I have a Passiflora caerulea growing in a pot on my patio. It's grown like crazy since I bought it in April, but it hasn't bloomed yet this year. A couple of times I've noticed what appeared to be flower buds, only for them to be eaten the next day! I haven't caught the culprit and was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what's going on. Thanks!

Were the buds eaten or did they fall off maybe?
Lots of foliage and no blooms *can* mean maybe the plant might be getting too much fertilizer.

They looked eaten, I think. And I only fertilized it once this year, back in May, so I don't think it's that.

Do you see any "slime trails" on leaves?? Slugs get to the buds on some of my plants...I know it's slugs because of the trail.

Passiflora is a host plant for some Butterfly Caterpillars too ... P. incarnata at my next door neighbor's house was a really huge plant and it's been almost totally eaten by the Gulf Fritillary Caterpillars ... a good thing in my opinion!

Here's some info regarding P. caerulea; at the bottom it tells of the butterflies it's a host plant for: http://www.floridata.com/ref/p...

And, if you have any photo's of your plant, I hope you will consider adding a few to our database: Blue Passion Flower (Passiflora caerulea)

plantladylin said:Passiflora is a host plant for some Butterfly Caterpillars too ... P. incarnata at my next door neighbor's house was a really huge plant and it's been almost totally eaten by the Gulf Fritillary Caterpillars ... a good thing in my opinion!

They do come up everywhere!!! I planted one last year, specifically for the GF cats…They do devour it, but I've been surprised at how far away from the original plant that I find them. Good thing that they can be pulled up easily as well!

LOL, I just re-read Cherokeealex's post again ... slower this time. I have such a bad habit of reading too fast ... anyhow, I see her plant is having the flower buds eaten not the leaves (which the caterpillars would devour) ... wonder if it's army worms or some other sort of worms that eat the buds at night?

This talks about the Passion Vine Bugs that eat the flowers and fruit: http://prsvkm.tripod.com/Docs/...

Thank you for the info; I'll look through it and go over my plant again and see if I can figure out what's going on!

If it's some sort of worm/slug it's probably hiding in the soil and emerges at night. I hate those kinds of bugs!!

If it's on your patio, it's in a pot, right?

If you have some chicken wire and don't mind "ugly", you could make a cage to rule out critters. "Buds" sound like deer or some other critter that has so much to eat that it only takes its favorite foods.

I don't think slugs can swim, so you might set the pot into a plastic bag (so it doesn't flood from the bottom up), then set the pot and bag into a large, shallow saucer or tray. Flood the tray deep enough to drown a slug. 3/4"? 1"?

Or just park some beer saucers around the patio - if you can trap some, they are probably eating something!

If it can get past both saucer and chicken wire, it either swims or flies (or hides in the soil of the pot).

Maybe some sticky paper like flytrap paper? More as a way to ID the culprit, than hoping to depopulate the whole neighborhood.

I do have chicken wire around the whole deck where all my pots are-I had raccoons that needed deterring earlier in the year. I think I will try some beer saucers and see if I catch anything.

I've read about people who bought "trail cameras" that capture video as long as there is motion in their field of view. But I suspect that flying insects and caterpillars would be too small. Slugs would probably be too small.

There are some You-Tube videos of people who really don't like slugs wiring 9 volt batteries to thin wires running around table legs or bed borders to deter slugs from climbing up into their plants. I'm not sure it's practical, but it it is fun to watch! And slugs are not usually known as scintillating entertainers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... (Slug / snail flinches)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... (How-To)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... (Slug leaps for freedom)