“Red Pass” – Whitney Avenue – Wilkinsburg, PA – This post does not fit with my practical permaculture series… In fact… I’m not yet sure how I will classify this… All I know is I will be highlighting 100 plants this winter… Or 90 plants in 90 days… Or one for every actual day of winter…
Testing… Testing… One… Two… Three… This winter I’m going to highlight 100 different plants… Each one complete with original photography and information gained through constant research and practical hands on experience… This post is simply a test… I’m working on a format for the posts so I may post one from time to time before I actually begin… Anyway… Constructive criticism is welcome…
My girlfriend really likes passionflower… Therefore… I’m really good at growing them… And even more important… I can keep them alive over winter without a greenhouse, using a few simple tricks I plan to reveal in the following post…
passionflower tend to become very large plants, it is not uncommon for it to grow 50′ in a single summer… Though 30′ is more common… Living in the North has its restrictions as only a select few varieties are cold hardy, this is why I prefer to grow them in large pots.
passionflower, when available in my area, are almost always found in the greenhouse hanging out with the other tropical plants. I don’t recommend buying them anytime other than summer, this is due to the shock that would be experienced, if you were to move one from a humid greenhouse, into your climate controlled house without first hardening off the plant… A luxury that is often impossible in winter… Buy passionflower during the months when it can be brought home and placed immediately in the sun, this is simply to avoid stressing the plant out to the point of death.
Always re-pot your houseplants when you bring them home, this will stimulate a flurry of growth as the plant gets cozy in the fresh potting soil. This flush of new growth will require a large support system like a fence or trellis, it is important to have this place chosen and ready before you bring your plant home… This will be the plants permanent home until you bring it inside in winter, choose it wisely as you will not want to disturb it. I like to grow them up stair railings… My apartment has a second floor back porch… I grow the vines up the railings… A fence will also work… But be prepared to have 20′ of new growth per season… I would consider that the average…
When frost is near, and the evenings begin to get cool, I start pruning the plant back a little each day. The plant will often have 30′ of vine cut off it, you don’t want to do this all at one time. I find the plant reacts best when I take a little off the top each day for a week or two… By the time I am finished, I am left with nothing more than a little stub and a few leaves, this makes moving and storing the plants a million times easier.
“Purple Pass” – Whitney Avenue – Wilkinsburg, PA – I’m working on a format that will highlight the type of information that is not normally found on the internet… My tips and secrets learned in the trenches of the garden…
One of the most common issues I come across with houseplants in winter is a lack of humidity in the air, this can be a nail in the coffin for any plant other than cacti and succulents. Many houseplants are tropical plants, therefore they require a certain amount of humidity in order to survive. Home climate control, particularly the furnace, dries the air out to the point where even humans have issues keeping their skin moist… Imagine what that does to a plant…
A simple solution is to create a humidity tray, this is nothing more than a tray underneath your potted plant containing small stones and constant water. As the water evaporates from the tray, it adds to the humidity around the plant… The key to this working is keeping the tray filled with fresh water… Don’t let it go stagnant… And don’t let it fester… Replace it regularly… If the water in the trays does begin to get all nasty… You have a humid house and the humidity tray is doing more bad than good… Passionflowers like to dry out a little bit between watering… They should not constantly sit in water…
During the winter months, whatever growth you manage to get will typically be stretched out and starved for light. It is important to water regularly, and feed the plant with a dilute solution of general-purpose fertilizer once a month. Winter is a tough time of year for passionflower, everything that you do to it should be in moderation… Do not stress the plant any more than you have to… Tropical plants, when brought inside, are super sensitive to stress… What would not be that big of a deal outdoors in Summer… Is a big deal indoors…
“Red Pass Looking Down” – Whitney Avenue – Wilkinsburg, PA – Red passion-flower in all its glory… I will cut this 20′ vine down to a small nub come fall… It will slowly grow indoors all winter… In spring I will place it right back on the porch to grow up the rails…
Your plant will grow rather slowly indoors… I find it best to keep the plant under control on a small trellis… Anything that grows above the trellis is removed… In spring when the nights are above 60 degrees it is safe to move your plant outdoors… Remember… Though cold might not kill a plant… It will almost always stunt its growth… As is the case with many plants… This can very often be irreversible on tropical plants resulting in a slow death… So watch nighttime temperatures and plan accordingly…
plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello
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