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Passion flower pot scorched

nicholas218nicholas218 Posts: 24
in Problem solving
I have had a passion flower vine in a pot for a couple of years and this year it was covered in flower buds and looking great.

I was away last week and gave it a drench before setting off. It's in full sun so got completely scorched during the heat wave. I gave it another drench when I got back but didn't want the pot to be waterlogged and do more damage so its fairly free draining. The compost is slightly damp now 

48 hours later no signs of recovery at all so it might be a fatal casualty unfortunately.

Any suggestion on lifesaving action welcome please.

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    How big is the pot and what sort of potting compost is it in?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • nicholas218nicholas218 Posts: 24
    edited July 2021
    Thanks for looking.

    Its a foot tall and 15" diameter. Would a picture help?


    The Pot was filled with all purpose compost and I replenish it each year as best I can usually with my own compost. I tend to feed it once a week on the Sunday Soak with miracle grow.
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    The pot is too small for a passion flower of that size.  Can you lift any of those slabs and plant it in the ground?  It might sound drastic, but to save the plant I would cut it back completely, give it a really good soak then stand back.  If it recovers, either plant it in the ground or in a pot at least twice the diameter.
    You can't really over-water them unless the drainage holes in the pot are blocked.  RHS advice here:

    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited July 2021
    Ok.  It needs a much bigger pot ... at least three times that size ... it takes a lot of root to support that much top growth. 

     And I'm afraid that, despite it's name, multi-purpose or all-purpose compost just isn't suitable for long term planting ... it's great for tubs of annual bedding plants or growing on small veg before planting out ... but shrubs and climbers etc need a loam based growing medium ... I would use John Innes No 3 loam based compost with a few handfuls of multi-purpose.  

    If you can sort those two things out your climber will have more resilience and cope much better with variations in 'weather'  :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • nicholas218nicholas218 Posts: 24
    Thanks a lot for the advice folks. Couple of additional questions if I may?

    I'll go shopping for a bigger pot  and appropriate compost then next week. I'm not keen on digging up the paving slabs. 

    In the meantime I'll cut it right back. when you say "back completely" do you mean so no growth is showing above the compost or do I leave a bit of stem please?

    How long would I expect to wait to see if the treatment has been successful and new growth appears? Days? Weeks? Months? Next Spring? If it doesn't make it what would suggest as resilient climber here? This the 2nd climber I've had here- the original was a clematis that didn't enjoy the fact the pot and roots get pretty hot as it's South facing in full sun. 
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    @nicholas218 Sorry, missed your reply.  The main thing is to remove most of the growth on the wall (which it's current roots can't support) so I would leave between 30 and 60cm.   I would expect it to produce new growth quite quickly after a good soaking - within a month.  If it doesn't, it's worth giving it a chance until late next Spring - if nothing by then, it's probably a goner.  Obviously, it's not worth re-potting it unless new growth shows.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • nicholas218nicholas218 Posts: 24
    Great. Thank you very much. 
  • nicholas218nicholas218 Posts: 24
    Old thread for context :).

    After following the advice here about a bigger pot which is  about 3 times the size of the one in the original photo. This passion flower was triumphant last year loads of blooms and fruits, all thanks to good watering and feeding despite the drought.

    Unfortunately it isn't showing any sign of life at all this year. The base of the plant is spongey and the bark rubs off easily. I'm guessing that having overcome the drought it couldn't deal with the intense cold period we had in January and I have lost it. 

    I thought about replacing it with another passion flower or even a clematis. Could I plant 2 varieties in the larger pot I have now? or is that a terrible idea. Also would welcome some other suggestions for a pot plant that flowers every year.
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