Growing Passion Fruit seeds and other fruit trees (guava, surinam, Corg, Grapes)

[70Malibu]

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I would like to have this post to help others and if you have a helpful method of growing out fruit tree seeds that works, to share your info here.
So, if anyone like me has a question of what to do next when trying to germinate the fruit tree seeds, you can post here and get feedback from the members who know how to do it.
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I have a question for you folks that seem to know how to grow these passion fruits from seed.

I usually get this far with my seed germination, then when I put them in a pot, they all die. Any experienced people have successfully germinated the passion fruit seeds to a plant that is at least 6 inches tall, please give me advice.

Here's what my germinated Qinmi#9 seeds look like today. What should be my next step?

Do I need to separate each seedling and put it in its own pot?

Can I just stuff these guys in a large pot and put them outside in the shade?

[murahilin]

I've had close to 100% success with growing passionfruit seeds by planting fresh seeds into individual cells of a seed starting tray. Once they get a few inches tall into the seed starting tray, I then transplant them into slightly larger pots.

The seedlings are delicate, so I can see why your method has high loss rates.

[BP]

murahilin what medium do you use for your trays?

I'm currently struggling germinating some passionfruit seeds from store bought fruit but if those were any of the many other kinds of seeds I germinate I would say they are a little leggy from lack of light (this doesnt mean direct sun obviously) and not in a container deep enough. You can usually plant stuff pretty dense as you did and separate them later if they dont get beat up too much and dont mess with the roots too much. Usually around first or second set of true leaves. Be careful not to lift by the stem it can easily be damaged. I would be excited to be in the stage you are in though, I see success in your future. A container I've found to be particularly great for seed germination is an old country crock butter tub cleaned out and holes punched in the bottom. I plant 12-15 seeds in each they are great. I have lots of other various plastic pots but these work so well for some reason

[roblack]

I throw a bunch of seeds into 3 gal pots (1/4 - 1/3 filled) or smaller, and when they get 6 inches plus, they are easy to separate without killing them.

[70Malibu]

Rob, I like that method, for the Dennis Big Yellow seeds, it got about 2" long just like these and I just stuffed them in a 1 gallon pot and put it outside. Will need to see how they are doing.

murahilin, ok, maybe I better use your method for my Sylvia seeds since I still have hundreds that I did not plant yet since I didn't want those seedlings to die.

I will carefully separate what I can and put each of these Qinmi#9 seedlings into a small pot. When I separated the Spira Surinam cherry seedliings, they were much easier to separate because those seeds are big and even though the seedlings were in a bunch like this, not as fragile. I will take a photo of my Spira Surinam seedling to show you I can grow out some seeds after a few inches in height. Let me change the title of the post to growing out seeds.

 

[70Malibu]

I got these neat little tube pots from Mike, who got them free from his friend who owns a nursery (Laguna Hills). These pots are easy to manage after you place these little seedlings into it since it comes with a holder tray. And these trays can be stacked up so it doesn't take much space in the yard. Also, when you want to move it around to water other plants near it, you can lift the whole thing. If anyone is using these nursery pot/tray combos, please let me know where to buy them.

 

[BP]

No pic attached as far as I can see^

I havent found anything near to the quality of Stuewe and Sons, but you sure pay for it! I cant stand flimsy plastic breaking down, I like to reuse my stuff. I can't be paying for something that barely makes it through a season. I'd love to find a cheaper option but this is the best. I found them originally from a bonsai forum as their Anderson flats are very popular, built my own of those out of cedar slats which worked great. Their banded pots are widely used in my area as well. I picked up their deep citrus pots because I figured if they are good enough for Madison Citrus they are good enough for me.

Have a look around their site and let me know if there are other options out there
https://stuewe.com/product-category/deepots-trays/

I reallllly need to find some affordable but decent quality 1, 3 and 5 gallon pots but its tough

[70Malibu]

I just took photos and will post it later. But yes, that's it. Your Stuewe & Sons looks just like the ones I got from Mike.

The problem with buying any quantity of pots from them is that the shipping cost is so much that it almost cost as much to ship as the cost of the pots themselves. I buy 30-50 of their tall pots but the shipping cost is so high, it is hard to justify the cost of the pots.

[BP]

If you are able to stretch out your time frame then its easier to justify it through reusability but yea trust me I feel your pain. The trays are as expensive as the pots and then double that to ship, ouch! A friend of mine lives an hour away from them and I still wouldnt save anything shipping wise. I could spend $1000 there EASILY haha and still not have everything I need, but I'm a big fan of making it work with what you have so we make it happen.

[70Malibu]

Yup, I agree, I spend over $1000 from buying pots from them. Now that I found EKT nursery who sells large 15 gallon pots for dirt cheap ($4-$5) I just go get the larger pots. But since my space is limited (over crowded) I will do another round of 30 Treetops from them.

Here's how much I pay for their tall pots I use (8"x18"). Good pots but I could buy a few really nice fruit trees for this cost. You need to buy a lot to justify the cost for shipping it.

[Alippincott]

I do all my seed germination and seedling growing under grow lights with heat mats at my work which is temperate controlled at like 74 F. Once things get big enough, then they go outside under shade clothe depending on the climate, and then acclimated to full sun. This allows me to get a head start during winter. Right now I am growing all my Luc's Garcinias inside, and they are doing fantastic. I will transplant them spring time.

For germination soil, it just do peat + perlite + sand/DG

I use the seed starting trays from Epicgardening. They are durable and re-usable.

[70Malibu]

Good info, so that's your secret to those fast-growing passion fruits from seed.

[ScottR]

I get about 80-90% take on fresh passion seeds and I soak overnight in Ga-3 or strong blk tea then plant next day with bottom heat. Best to plant in individual  seed tray. Then when seedling gets second level of leaves I transplant into pint pots then into 1-gal after they fill pint pot with roots. Fresh seed is best older seeds get poor take or none atoll.

[70Malibu]

Here's my seedlings that I will put in some small pots.

[seng]

Has anyone tried this? 3 packs, including dome, cells, and trays.  So strong, that one can stand on cells. USA seller less than 1 week free delivery.

https://www.temu.com/goods.html?_bg_fs=1&goods_id=601104395092192&sku_id=17614564811552&_oak_page_source=501&_x_sessn_id=8bd3n8gfaz&refer_page_name=shopping_cart&refer_page_id=10037_1761331318113_r9vtv1vpuw&refer_page_sn=10037

[seng]

If you already has dome and tray(1020), this might be a better one with 4.4 inches deep. I might buy this one.

https://www.temu.com/goods.html?goods_id=601102573226242&sku_id=17605351564000&click_scene=11&_x_sessn_id=8bd3n8gfaz&refer_page_name=shopping_cart&refer_page_id=10037_1761330999805_svav2y37ei&refer_page_sn=10037

https://www.temu.com/goods.html?goods_id=601101336878264&sku_id=17599362499028&click_scene=11&_x_sessn_id=8bd3n8gfaz&refer_page_name=shopping_cart&refer_page_id=10037_1761331463842_ya40h0xa3z&refer_page_sn=10037

[xesoteryc]

Here's my seedlings that I will put in some small pots.

Just transplanted these Dennis seedlings, they have been attacked nonstop by caterpillars.

Here is my Purple Boots, can't see much because it's growing on a panel but here's the base / bulbs.

[70Malibu]

Ok, your Purple Boots grew well. I can see the dark purple stem and veins in the leaf, nice.

[SplorKeLZ]

Something that I have found to be critical when growing very young and small seedlings is to use mostly sand, around 75-80% or so (or 60% with 20% perlite). This is also the same medium I've been using for everything since this spring, and my losses have gone down so much it's ridiculous. For pots, I have been using red solo cups due to their cost and pretty good dimensions. To germinate things I use moist vermiculite and it works well, I've also used moist sand

[70Malibu]

Ok, good info. For my small germinated seedlings, I don't want to use sand yet since the roots are too fragile, maybe when it grows to 3" tall. For now, I will use either peat moss or coco coir in the small pots.

[akimbo]

Something that I have found to be critical when growing very young and small seedlings is to use mostly sand, around 75-80% or so (or 60% with 20% perlite). This is also the same medium I've been using for everything since this spring, and my losses have gone down so much it's ridiculous. For pots, I have been using red solo cups due to their cost and pretty good dimensions. To germinate things I use moist vermiculite and it works well, I've also used moist sand

Where do you get your sand?  If I go to Lowe’s they only have playground sand.  On amazon, the little bags of sand aren’t enough for all the things I grow.  I would love to know your source!!

[BP]

Something that I have found to be critical when growing very young and small seedlings is to use mostly sand, around 75-80% or so (or 60% with 20% perlite). This is also the same medium I've been using for everything since this spring, and my losses have gone down so much it's ridiculous. For pots, I have been using red solo cups due to their cost and pretty good dimensions. To germinate things I use moist vermiculite and it works well, I've also used moist sand

Where do you get your sand?  If I go to Lowe’s they only have playground sand.  On amazon, the little bags of sand aren’t enough for all the things I grow.  I would love to know your source!!

Play sand at box stores in the US is usually just screened and washed river sand, I've used a few bags of it. Why dont you like it? Just gotta be careful it doesnt have any additives that make it concrete like. I've been wary of bulk builders grade sand having contaminates, possibly an unfounded fear. It is hard finding bulk affordable perlite/moss/sand which I use to make my container mixes. If I do the math for how much it costs to buy the containers and what I use to fill them it starts to hurt a little. The best deal I've found on perlite is bulk horticultural on amazon, premium sphagnum moss from walmart and a bag of play sand from a box hardware store. What a difference this expensive mix makes though :/

[SplorKeLZ]

Ok, good info. For my small germinated seedlings, I don't want to use sand yet since the roots are too fragile, maybe when it grows to 3" tall. For now, I will use either peat moss or coco coir in the small pots.

that makes sense, although my issue is that very often the roots will mold or rot when young

[SplorKeLZ]

Something that I have found to be critical when growing very young and small seedlings is to use mostly sand, around 75-80% or so (or 60% with 20% perlite). This is also the same medium I've been using for everything since this spring, and my losses have gone down so much it's ridiculous. For pots, I have been using red solo cups due to their cost and pretty good dimensions. To germinate things I use moist vermiculite and it works well, I've also used moist sand

Where do you get your sand?  If I go to Lowe’s they only have playground sand.  On amazon, the little bags of sand aren’t enough for all the things I grow.  I would love to know your source!!

do you have Home Depot in florida? Thats where i get the sand (i use builders sand)

[roblack]

Yindu 3 seedlings, sowed in March of this year. Easy to break up at this size, with little losses. I  will keep the most vigorous and interesting of the bunch.