Passion fruit

Passion fruit: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Vigorous climber with tendrils; 3–5 m long in a pot or greenhouse.

Leaves

Glossy dark green, 8–15 cm, usually deeply three-lobed with a toothed edge.

Flower

5–7 cm across, white petals with a ring of purple and white filaments; each flower is open for only one day.

Fruit

Round to egg-shaped, 5–8 cm, purple when ripe. Inside are seeds wrapped in a juicy, fragrant yellow coating: that is what you eat.

Tendrils

Long, corkscrew tendrils with which it grips wire or mesh.

Flowering: June–September · Harvest and fruit: September–November · Sowing: February–March · Plants: May–June · Pruning: March

Why grow it?

• Spectacular flowers from June to September, each with an intricate ring of filaments.
• Your own passion fruit, with sweet-sour, fragrant pulp.
• A fast grower that covers a trellis or greenhouse wall in a single season.
• Bees and bumblebees visit the flowers.
• Glossy evergreen leaves, even while it overwinters indoors.

Passion fruit: where does it grow best?

• Full sun and warmth: in a greenhouse or the warmest, most sheltered spot on the patio.
• Free-draining sandy or loamy soil or good potting compost, acid to neutral.
• Normally moist: regular watering while growing, never waterlogged.
• A sturdy trellis, wires or mesh to climb.
• In a pot of at least 30–40 litres; planted in greenhouse soil it lasts longest.

Light

Sun

Soil type

Sand or loam

Acidity

Acid or neutral

Moisture

Normal

Size

4 m tall, 2 m wide

Hardiness

Frost tender: overwinter indoors (above 2 °C)

Goes well with

• Cape gooseberry: Another heat-loving fruiting plant for the greenhouse or patio.
• Tomato: The same warm greenhouse, the same potassium-rich feed.
• Lemon: A container plant that also overwinters light and cool.
• Basil: A fragrant herb in a pot at its feet.

Passion fruit: when and how to plant it?

Plant in May–June.

1. Put it in the greenhouse or outdoors in May or June, once frosts are over and nights are mild.
2. Choose a large pot with a drainage hole and fill it with potting compost mixed with some garden compost and sand.
3. In a greenhouse: dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball and mix in compost.
4. Set the plant at the same depth as in its old pot and guide the shoots towards the trellis or wires straight away.
5. Water in at once, then keep the compost evenly moist.
6. Add a thin layer of mulch on the pot or around the base to reduce drying out.

Care

Water

Regularly in summer, sometimes daily in a pot. Much less in winter: the compost can then be almost dry.

Feeding

From May to September, every two weeks, a potassium-rich liquid feed such as tomato feed. Too much nitrogen gives lots of leaves and few flowers.

Support

Guide new shoots along the trellis regularly; after that they grip on by themselves.

Pollination

In a greenhouse it helps to move pollen from flower to flower with a small brush around midday.

Repotting

In March–April, when the pot is full of roots. A slightly snug pot encourages flowering.

Tip: Leave the fruits on the plant until they wrinkle and drop on their own: that is when they are sweetest. Cut them in half and spoon out the pulp and seeds.

Passion fruit: when to prune it?

Pruning months: March.

When: In March, before new growth starts. In summer you can thin it a little if it gets too dense.

How:

• Keep a few strong main stems along the trellis.
• Cut last year’s side shoots back to two or three buds: it flowers on new shoots.
• Remove dead, weak and tangled shoots to let in light and air.
• In summer, shorten over-long shoots that have nowhere left to go.

Caution: Never prune just before or while the fruits are ripening: they hang on those shoots.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

In February–March indoors. Clean the seeds from a ripe fruit, soak them overnight and sow 0.5 cm deep at 20–25 °C. They germinate in two to four weeks, sometimes more slowly.

Semi-ripe cuttings

In June–July, take 10–15 cm cuttings with two or three leaves, in moist cutting compost under plastic at 20–25 °C. Roots form within a few weeks.

Passion fruit: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to 2 °C: protect in harsh winters.

• Not hardy: at around 2 °C it already suffers damage. Bring it in in October, before the first night frost.
• Overwinter it light and frost-free, ideally at 8–15 °C, in a greenhouse, conservatory or bright room.
• In winter give little water and no feed; some leaf drop is normal then.
• Only put it outside again after mid-May, once nights are warm enough.

Diseases and pests

• No fruit: Too cool, too little sun or no pollination. Choose the warmest spot and pollinate with a brush.
• Red spider mite: Speckled, dull leaves with fine webbing in a hot, dry greenhouse. Spray the leaves and raise the humidity.
• Whitefly and mealybug: Tiny white flies or white fluff and sticky leaves. Hang yellow sticky traps and wipe mealybugs off with soapy water.
• Root rot: Limp, yellow leaves while the compost is wet: too much water, especially in winter. Water less and use a free-draining pot.

Through the year

• January: Light and frost-free indoors. Little water.
• February: Sow indoors.
• March: Prune. Sow. Repot.
• April: Water more. Tie in shoots.
• May: After mid-May, move outside or plant in the greenhouse. Start feeding.
• June: In flower. Pollinate with a brush. Plant.
• July: In flower. Feed every two weeks. Take cuttings.
• August: In flower. Fruits are growing.
• September: Fruits ripening. Last feed.
• October: Gather ripe fallen fruits. Bring in before frost.
• November: Light and cool indoors. Less water.
• December: Light and frost-free indoors.

Edible and useful

Fruit (September–November)

Here, passion fruits only ripen in a greenhouse, or on a plant in a large pot that spends the summer on a warm, sheltered patio; in a pot there are seldom many. They need two to three months after flowering. They are ripe when they are fully purple and drop of their own accord or come away at a light touch; gather them every day. Then leave them for a few more days at room temperature until the skin wrinkles: that is when they are sweetest. Cut them in half and spoon out the fragrant yellow pulp with its black seeds. You can eat the seeds, or sieve them out for juice, curd or a sauce. The skin is not eaten.

Storing

Ripe, wrinkled fruits keep for a week at room temperature and up to two weeks in the fridge. The pulp can be frozen, seeds and all, in an ice-cube tray for up to 6 months: handy for yoghurt, sauces and drinks.

Caution: Only eat ripe fruit: purple and preferably wrinkled. Unripe green fruits and the leaves contain substances that can release hydrogen cyanide: do not eat them. Do not confuse passion fruit with the hardy blue passion flower (Passiflora caerulea): its orange fruits are bland and barely edible, and these recipes are not meant for them. The plant is not hardy: overwinter it in a light, frost-free place at 8–15 °C. Do not eat fruits that were already on a newly bought plant: ornamental plants are sometimes treated with products not approved for food.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Passion fruit curd (Other · ± 250 ml · 30 min)
• Passion fruit panna cotta (Dish · 4 people · 20 min + 4 hrs setting)

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Did you know?

• The name passion flower comes from Spanish missionaries, who saw in the flower symbols of the Passion of Christ, such as the crown of thorns in the ring of filaments.
• What you eat are the seeds with their juicy, fragrant coating; the skin is not eaten.
• The yellow-fruited form gives larger, sharper-tasting fruits and grows mainly in warmer, tropical regions.