Growing Passionfruit Followup

After having 13 comments, many of them questions, on the post How To Grow Passionfruit, I thought I would follow up with some answers.

When is the passionfruit ready for
picking? Do I wait until it turns from green to purple and wrinkled, or
do I pick it green? thank you

The
fruit will quickly turn from green to deep purple (or yellow) when ripe
and then fall to the ground within a few days. They can either be
picked when they change color or gathered from the ground each day. To
store passion fruit, wash and dry them gently and place them in bags.
They should last 2 to 3 weeks. The fruit is sweetest when slightly
shriveled. Both the fruit and the juice freeze well

Can I grow a Yellow Passion fruit from the fruit seeds that I will bring
from Peru? and I wonder if the rainy weather of Washington State would
help or not?

I wouldn’t be bringing in seeds from another country as they could contain
deseases that could cause the local passionfruit vines to die.

Growing Passionfruit from seed can be done. but is not the best way
to go. If you have a hybrid variety it will not grow the hybird variety
from the seed, also if you do not live in a true tropical area your
root stock will not be resistant to Fusarium wilt. Grafted plants
generaly will not get Fusarium wilt.

I might give this a try this year. I’ve been going big on growing my own
food for about a year now and this year am also adding blackcurrents
and mushrooms to the produce I already grow at home. I figure that my
garden is closer than the supermarket so I’m saving time as well as
money and getting better food.

I am living in South Africa in the Northern Cape (Kalahari) which is semi
arid. We have very hot summers and cold winters with frost. Will they
grow in our region and how can I protect them in winter?

How often must they be watered in summer and during winter?

Passionfruit love hot summers as long as they have plenty of water, but they do not like frosty conditions. Maybe you could create a protective cover for you vine over the winter months

Passionfruit love lots of water in both summer and winter, and since they are such gross feeders they love lots of nutrients as well.

Hi I have grown a magnificent 6 m trellissed granadilla.It bares large
flowers and then drops the flowers one by one never reaching the fruit
stage. The plant is now 6 years old and to date has never given a
single fruit.

Is there a solution to this problem or is this just a rogue plant that looks fabulous.

Kevin

Kevin, I think that it may be a potassium deficiency. Purchase a packet of Sulphate of Potash and mix it up at double the rate on the packet. Pour it allover the root zone and water in well. Then mix up a half strength batch and pout it on the leaves with a watering can. Potassium is the nutrient that encourages strong flowering and fruiting, while nitrogen is used to produce lots of leaves. You can use Potash on any of your plants to improve the growth of their flowers.

I heard it is possible to grow passion fruit in Chicago–is that strictly
inside or….Also loved the “banana” passionfruit I ate in New Zealand as
a child-any news on obtaining those plants?

Hi, I’m not from America so I am not very familiar with the climate. In short passionfruit do not like frost or snow. So if it snows in Chicago then you may need to grow your vine indoors if there is plenty of light provided.

i have a case of passion woodiness how is it controlled

• magnesium deficiency

• nitrogen deficiency on sandy soils
• ‘winter yellows’. This is brought on by cold weather, windy conditions, low humidity or a combination of these.

I have had a passionfruit vine growing over my clothes hoist in the
backyard for many years, it is an unusual passionfruit that was given
to me, on the top of the passionfruit there is a stub that is attached
to the passionfruit and it has quite a soft outer casing.

It could be either the Alata or a Granadilla I am not too sure but the
problem is that it does not get any passionfruits on it, it gets the
flowers and then they drop off without going to fruit.

Do you know what can be wrong with the passionfruit vine.

The passionfruit is even more than the Panama Passionfruts

Regards

Sandy

Sandy, Maybe you have a boron and Potassium deficiency. Add some Sulphate of Potash to your plant as well as some Borax. Be careful with the borax, one teaspoon in 10 litres of water is plenty for a start. You can add two good sized handfuls of Sulphate of Potash to the soil around your vine and water in well.

hi, i live in fresno, california is it possible to grow passion fruit as
its very hot and very cold climate. also, does anyone know where i can
buy a passion fruit tree? thanks much

Tags: passionfruit, fruit, gardening