fertilizing of our plants.

Regardless, our Purple Passiflora did get exceptional attention from me throughout last month.

She was the baby for my garden project in August. I’ve decided to experiment on how best to prune a vine that started out as a seedling. I’ve read that a vining plant has to be pruned regularly to keep its size and maintain bushiness. Here was an opportunity for me to do exactly that as well as to experiment propagating new plants from these young healthy tip cuttings.

Previously, I’ve just allowed vining plants in our garden to climb wildly, mostly on a single trunk and looked awful as they aged with straggly leafless trunk that is mostly top heavy.

Garden chronology of our Passion Flower (pruning and propagating) :

• July 4: received the 10-12 cm tall seedling from a friend
• July 23: transplanted into a much larger terracotta pot
• Aug. 2: the young plant had shot up to about 38 cm. Gave its first pinching (pruning) with a sharp knfe, about 2cm above a leaf joint. Retained the vine’s height to about 23 cm tall. Then, snipped a section of the tip cutting and used that to propagate a new plant. All these are illustrated in the photo below.
  
  

• Aug. 19: Delighted to see the young vine growing healthily after its first tip pinching. A new shoot had emerged from the top-most leaf node and is due for its second tip pruning as seen in the left image.
  Happy too to observe that the propagation by stem-cutting is successful with the emergence of a tiny-winy growing bud at the top-most leaf axil. Right picture below, shot ten days later on August 29, shows its success story.
  
  
  
  The young Purple Passiflora vine was tip-pruned the second time with a sharp shear and the tip cutting was again used to propagate new plants. This time I cut it into three sections as illustrated below.
  
  
  
  Section #1 and #2 in the right image have cuts made 1-2 cm below and above the leaf nodes, while the top tip #3 had a cut below its leaf joint. Tendrils were removed. Then, I planted all three sections in a small plastic pot filled with good-draining garden soil as an experiment. Insert the cuttings one at a time into the medium, with the node just touching the surface. Best to plant them individually if you’re serious in getting 3 new plants. Locate the pot in a semi-shaded area with filtered sunlight and keep soil moist.

• August 29: So amazing to observe that all three sections taken from the second tip cutting are growing fine.
  
  The right image shot on Aug. 29, ten days after the tip/stem cuttings were planted, depicts their good health. Another success story!

We’re richer garden-wise from these simple experiments.

1. We’ve learnt not to be afraid in pruning our future vining plants. Plants need our assistance to keep them tidy, well-groomed and productive. It’s a service and act of kindness really, they just love it;
2. An eye-opener! Confident now that such young and tender tip cuttings can be used to propagate new plants.
3. A new way of propagating other plants, thus more to share with neighbours and friends. ;)

Update: 20100701
Check out how our Passiflora vines are faring here.

Update: Sept 5 2011
Yay, both seedlings flowered for the first time! The first potted seedling at the backyard flowered in mid October 2010 after a 15-month wait, while the second seedling at our frontyard flowered in August 2011 after 2 years.

Last edit: June 2, 2016

Tags: our garden, perennials, propagation, propagation by cuttings, pruning, vines