How and when to prune Passion Flower (Passiflora)

The passion flower is a vine that is mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical America with some species in Asia and Oceania. There are many species within the Passiflora genus, among them the most common are Passiflora caerulea, Passiflora Edulis and Passiflora Quadrangularis. The exotic beauty of its flower, which gives it its name, has made its cultivation spread to many other latitudes in the world. It is for this popularity that an article on our blog can not miss to talk about pruning the Passion flower, we will analyze how and when to do it and with what tools to do it. Finally we will finish the blog with a very good video tutorial.

1. Its relationship with the passion of Christ.

Surely you noticed that his name is given by the passion of Christ, but perhaps you do not know the many attributes that the faithful find similar to that fact. Let’s see below what they are all.

• The ovary and its base represent the chalice used during the Last Supper.

• The ten “petals”, which are actually five petals and the rest are sepals, are the apostles (not counting Judas Iscariot the traitor and Peter who denied Christ).

• The old leaves are represented as the hands of those who persecuted him.

• The tendrils look like the whips with which they lashed him throughout his passion.

• The corolla is the easiest to interpret, which is none other than the Santa Corona.

• The three floral stigmas are the three nails used by Roman soldiers to nail Jesus to the cross.

• The new blades represent the tip of the spear used to injure him.

• The five anthers are the five wounds.

• And to finish comes its fruit, small and orange, which inside has reddish seeds, are interpreted as the drops of coagulated blood that come from the wounds of Christ.

As you can see with the analysis of the flower and fruit of this vine, you can take a tour of all the passion of the Nazarene.

2. Tools needed to prune or trim a Passion flower

There is no ideal tool to prune your Passion flower, but you can select from several depending on the time you are going to prune, the age or size of the plant, the type of pruning or even your experience with the use of each tool.

• Hand Pruning Shears: Stems up to half inch in diameter can be pruned with hand shears.

• Lopping Shears: It is suitable to use on stems between half inch and 2 inches in diameter.

• Hedge Shears: Manual and power shears are available for trimming hedges. Manual shears have long, flat blades with relatively short handles and are good for small jobs. Electric shears are a good choice for larger hedges.

• Saws: A number of pruning saws are available. These saws come with either curved or straight blades and of variable lengths and points. Curved blades that cut on the draw stroke are easy to use.

Remember that always before starting the task of pruning your passiflora, you must disinfect your tools. It is essential that you disinfect the blades, this will help decrease the possibility of infections of different diseases from one plant to another.

2.1 Needed care of pruning tools

Like any tool you have in a workshop, garden tools need to be cared for. This will help you extend the life of them. Let’s see some good tips to carry out this care.

• Use the right tool for a job and avoid twisting or straining it.

• Clean and oil tools regularly by wiping an oily cloth on blades and other surfaces.

• Keep cutting edges sharp by regularly using an oilstone.

• Wooden handles should be varnished or regularly treated with linseed oil to keep them from cracking or splintering.

Perform the above care regularly and your tools will thank you. 😉

3. Pruning Passion flower vines

We have already seen some curiosities about the flower of this vine, and what tools you may need, it is time to prune completely.

Although pruning the passion flower is a task that cannot be considered complicated, it is necessary to know some vital tips.

The first thing should be to understand why it is necessary to carry out this pruning, understanding this point, it will be easier for you not to forget to perform the pruning year after year.

3.1 Why to prune Passion flower

Passion flowers are vines that are capable of developing with great force, if we do not control this growth from the beginning, it can get complicated in the future. The reasons why the pruning of this vine is very important are:

• Provide structure and pruning training in the youth of the plant. If you let Passiflora grow without a supporting structure, it will end up taking the place of other plants in your garden, making it difficult to solve the problem.

• Performing regular pruning annually will promote the development year after year of new and stronger branches.

• Helps to improve both flowering and fruit production.

• In case of Passion Flowers with several years, pruning is a good instrument to carry out a rejuvenation of the plant.

Many are the gardeners who do not give importance to the pruning of this plant, but as you can see they are making a mistake.

3.2 When to prune Passiflora

First of all, you need to make sure you prune your Passiflora at the right time. This can vary depending on the climate where you live.

You can prune it in the first days of autumn, coinciding with the term of fruit production, if where it lives the winters are mild.

In case the winters are quite harsh, pruning in early autumn is not recommended. The appropriate time for these cases is once the risks of frost have passed, in the last winters or first days of spring.

3.3 How to prune Passion flower

Once you are sure you are at the right time to do the pruning, you can proceed as follows:

• Prune the weakest branches of your Passiflora, making the cut at the level of the main stem. This will decrease the density of the foliage, further promoting the development of stronger branches.

• From one year to the next, many are the branches that grow beyond the limits, you must cut each of these branches to a third of its length. To ensure that a new branch develops again from this branch, cut just above a new shoot.

• In case an outbreak has been dragged along the ground, it is the right time to cut it.

• Always try to decrease the density of the foliage, this will make the air and the sun circulate better inside the plant. Thus promoting flowering and fruit production Be careful not to trim more than a third, or the pruning may have been too strong.

• Although this is the last point I have written, it is not the least important, in general it is the one you should start with. It is about cutting all those dry and / or diseased branches, doing it at the base. This will help both health and aesthetics.

As I said at the beginning, the task is not complicated at all, you will only need a time that can vary with the size and quantity of Passion flowers you have at home.

4. Pruning passiflora video

As we do with each article we publish, we will end this with a video. For that matter, we have taken it from the ehowgarden channel, the video is very complete, so I have no doubt that it will be of great help to help you with this task of maintaining your Passion flower.

And with this we are done, I hope I have been clear in explaining why, how and when to prune your Passiflora. 🙂