How to Grow Krishna Kamal Plant in India

There’s a reason why the Passionflower is so much popular in India thanks to its religious significance! Learn How to Grow Krishna Kamal Plant easily at home!

What is Krishna Kamal Plant

The scientific name of the Krishna kamal plant is Passiflora incarnata. Commonly called Purple Passionflower, it is a rapidly growing, perennial climbing vine with beautiful, white flowers and purple, pink, or blue-colored crowns. The flowers have a very complex structure, with five sepals having blue filaments surrounding the five yellow-green stamens and purple stigmas. Want to have these beautiful flowers at your home? Let’s see How to Grow Krishna Kamal Plant in India!

Religious Significance of Krishna Kamal Flower

Krishna Kamal holds significant importance in both Christianity and Hinduism. In Christianity, the passionflower symbolizes the suffering of Christ when he was crucified, as the corona of the flower looks similar to the crown of thorn worn by Christ. While in Hinduism, every part of the flower symbolizes something. The blue filaments represent a hundred sons of Dhritrashtra (Kauravas); five yellow petals depict the Pandavas. While three threads at the center represent the holy trinity of Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh. The yellow stamens of the center portray Sudarshan chakra that belongs to Krishna in reference to the epic Mahabharata.

How to Grow Krishna Kamal Plant

Although the plant is a native to southeast America, these flowers have been naturalized in India.  These tendril bearing vines are usually grown for their exquisite cut flowers. They are a popular choice for growing in gardens and balconies, both. If you are wondering how to grow Krishna kamal plant at home, you need not worry; here are all the requirements for growing this plant!

Temperature

The flowers are native to the subtropical climate. They widely grow in India and require temperature ranging between 15-25°C to prosper well.

Sunlight

The plants love the sun and need at least 4-5 hours of daylight every day. Keep them in the shade when summers get too hot, as they can not do well in high temperatures. So, it is better to keep the plant in a spot where it gets sunlight only in the first half of the day. If you’re growing them in a pot, it is going to be very easy for you to locate according to the light.

Soil

Well-draining, sandy soil is ideal for growing these plants. Mulching them with a dense layer of organic compost can do wonders for their growth!

Watering

When watering the plants, make sure to water them thoroughly. When growing in pots, pour until it starts to run out of the base of your container. Do remember that the plants don’t handle drought well, so water them twice a week.

Propagation

There are many ways to transplant the Krishna kamal plant. You can propagate it through seeds, cuttings, or by the process of layering. Although it is always better to get plants from a nursery. If you wish to grow the plant from seeds, take the mature seeds from the plant and let them dry. For best results, sow in the spring season, after soaking them in water for some days.

However, if you want to grow the plant through cuttings, you can take multiple cuttings that are 6 inches in length from a mature plant. Put them in pots after dipping them in rooting hormone.  You can also grow these plants by layering. All you have to do is take a stem from the plant and remove all the leaves and plant it into a pot.

Krishna Kamal Plant Care

Pruning

These plants are quite low maintenance and don’t require you to deadhead them in the growing season. However, removing it is going to make the plant fuller. Late winter is the best time to prune as it is going to preserve the flowers and improve the overall growth!

Fertilizer

Using a balanced, general-purpose fertilizer, once in 6-7 weeks, is best for Krishna Kamal plant.  Alternatively, you can also use cow dung manure (Gobar ki Khaad).

Patience

Patience is the key when it comes to growing Krishna kamal plants. The seeds of the plant contain certain chemicals that slow down the germination process, and it can take up to a year to grow. Many tricks are tried and tested to fasten the germination in the plants, of which only a few are successful.

Krishna Kamal Benefits & Uses

Here are some proven benefits of Krishna Kamal Plant:

• Consuming the flowers or Krishna Kamal herbal tea helps in calming the mind and reducing anxiety and insomnia.
• Extract prepared by boiling the Krishna Kamal leaves is useful in lifting up the mood and treat stomach problems.