passionfruit

Eve says...
allan I have, for the first time this year, succesfully raised banana passionfruit from seed in Canberra. The banana passionfruit are supposed to cope with the cold better than other varities and they can be perennial if you have them in a frost protected spot.

I will find out later on I suppose if this is the case.

allan says...
Eve is the bannana variety of the passion fruit - sweet ??

allan says...
Thanks Judy, I will definitely plant a bannana variety. On another website, someone stated that her bananna variety was tasteless but it grew out of the root stock. (in South Australia) I was told by daleys that the sweet granadilla will not survive the Melbourne winter. I am hopeful with the bananna variety as it survived in the Canberra - ACT. Daleys recommend that I plant a black variety but i suspect the black variety are all sour. Thanks again.

Adam says...
In Melbourne the red (dark pink) flowered banana passionfruit grows like a weed (saw one plant covering three backyard fences on the weekend). I find the fruit insipid, but maybe it is a question of what you are use to (I also don't think much of the larger panama type).

allan says...
I will not try the granadilla then as if it struggles in Qld. I really got zero chance in Melb. The passion fruit vines grow wild in Singapore and Malaysia, the soft skinned yellow variety are just so flavoursome, aromatic and sweet. So different from the dark skinned Nelly Kelly. I wonder if the black variety sold by Daleys is the same ? i.e. just as sour and sappy. Thanks to all.

allan says...
Thanks Adam, maybe it is because i have not tried it really shrivelled up. They are difficult to cut open when shrivelled up and the skin has dried up. The tropical ones tasted so different. All the nurseries in Melb. only have the nelly kelly variety. They are unable or unwilling to bring in other varieties. I enquired and their wholesalers only have the nelly kelly. Thanks.

peter says...
allan,
which soft skinned yellow variety are you refering too.

peter says...
so i take it that they are not available in australia.

Louise says...
Hi, Did you finally get the sweet variety of passion fruit? If yes, where did you get?

amanda says...
Unless u live in a winter warm, summer hot climate etc..your passionfruit will ALWAYS be tangy..verging on sour.

Sorry - but it's true. Simple solution: just add some of that new low-GI sugar and it's all great.

Otherwise provide the right microclimate eg: a heat retaining wall, facing north, north west etc, for them (eg: brick,masonary etc).

I live in a climate a fair bit warmer than Melb - dry sub-tropics.. and I still have to provide the right micro-climate..so u have buckelys in Melb without it.. IMO. It's great to try - but u also have to be realistic about your environment... :)

culebra says...
Get a banana passionfruit Passiflora mollissima. they love the victorian climate IME and will grow very rampantly. also good for covering up a fence etc.
flowers are very ornamental like all Passiflora spp. The taste of the fruit is alright and i prefer to it to the nelly kelly types (of which i have only tasted victoria-grown selections which have all been sour). make sure you eat fully ripe fruit (very soft, yellow, darkish flesh) or they can be insipid. also the seeds are rock hard and can be annoying. eat them outside and spit the seeds out and do some propagating ;) they self-seed readily. Interestingly these plants and even the ripe fruit are seemingly untroubled by birds, possums et al. caterpillars can really defoliate the vines at times though IME.

The banana passionfruit is considered by some authorities to be a weed yet ironically can be surprisingly difficult to acquire and i seem to see few of them in gardens here in Melb. even moreso i hardly ever see them growing wild in Vic. In some areas of Tas i've seen them take over some remnant native bushland but only in disturbed areas near sites of human habitation.

I also see Passiflora caerulea-- Blue passion flower occasionally in Vic (at least i think that's what it is).
i think its also used as a rootstock for the commercial varieties, but im not sure. i have not tasted the fruit of this one (which is orange) but internet reports range from 'disguisting' to 'slightly less flavoursome than P.edulis'.
this one grows just impossibly quickly you can't believe it. it also likes cooler climates i believe.

Jantina says...
My sister has Passiflora caerula (which I think is also known as Maypop growing in Holland and it certainly is hardy hers has survived a lot of frost and even snow also it's at least 20 years old and still healthy. She says the fruit is delicious. If it's already in Oz I would love to lay my hands on some seed. Does anyone know where I can get some?

Jantina says...
Thanks culebra will check that out.

peter says...
was the pulp a bright red colour.

loza says...
I have recently bought a ned kelly passionfruit to climb along my chook fence.But I am uncertain how well it can tolerate frost,as up hear in winter it can sometimes snow.

Lyndall says...
Hi there, I need some help!

My passionfruit has flowerd for the first time there are millions of flower buds.

But the flowers seem to open fine but then die and drop off? I am unsure if that is right but it dosnt seem to be fruiting?

Whats going on, it seems super healthy!

Lyndall

Lyndall says...
great thanx for that, yeh for some reason no bees?? Very strange. I did attempt to self pollinate today, so we'll see how that goes!

Lofty says...
My mom grew Passionfruit (Nelly Kelly) in Buchan (vic) when I was a kid. We had -8 degree winters. She looked after them though....covered them with hession and fed them with lots of cow and sheep manure.Trying to grow them in Jindabyne. Will see how they look after winter.

ringelstrumpf says...
I bought an ungrafted passionfruit in our nursery last year and it did not survive the winter in the Upper Mountains. Maybe I should try a banana passionfruit.
Do birds go after them?

Julie says...
Linton, nurseries sell all kinds of plants that are unsuitable for the local climate. Their reaoning is that shoppers come from all over, not just nearby.
But we have all been caught when we were new growers and didn't know any better!

amanda says...
I agree Julie..it's crazy. And just because Bunno's or such sells the plant - it doesn't give it or the variety a 'stamp of approval' at all. Very frustrating - but a case of buyer beware perhaps?

Cin says...
Hi,

Could I possibly get some tips on helping out this passionfruit vine that is on the property we have recently purchased.

It is very yellow at the top. Should I give it a feed and prune it back?

Thanks

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Linton says...
Markisa - Indonesian Passionfruit

Apparently there are two types of Markisa in Indonesia - the white flesh and the yellow flesh. It is only the white type that is eaten as a fruit.

joe says...
We have been growing Sweet Granadilla (P Ligularis) here well. We are sub tropical here and at a altitude of over 3000ft and are subjected to light to moderate frosts, of which the plants have had no problems with so far. Pollination was a problem at the start, but eventually the bees discovered how to tackle the flowers and haven't had a problem since.I was recently in contact with a Lady in Auckland (NZ) who sent me pictures of her fruiting Sweet Granadilla looking and growing nicely.

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Shirlea says...
I have a ned Kelly passion fruit about 2 yrs old loads and loads flowers no fruit what can I do thanks Shirlee

Linton says...
Sweet Granadilla will be coming out - anyone want?

The Sweet Granadilla has been growing wildly with heaps of flowers for the last 2 seasons but no fruit ever came.

Now it's making a lot of new shoots all over the ground - not sure if they're spreading from underground or above where the vines touch the ground but it's like a rampant weed.

In view of these 2 problems I've decided to remove it.

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