How to grow a passionflower
The curative liana is successfully bred for industrial purposes in its natural environment - humid subtropics, and amateur gardeners "tamed" it on their personal plots and even on window sills.
In the room conditions, various kinds of passionflower are propagated by cuttings: either in early spring, still green, or, even more often, in June-July, partly lignified. Cut the stalk with two leaves and put in a prepared soil mixture( for it take in equal parts peat and sand).Before planting, the lower ends of the cuttings are recommended to be disinfected, just in case, and then the slices should be powdered with wood ash. For disinfection use a solution of goet-roauxin( 1 tablet per 1 liter of water), lowering into it the cuttings cuttings for 6-8 hours. Instead of water, you can take a weak( pink) solution of potassium permanganate. With this simple procedure, you can prevent rotting stems.
The temperature for planting should be maintained at least 20 ° C, and even better to 25 ° C above zero, then the rooting takes about a month. At this time, it is necessary to provide the future liana with sufficient moisture - not only with watering, but also with the help of spraying. It is recommended to cover the cuttings with glass or polyethylene film, occasionally opening them for access to fresh air. You can also use special mini-greenhouses with a lower heating.
Young entrenched plants are planted in pots. This time is a mixture of equal parts of peat, turf and humus. Further care in principle is simple - you need to build supports for climbing shoots, choose a place with sufficient solar illumination. As a support for the plant you can use trellis, stairs, arches - it all depends on your imagination and skill. The Cavalier star is a very light-loving plant, preferring to grow on the windows of southern, eastern and western orientation. You can also keep it on windows with some shading. For growth, this does not matter much, but flowering will be less active.
Watering is usually needed abundantly, especially for young plants;from time to time planting is sprayed, and the premises are ventilated, but so that there are no drafts. Subtropical visitors can not stand drafts - they begin to fall off leaves.
For the winter, passionflower usually passes into a state of relative rest. At this time, the plants are best placed in a room where the temperature is maintained at about 8-10 ° C, but the temperature is up to 14 ° above zero. Watering in winter is reduced, spraying is stopped or, if the air in the room is very much dry, sprayed, but not often. After our liana plunges into "hibernation", it is recommended to cut off all shoots - then next year it will be covered with strong thick foliage.
Generally pruning plays an important role in the life of passionflowers. Before the onset of winter dormancy, long sprouting shoots should be shortened considerably - up to 0.5 m. It is possible to trim in spring: this procedure stimulates the growth of young shoots and abundant flowering, because the buds are tied precisely on newly grown young shoots. Young plants begin to bloom usually the next year in the spring. If you want to get fruits in room conditions, to open them, the opened flowers are artificially pollinated: they transfer the pollen from one flower to another with a cotton swab or a soft brush. This procedure is repeated 2-3 times.
Passiflora flowers are short-lived, and within a week on the pedicel 3-5 cm long, the fruit's ovary is visible. Approximately one and a half months later, the fruit reaches its final size, maturing, depending on the conditions, takes about 2 more months.
In the period of active growth, our green pets require a lot of nutrients, and passionflower in this sense is not an exception. Winter should not be fed.
You can use ready-made fertilizers. In spring and summer, the passionflower is fed 2-3 times a month, alternating organic fertilizers with mineral fertilizers. From organic it is better to use infusion of horse or cow manure;Before use, it is diluted with water 6 and 10 times, respectively. For mineral dressings, liquid complex fertilizers such as "Effect" or "Vito"( dosage according to the instructions) are very convenient. Once a quarter it is useful to carry out foliar top dressing with iron sulfate solution( 1 g / liter).You can try to propagate passionflower and seeds. They are sown in February-March in flat vessels filled with the following mixture: leaf, peat, humus and sand, taken in equal parts. The temperature for germination is recommended not below 20-24 ° C.It is necessary to maintain sufficient humidity of air and soil. Well, and for emerging sprouts are courted the same way as when propagating plants from cuttings.
Transplanted cavalier star annually, then in 2-3 years. When transplanting pots with a diameter not much larger than the previous ones are used so that the root system does not grow too much. A significant increase in the root system can lead to a rapid growth of shoots and prevent the flowering and fruiting process.
Some amateur growers with success
grow passionflower on hydroponics, that is not in soil mixtures, but in special solutions.
Procurement of raw materials
In the pharmacological industry, the aerial part( grass) of passiflora - leaves, antennae, buds, flowers, immature fruit is used. They prepare raw materials in three terms: when buds are formed on the vine, then during flowering and, finally, at the beginning of the ripening of the fruit. Collect leafy shoots by hand, cutting off shoots 50-60 cm long at a height of 15-20 cm from the soil surface. Dry the raw materials in dryers( at a temperature of 40-50 ° C), as well as in ventilated rooms or attics. Store the dried grass in a dry, well-ventilated area. Shelf life of medicinal raw materials is 2 years.