Tried layering?

If you are having trouble propagating some species, try layering.

Do this
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and you should get results like this
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Which well known and difficult to propagate species is this one?

parritae

I have a few of those I am trying to layer as well.

It is parritae and it layers very well for me. Those 14 are what are left of 19 I lifted. We hit 106 soon after I lifted them and a couple fried. This batch will go to the local arboretum for their spring sale. One thing that I've noticed with mine is that after I've had them potted for a few days, I have to get them back out into a lot of sun or they just sit, they won't shift into growth mode. Good luck with yours. Have you noticed that the layers work much the best with older semi-woody tissue rather than soft young tissue?

To be honest, this is my very first time trying that one. I do notice you take much longer shoots than I was using, I may have to try that. We are really cold here and mine is sitting in a nice sunny window but that might be an issue too. I may have to move them under the grow lights. I removed the plant from the greenhouse so I could start trying the layers, now I am wondering if I should have left it there and tried.
Thanks for the advise though!!!!

Given that this is your first try at layering parritae, you might have done what the other two people I know have done. When I first let a few people know that I had succeeded at layering parritae, two very experienced growers in the San Francisco Bay Area, experienced with tacsonias as well as Passifloras in general, tried. Neither is having the luck I've had. I think the real difference is the age of the whip/stem I start with. When I set up a layer, I start with a branching whip many feet long. I have written up a blurb with pictures that I've sent to people who ask what I did and how I did it. If you want me to email you a copy let me know. I was thinking of sending it to the PSI for their newsletter if they wanted it, but I'll send you a copy if you wish. It took 9 weeks to get those layers rooted. All but one of them came from layering one whip. The layers in the pots are mostly 14" to 18" tall, but some of them had several feet of top growth cut off when I lifted them. Are you serpentine layering, trench layering, or just trying a generic layer by burying a node or two? How long have the layers been in place and are you seeing any rooting? Are you trying to layer young soft terminal growth or older material? Congratulations on keeping parritae alive back there. I'm south of Los Angeles and I was told it would not grow here either. My parent plant is now about 15 months old, has eaten an orange tree, and has produced 30 some layers. If I got busy and worked at it I could produce a lot more of them now that I've figured out what works for me. We ought to compare notes.

This batch will go to the local arboretum for their spring sale

Any chance one could find its way to the Horticulture Department at Fullerton College? I volunteer there, tending to the vine collection and am trying to expand our varieties on a non-existent budget.

I would love a copy of your instructions, especially since you have had such a great success! I currently have what you would refer to as a simple layer, i guess. I removed 5 nodes from the vine, wounded the vine at each node, misted, applied rooting hormone, and covered with a mix of vermiculite & peat moss. I used a bent paper clip to keep in place. I started about 5 nodes from the tip of the vine, which of course is new growth, but the last 2 nodes are what I would consider medium, not quite woody, but you can see it starting to turn. I havn't checked my root growth yet, as I wanted to wait right around the 6 week mark so I did not disrupt it prematurly. I have 2 weeks left for that. I am also trying an air layer on one extention. Have you ever tried this method? I have taken a small coin zipper baggie, and cut it on 2 sides, then placed it around the node I have prepared, filled it with my vermiculite & peatmoss mix that has been dampened & then taped the 2 sides back shut, that way I have access to the node from the zipper end, to ensure moisture and check root growth. I have never tried this method before on anything, but I accidently injured this part of my vine & it is too short to do a regular layer, so I decided to give it a whirl. I have never had any success with cuttings on this paticular vine, so I am hoping this is a good method for me. I have promised Jim Nevers a vine if I can get this to work.
As for growing this fussy little vine, I have only had it a short while, but it has grown maybe a foot since I have purchased it. My greenhouse now stays between 60 & 75 F, so that seems to be perfect for it. Keep your fingers crossed, as I would love to see this beauty take off over here on the east coast!

See question at the end.

More than once in the tropics, I have seen very young Passiflora vines of the same species growing close together on a perfect line. It looked like a gardener had done a seed line. In all instances it was on a roadside recently bulldozed and I always thought it was a case of burried vines sending young branches toward the light. It seems to happen also (but only more distant 3–4 stems) with Bignoniaceae and Aristolochia. After years of failure, I should try it outdoors, but need to aim at a summer stretch of weeks without vacation or travel for work. How long would you say I need to save for this between layering and potting? Long drought episodes are pretty common here.

Great to see that my hypothesis about what I saw in the field was not totally crazy.

Christian, just coming back from Florida were I visited Jim Nevers before a meeting on Gesneriaceae.

Jim, the rooted cuttings survived the trip without trouble. Did the pictures turn out OK? It was a fun afternoon around plants.

Julie and Mr. Voss you both need to contact me off the forum.
Julie: The narrative is about 8.5 Megs because of the pictures. I'll be glad to send you a copy but due to it's size, off forum would be better. Re your questions: I haven't tried air layering parritae, I lifted that group of layers at 9 weeks, my first try at layering parritae I injured and used rooting hormones as you did, but it works just as well without doing that, I have a sneaking suspicion that you are layering material younger than I use and might well end up with results like the two people in the Bay Area got, which are not as good as I've had.
Mr. Voss: I'll be glad to let you have one or two. I also have P. antioquiensis and the hybrid between parritae and antioquiensis named 'Mission Dolores'. Both were selfed and are ripening fruit at this time. They both work fairly well from cuttings as well. 'Mission Dolores' is a hybrid and won't come true from seed, which antioquiensis will; but it could segregate some interesting offspring. I stuck pictures of both in the Gallery, just hit the Gallery link at the top of the page in case you don't know what they look like. If you want cuttings of either of them, or seeds of either of them, just let me know. I also grow Lapageria if you need some for the collection. Most people want the white, but I also have red. They layer slowly, and are very slow from seed, but aren't that hard to grow. There aren't any Lapageria seeds of known crosses out there right now, but if you want some in the future let me know. All I have sitting around at the moment are some two year old seedlings of uncertain parentage; I lost their labels.
Passif: The first parritae layer that worked for me was set up in Feb, our version of winter. It took some time to get them going but I could have lifted them earlier than I did. They were in the ground about 15 weeks. This batch took 9 weeks. I have never had any shoots come up from buried nodes, I set up the layer using a branching whip. I pull the side shoots up above the soil and mulch when I put the whip in a shallow trench. The roots form on the buried whip, not on the buried bases of the side shoots. (Lapageria does exactly the opposite. Everything comes (slowly) from buried nodes.) I would try to allow 10 to 12 weeks to get good enough roots to support the layers. "Long drought episodes" and parritae don't go together very well. It really likes moisture.

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