problems with passion flower in container

andrewf75

I have tried to grow a climber up the front of my house (south facing) in a large pot (no soil to plant in) but I have tried 3 passion flowers now and my 3rd which romped up to the top of the trellis is now also dying! or appears to be. I have been quite careful to water in hot weather and the soil is well drained etc.

Am at a loss as to why passion flowers don't like it here as I know they are generally very tough and people seem to say they are OK in containers.

Guess I will try something else next. Ideally I want evergreen and fast growing. Thinking of Jasminuim Beesianum.

Any thoughts on whats going wrong with the passion flower or whether the jasmine would be a better bet?

Thanks!

DaftyDuck

It may be that, with a South facing aspect, the pot itself gets too hot and cooks the roots. Passionflower, like clematis, prefers cool damp rootruns.... most climbers do, as it's their natural habitat. A bigger pot, an earthenware pot, non plastic pot, or shelter for the pot may also help.

How large is the pot, and what soil are you using?

andrewf75

DaftyDuck wrote: »

It may be that, with a South facing aspect, the pot itself gets too hot and cooks the roots. Passionflower, like clematis, prefers cool damp rootruns.... most climbers do, as it's their natural habitat. A bigger pot, an earthenware pot, non plastic pot, or shelter for the pot may also help.

How large is the pot, and what soil are you using?

Yes possibly, it is a wooden planter probably 50cm square
Soil is mostly special container compost mixed with grit and some ordinary bagged compost

DaftyDuck

Ah, compost!.... that cover-all expression used by big-shed-garden-centres that covers a multitude of grot, recycled green-bin mush, and harvested bog-peat... Could be anything, then

Passionflowers are hungry, fast-growing climbers that want as much nutrient in the soil as possible. The soil may not be rich enough.

That's part of your problem, possibly, but a 50cm square pot is likely not large enough for any decent root run, especially in the heat of summer on a south facing wall... ... Having said that, I grew some in a (very large) conservatory in pots that were no bigger... until the aphids started with a vengeance, and the floor was as sticky as sellotape! I did water twice a day, and regularly fed with liquid fertiliser.

Where did the grit come from/what is is? Any chance it's builder-type stuff, and laden with salt and/or lime?

andrewf75

DaftyDuck wrote: »

Ah, compost!.... that cover-all expression used by big-shed-garden-centres that covers a multitude of grot, recycled green-bin mush, and harvested bog-peat... Could be anything, then

Passionflowers are hungry, fast-growing climbers that want as much nutrient in the soil as possible. The soil may not be rich enough.

That's part of your problem, possibly, but a 50cm square pot is likely not large enough for any decent root run, especially in the heat of summer on a south facing wall... ... Having said that, I grew some in a (very large) conservatory in pots that were no bigger... until the aphids started with a vengeance, and the floor was as sticky as sellotape! I did water twice a day, and regularly fed with liquid fertiliser.

Where did the grit come from/what is is? Any chance it's builder-type stuff, and laden with salt and/or lime?

hmmm I'm not sure of the quality of compost from garden centres, but I think it was Gro-sure easy container compost, but I did also mix in some homemade garden compost and have watered with a tomato feed as well so it seems unlikely it wasn't rich enough at least in the short term (its only been there a couple of months). The grit was admittedly some that I have had lying around and was originally scraped off a garden gravel area so who knows whats in that....

What soil would you fill such a planter with?

and do you think something else might fare better ?