Question from Erika:

We have a passion fruit vine that we are growing on our balcony in a pot. We got it early last Spring (started at 3 feet), and it grew great (>20 feet) and had many flowers and about a dozen fruit. So great success for the first year, but it has not grown at all since the last flower late last summer. I know it will be dormant in the winter, but I have since been feeding it nitrogen fertilizer and it has literally not grown an inch. We did not cut it back, but did transplant it to a bigger pot. Any thoughts on what is wrong with it?

Answer from Pat:

Passion fruit vines are not long lived anyway, but anyway it sounds to me as if yours died during transplanting. Some plants can be transplanted in winter but these do not include tropical plants. Tropical plants should only be planted or transplanted in summer, not winter. And in any case I doubt that your passion fruit vine could have withstood transplanting at any time of year. Once established many kinds of vines cannot be transplanted and this includes passion fruit.

Since you had such luck with with your passion fruit vine the first time and enjoyed it so much, why not plant another of the same variety? This time plant it in the larger container in the beginning so you never have to transplant it.

Nitrogen fertilizer is for top growth but is not the best thing to feed plants with when transplanting since it can burn roots. Phosphorus and potassium support growth of roots and flowers, phosphorus especially for roots, potassium especially supports flowers and general all-over plant health. A good transplant fluid is humic acid.

Use humic acid to prevent transplant shock and to stimulate roots to proliferate and grow when transplanting. (Vit B1, though sold as a transplant fluid, is actually a gyp. It has no effect whatsovever.)