Grafting passion fruit

[thao]

I saw this video on grafting passion fruit. Looks very easy and to the point. Might be useful for anyone in colder area, that might like to graft a desire variety onto more cold hardy or disease resistance rootstock.
Grafting Passionfruit in the Northern Territory

I was thinking doing this for Berto's giant Brazilian passion fruit onto p. edulis seedlings. Will flavacrapa graft onto edulis?

[ScottR]

Nice post of video of grafting passiflora, I did one last year I had a passiflora edulis seedling and a friend had a big fruited passiflora edulis, so I took a tip cutting home this was last Feb. and did a whip graft and wrapped in para-film. Also I cut all the leaves off and wrapped scion in para-film it took and I planted out side but it did not make it thru our cold winter event! I was surprised that it took first of all now I just need to find hardier rootstock. I don't see why flavacarpa   wouldn't go onto passiflora edulis which is mush hardier than flavacarpa.

[thao]

Nice post of video of grafting passiflora, I did one last year I had a passiflora edulis seedling and a friend had a big fruited passiflora edulis, so I took a tip cutting home this was last Feb. and did a whip graft and wrapped in para-film. Also I cut all the leaves off and wrapped scion in para-film it took and I planted out side but it did not make it thru our cold winter event! I was surprised that it took first of all now I just need to find hardier rootstock. I don't see why flavacarpa   wouldn't go onto passiflora edulis which is mush hardier than flavacarpa.

Maybe it might have had, if we didn't get that arctic blast last December? Maybe for a hardy rootstock, why don't you try using the p. edulis blacknight and p edulis Nancy Garrison? Those two are said to be very hardy to 8b, with the Nancy Garrison being a bit hardier than the first mention. Or in Australia, they often used p. careulea as rootstock for it's disease resistance and cold hardiness. But that rootstock has a horrific time sending up suckers below the graft, taking over the grafted portion, if you're not keeping it in check and being extremely root invasive as well, sending up new plants  many feets from the parent root stock plant.

[mangomike]

Passiflora incarnata is the hardiest species, to Zone 6. I don't know if it would impart any cold tolerance to other species grafted to it. Perhaps if you wrapped the graft union in bubble wrap or some kind of freeze protection, you could maintain tropical passionfruit in colder climates.

I read somewhere that there is a university project to breed the cold tolerance of P. incarnate into P. edulis.

[ScottR]

I have N. Garrison and Blacknight might have to get some cuttings going and try it out, I don't like caerulea it runs every where in my sandy soil. I hadn't thought of it thanks. I have incarnata also thanks for that tip mangomike!

[Steve in Los Osos]

So I don't hear him say anything about lining up the edges carefully--other than the comment that you want the stem sizes to be close. Does it not matter? I'm thinking that this is a green, succulent material and perhaps the vascular tissue is more broadly distributed and not just at the outside like the cambium on a tree. Maybe? (I'm 0 for many on starting cuttings, so.....)

[thao]

I read somewhere that there is a university project to breed the cold tolerance of P. incarnate into P. edulis.

That would be something nice to have too, when they do release it to the public for the colder states. But don't they already have a few variety that is p. incarnata x p. edulis for flower purpose? Though, would be a a lot nicer, if they would breed the sweetness factor into them. Australia has all these nice varieties, both the tropical and subtropical black/purple kind of high brix. Why can't we have some sweeter strain develop here to

I have N. Garrison and Blacknight might have to get some cuttings going and try it out, I don't like caerulea it runs every where in my sandy soil. I hadn't thought of it thanks. I have incarnata also thanks for that tip mangomike!

Let us know how that works out for you

So I don't hear him say anything about lining up the edges carefully--other than the comment that you want the stem sizes to be close. Does it not matter? I'm thinking that this is a green, succulent material and perhaps the vascular tissue is more broadly distributed and not just at the outside like the cambium on a tree. Maybe? (I'm 0 for many on starting cuttings, so.....)

In the video, he did take tip growth, but I bet Scott might be able to answer that part for you, since he said he has done one last year that took, but lost it due to winter cold.

[ScottR]

When I did my graft I just matched the diameter of scion with rootstock. Then wrapped with para-film @ graft (whip graft) then wrapped scion with one layer of para-film. To tell you the truth I didn't bother looking a cambium

[TheWaterbug]

I have a 2.5-yr-old vine that grows vigorously, but that does not produce useful fruit. But it must have a good root system, and the base of the plant is about 1" thick. I'm going to cull it, since it doesn't produce.


I have another 1-yr-old vine that is a true Frederick, purchased from a retailer, that makes tasty fruit. I'd like to graft some cuttings from this onto my 2-yr-old rootstock, just for the heck of it. I know I don't have to do this, and I could just rip out the old vine and let the new one take over, but what fun would that be?


What type of graft would be best for this, given that the diameters will be mis-matched by a gigantic factor?


How mature of a cutting should I take from my younger vine? I have some light-green new growth that's about a month old, and then I have dark green growth from last year.


Los Angeles is warm right now, with days in the mid- to high 70s and nights in the mid- to high 50s.


Any other tips for someone who has never grafted anything before? Thanks!

[fyliu]

I have never grafted passionfruit.
I know you would want a short cutting like 6 inches. Remove most of each leaf. Do a cleft or veneer if you don't want to top the rootstock yet. Protect the scion with a plastic bag with holes on top for heat escape and some moist paper inside to keep up humidity. The paper should not contact the graft, but below it is okay. Put something for shade if there's direct sunlight. Paper bag should do.

Or you can cut the rootstock and wait for it to produce new shoots and graft onto one of them.

If the pieces are too thin, you can try a simple whip graft and find a small straw or tube that the pieces will fit into to make the connection. You should cut the tube lengthwise first so it's easy to remove it later. You can use a gentle clip to hold the tube together. Look up tomato grafting for some ideas.

[Triloba Tracker]

Passiflora incarnata is the hardiest species, to Zone 6. I don't know if it would impart any cold tolerance to other species grafted to it. Perhaps if you wrapped the graft union in bubble wrap or some kind of freeze protection, you could maintain tropical passionfruit in colder climates.

I read somewhere that there is a university project to breed the cold tolerance of P. incarnate into P. edulis.

Unfortunately incarnata dies back completely in its native Zones, so the graft would be lost after one year.

However  - folks have tried breeding edulis into incarnata. In fact I have a post about one such cultivar..

[LivingParadise]

This is one of the few grafts that I am actually tempted by. I don't have a cold problem, but I have a water and pest problem. Passiflora laurifolia/Water Lemon does better in climates like mine, which can have a rough dry season. It also grows faster than some other varieties here. If I get a sturdy vine now that I have planted seeds, I would consider grafting other types onto it.

Once I have more mature plants, and perhaps run out of space, grafting may become more of a priority for me to learn. But for now, the idea of grafting a vine sounds cool, especially since I need an abundance of passionflowers and other vines to cover all my fencing, which is seemingly endless. I was very disappointed to lose several fairly developed passiflora vines, and in an instant all my privacy and yard appeal. Would be great not to have to worry about that next time.

[barath]

I did a batch of Passiflora grafts a few months back -- I first rooted cuttings of P. caerulea, and then once those had produced reasonable root systems, did grafts with scions of P. alata and P. venusta.  Both of those are marginal in this climate otherwise, and both were interesting to graft because they have a different stem shape -- P. alata has triangular stems and P. venusta has smooth round stems.

I didn't remove the leaves from the scions, but instead just cut the leaves in half and left 2-3 leaves per scion.  I did a mix of cleft and whip grafts, and had the best luck with cleft grafts where I didn't use parafilm but instead used grafting clips.  Kept in a warm, humid environment about 75% of them took in about 3 weeks.

What I don't know yet is how much this will help them grow or fruit...

[TheWaterbug]

I have a 2.5-yr-old vine that grows vigorously, but that does not produce useful fruit. But it must have a good root system, and the base of the plant is about 1" thick. I'm going to cull it, since it doesn't produce.

I have another 1-yr-old vine that is a true Frederick, purchased from a retailer, that makes tasty fruit. I'd like to graft some cuttings from this onto my 2-yr-old rootstock, just for the heck of it. I know I don't have to do this, and I could just rip out the old vine and let the new one take over, but what fun would that be?

What type of graft would be best for this, given that the diameters will be mis-matched by a gigantic factor?

How mature of a cutting should I take from my younger vine? I have some light-green new growth that's about a month old, and then I have dark green growth from last year.

Los Angeles is warm right now, with days in the mid- to high 70s and nights in the mid- to high 50s.

Any other tips for someone who has never grafted anything before? Thanks!

Well, I missed my chance in the spring, and now it's our hot, dry summer. But nature may have forced my hand, because my big pine tree just came crashing down on my fence and on my "bad" passion fruit vine:








The "good" vine is OK. It's about 8' away from the damage, so I only lost about 1/4 to 1/3 of its foliage.


So this isn't a disaster, since I was going to cull or graft onto the bad vine anyway. Once I get the tree off of it I'll see if it's worth trying to save.

[ScottR]

Bummer about your pine tree Waterbug, but then again it gives you space to plant something edible and a chance to graft passion vine next to fence. i would still try graft on vine only cover section of vine with shade cloth after you try grafting in a few places.Nothing ventured nothing gained! ::)Good luck!

[shaneatwell]

I'm thinking of grafting an incarnata onto Frederick, butterfly magnet w/o the root runners.

[Das Bhut]

anyone know where I can buy a water lemon in south Florida? I have a panama red but water lemon seems like a better fruit