Propagating Passion Fruit To Create More Vines

Some big transformations are about to happen in our backyard homestead. The passion fruit vines we have had for over four years overtook a weak trellis to the point that it is falling over—creating an unmanageable jungle—and need to be completely re-designed. To prepare for this process, I starting propagating some passion fruit vine cuttings and am sharing that process below!

Passion fruit vines are incredibly easy to propogate, and I’m about to share how I did this recently. Why is passion fruit a “must grow” for me? Passionvine loves a warm climate (like zones 9-11) with little to no frost, the fruit is hard to find in stores (and expensive!), and it is an evergreen. Additionally, the fruit is a delicious, tropical tasting treat that really can’t be substituted with any other fruit. We grow Passiflora Edulis ‘Frederick’ which is an extremely common, edible variety of passionfruit. Definitely check out my Tips for Growing Passion Fruit Vine before you set out to add one to your edible landscape.

Why am I propagating my passionvine?

As mentioned above, our passionvine is currently on a broken trellis, and such a huge mess that it has shaded out my other plants.

Sadly, the trunk of this passionvine is bigger than my arm, so moving it is simply not an option. Therefore, I have selected a new location in the garden, a new trellis (it’s going to be a cattle panel trellis), and have propagated some pieces of the vine so we can start over. Honestly, it’s going to be so nice to have that section of the garden back! I’m planning to add more papaya trees, a citrus tree, and some more raised bed spaces for edible crops.

Instead of buying a new passionvine, I simply took some cuttings of my original vine to begin propagating before the big move. Propagating plants is really fun, easy, and opens up a whole new aspect of gardening. I share my best tips for how to propagate other types of plants in How to Propagate Plants From Cuttings and Get Free Plants! In the past, I have sucessfully rooted hydrangea, figs, lavender, sage, rosemary, and so much more!

Passion fruit Propagating Supplies

Here are the items I used to make four new passionvine plants:

What about rooting hormone? While I do use this rooting hormone when propagating some plants, I actually didn’t use any to propagate my passion fruit and they did just fine! I’ll typically use rooting hormone for propagating “difficult” plants that aren’t easily rooted. 

How to Select Cuttings of Passion Vine for Rooting

When propagating passionfruit vine, you want to be sure to have cuttings that are not too old, but not too new either. The idea here is to select cuttings with an ideal stem thickness. You don’t want the flimsy tips that are super young and will probably wilt or die quickly. You want some mature stem that’s more sturdy, not tender or new. Typically, I pick up a large length of healthy vine (like 2 feet long) and clip it off. Then, I take my clean garden clippers and clip off the end, plus any buds or flowers. From there, I create pieces that allow me to have two leaf nodes under the soil and then a final leaf node at the top with a mature leaf or two. See the before & after photo below for more detail. One large cutting an become multiple propagation cuttings.

It’s important to note that eventually, you will remove most of the leaves from the cutting, leaving only one mature set at the top. The leaf nodes (where you removed leaves) will end up under the soil line. 

Prep Your Seed Starting Mix & Fill Your Pots

During any propagation process, it’s important that your cuttings don’t dry out completely. You want your seed start mix to be moist all the way through. I actually pre-moisten my mix before adding it to my 4″ plant pots. You can watch my process in video form over on my DIY Seed Starting Mix article.

Insert Your Passionvine Cuttings into Soil

Carefully insert your passionvine cuttings into the seed start mix. Push them so that the majority of the leaf nodes are below the soil line, and the mature leaves you left on top are not under the soil.

Press gently on the soil around your cutting to compact the soil. This actually helps the cutting have more soil contact for rooting!

Now, leave your pots in a shady place or area of your garden that is sheltered and doesn’t get direct sun. It should also be warm. In my garden, the perfect “propagation station” is next to my hose bib alongside my house.

Since they are in a shady place, your cuttings probably won’t need to be watered very often. It is important to keep your soil medium moist but not soggy!

Wait at least 3-4 weeks. Honestly, I completely forget about them until one day I look over and notice they aren’t dead. After almost a month, the top leaves might have wilted (or maybe not!) but what’s important is to look for signs of life. Are there little leaves coming out of a leaf node? Are the top leaves alive (a good sign roots are establishing)? Does the stem look healthy in color? Or does it look rotted/brown? 

At the end of the day, the only fool-proof way to know if you were successful at propagating your passion fruit is to pop the soil block out of the pot and see if there are roots growing. I try not to disturb the cuttings for at least a month!

♥PS: I always recommend rooting more cuttings than you need. The fail rate can be very high, and if you have extras later, you can always share with a friend!

When are my propagated plants ready for transplant?

The photo above shows my brand new passionvine babies ready to go! The cuttings have an amazing root system developed (which is going to help them adjust to being transplanted). You might also notice that new growth has started! Those bright green leaves are brand new, and these are now fully rooted, new plants!

Even if you aren’t preparing your passionvine for a huge move, these plans don’t live forever! The typical lifespan for a passionfruit vine is anywhere between 5-10 years, so one day you’ll want to think about propagating some of your passion fruit cuttings anyway to extend the life of your original plant. Propagating is such a useful skill to have!