How Do I Look After And Propagate Purple Passion Plants?

Question

I read your article on “Purple Passion Plant Care” and I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I have had at least one of these plants since 2015 but I don’t seem to be having much luck recently. I hope you can help. I bought a couple of these last month. The seller said avoid keeping them wet or waterlogged so I only watered the plants when the soil was dry as I did with my previous gynuras and yet these new plants flopped and died. I could not even save cuttings from them. Did I underwater them? Could it have been the location? I have always kept all of them in a typical windowsill location (near a radiator, bit draughty at times, with morning sunlight filtered through a net curtain). Temperature is usually between 63° and 72°F. My previous Purple Passion Plants lived for 3+ years and produced flowers which I thought meant I was doing something right. I was keeping the 2 from last month on wet pebbles to maintain humidity as the seller indicated the nursery that they came from had high humidity although I hadn’t done that with the other plants which had thrived. Also regarding cuttings to start new plants: I have successfully rooted cuttings by placing them in water. They survived for months like this but when planting them on they died. What did I do wrong? I tried to take cuttings from the new plants that died last month but the cuttings just flopped and died – no roots were put out. When I bought many of these plants from the garden centre previously, the soil was very wet and the plants flopped and died a few days later. What could I have done to save them? Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

Purple passion plants are short lived, they mature in two to three years and die after they bloom. They must have well-drained soil because the roots are susceptible to root rot. Avoid getting water on the foliage. Water them when the surface of the soil is dry.

When you create a pebble tray, be sure the container is sitting high on the pebbles and not in the pebbles where the plant can take up water. That will surely lead to root rot.

Rooting in water is not the best way to root plants. The developing roots don't get enough air so they are weak. Use vermiculite, perlite, sand or potting soil mixed with perlite to root cuttings.

Here is more:

http://pss.uvm.edu/ppp/pubs/oh5cuts.html

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/purple-passion-plant/purple-passion-houseplants.htm