Growing Passion Fruit Vine Cuttings And Seeds

Passion Fruit – How to Grow A Passionfruit Vine From Scratch

The Passionfruit is a climbing vine and can climb up to 20 feet in a year. It is an evergreen vigorous grower that has attractive purple flowers and doesn’t take much looking after. Australians most popular grown variety of passionfruit is the Nellie Kelly. This variety puts up with cold climates and is great to be used on a trellis along fences or anywhere it clings to secure its curly tendrils for support. Never worry the passionfruit vine roots are not invasive. In years gone by the passionfruit vine was traditionally grown in Australia and let scramble over the backyard dunny also known as the outhouse out in the open. It can grow sky high as it bears purple coloured fruits that fall from the vines when they have wrinkled and ripened. The leaves of the passion fruit vine are leathery and green in colour. They cover the entire plant to offer good scenery. The purple flower has a sweet smell and the fruit will smoothly transition from the green to the juicy purple colour.

Passionfruit Used in Baking

I use the pulp of the passion fruit in and on many recipes. The tropical taste of the golden yellow pulp and dark seeds provides decoration on my homemade pavlovas, cheesecakes, cakes and slices. I also love to scoop the pulp right out of its waxy rind with a teaspoon and eat it.

Passionfruit Growing Conditions in Australia

Bear in mind Passionfruit needs to be grown in areas where it gets full sun or partial sun and will thrive best with regular watering. It will not grow and bear fruits when placed in fully shaded areas. It will bear fruits from 2 to 3 years of planting as it has a faster growth rate. All it needs is a spacing of 9 to 13 feet.

How to Grow Passion Fruit from Seed

Buy ripe passion fruit from the store and collect 6 to 7 of its seeds. Rub them so that the juice sacs get opened. Wash the seeds and allow them to dry for 4 to 5 days. After this, again wash them and dry them in the shade. Planting these fresh seeds will help in faster germination.

• Start planting the seeds in a separate container at first. Add compost, coarse sand, and the topsoil to the pot.
• Dig small holes in the soil about 2 inches apart and place the seeds in these holes. Cover the seeds with a thin soil mixture and then water the soil.
• The seedlings will germinate about 20 to 25 days and when they grow to a height of 8 to 10 inches, they can be moved to a permanent location in your garden.

Growing Passion Fruit from Cuttings in Spring

• In a pot, add the necessary compost, sand, and topsoil to prepare the soil bed. The soil must not be one that will hold on to a lot of moisture.
• Take a passion fruit stem cutting for the plant. Make sure that it is mature and a healthy cutting. Cut the stem cutting below the lowest bud to three nodes high. Using a newer stem of the garden vine will ensure faster plant development.
• Plant it in the soil-filled pot and make sure that the bottom most leaves are all removed and the very top leaves are cut in half.
• Ensure that the cutting is placed in an area where it gets good humid conditions. Keeping it in a greenhouse is a very good idea.
• The cuttings will form new roots after several weeks. You will have to now transplant the cuttings to the permanent area.
• As it needs some space to grow and spread, it is better off to transplant them in places where they can easily climb like in a wire fence area or the balcony.
• They must be transplanted in a hole that is twice as big as the width of the plant.

It is very important to feed the passion fruit plants regularly as they are good eaters. They need to be fed with a good amount of water and rotted chicken manure or citrus fertilisation during the growing stages. Prune the plants during spring every second year to control and remove overgrowth. Encourage bees into your garden to pollinate the flowers if you are not getting enough passionfruit on your vine.