Seemann's Passion Fruit Flower - Passiflora seemanii

Passiflora seemanii is native from Mexico to Panama, Colombia, Nicaragua and Venezuella. It grows at sea level and up to 1600 meters over sea level. It is grown for it's large ornamental flowers and the large fruits. It climbs by means of clinging tendrils and can be kept as an container plant. The long tendrils need lots of support for climbing. It may be grown as a houseplant in a sunny South-facing window. One of the loveliest and most exotic of the Passion flowers producing violet-blue and grenish-white flowers. The leaves are full, bi-lobed or tri-lobed. Pruning is a must to keep the vine healthy. Prune off less vigorous growth and occasionally prune back vigorous growth to promote flowering. When established, and without care, the passion fruit can easily overtake other garden plants, shading them from sun. Hardiness zone 11, (4C/40F) in Winter. Protect from frost or plant in frost free areas. Keep the atmosphere humid through the Summer and place in full sun, can tolerate partial shade. Passiflora Seemanii loves the warm humid Tropics. You may need to water your plants on a daily basis during the hottest Summer months. During the Winter the roots should be kept moist, but as growth will be much slower you will probably only need to water once a week, depending on growing temperature. Fertilize at least once every two weeks in the growing season. It will do best in a loam based mix with a little peat moss. If their pot is too large or if they have an unrestricted root run then the whole plant will simply get bigger and bigger but it will refuse to flower and therefore produce the fruits. By limiting the pot size you are limiting the ability to grow and this is seen as a threat, so the natural mechanism is to produce seed for the next generation. A suitably sized pot for an adult plant would generally be of 12 inches in diameter.