'Nancy Garrison' Passion fruit/ Passion Vine

You should acclimate your vine to its new home by immediately removing the plant from its transit bag. Place your vine in a shady pot in the yard for the first 2 weeks. This way, the vine can adjust to its new climate slowly. During the clolder parts of the year, it is normal for your vine to look somewhat stressed. This is normal, and it will perk up again once temperatures warm up.

Passion vines are subtropical plants that love heat, so choose a spot in your yard that ideally gets a full 8+ hours of sunlight per day. If you choose a spot with less sun, the vine will continue to grow, but you may have issues with fruit set and ripening. If you live in a location that is susceptible to extended periods of time with hard frosts, then expect to see some dieback. Annual dieback from hard frosts can actually help keep the vigorous vine in check so this is nothing to worry about. As long as your roots don't freeze, your vine will grow back.

A single passion vine can easily cover 10' tall by 20' length of fencing in just a couple of seasons. so keep this in mind when choosing a trellis or fence location.

Now that you have chosen the right spot in your yard for your new vine, you will need to prepare the planting site. Dig a hole about twice the size of the plant's root mass. As you dig this hole, pay attention to your soil quality. Is your soil loose and easy to dig through or are you struggling to get through the hard clay? If the soil is hard clay, dig a slightly larger hole and amend the soil prior to planting, or mound up above the native soil level by at least the height of the pot your vine cam in. This is done to improve drainage and decrease the chances of root damage from overwatering. Amend your soil with compost, mulch, perlite or a premium potting soil mix. Mix 50/50 native soil and amendments and backfill until your planting hole is about twice the size of your plant's root mass. Mound up a bit of the soil at the center of the planting hole. Then, remove your vine from its container and place it in the center of the hole. Your vine should be set so that the top of the root ball is flush with the native soil line. Once your vine is set in place, backfill with more of your amended soil, gently tamping down as you go to close any potential air pockets. Lastly make a small watering basin around the base of your newly planted vine to help with more even watering and finally give your plant a deep watering.

Passion vines do not require a lot of water once established. How often to water will vary on the environment and depends on soil porosity, tree size and temperature. Passion vines are sub-tropical plants that prefer infrequent watering. It is best to allow the soil to dry out somehwat bewteen watering. Typically. a weekly watering is all you will need, but be sure to adjust your schedule based on your weather conditions.

Passion vines are vigorous growers on their own, but if you want to maximize growth during the growing season, a monthly does of Romeo Plant Food during the growing season will have your vine growing 3 doors down in no time. Romeo Plant Food is a water-soluble fertilizer that is available to your plant with fast results. Alternatively, you can use a balanced orangic fertilizer or compst tea to feed your vine.

Pruning passion vines is important for plant health as well as for regulating the size of your vine. Removing dead or frost-damaged branches in the spring will help to clean up your vine and help discourage critters from nesting in the dead wood. Clipping off terminal buds (buds at the tipsof the branch) will encourage side branching, if your goal is to have a fuller plant. Alternatively, you can train long leading vines on all sorts of trellises, arbors or fences. This can be done by simply intertwining the vine through the trellis or with temporary affixments such as twine, clips and hooks.