Passionfruit

Everyone can Grow a Passionfruit .....


Passionfruit vines are known for their tendrils, which are little curly spring-like things that attach themselves to wire and really grip on like a python. That’s how they climb. Often what happens with a passionfruit vine is there is green growth on the outside, where the tendrils have attached themselves, and they have woody material in the centre. In late winter and early spring it’s time for a clean up. You don't have to prune hard every year. But in early spring take off about 30 centimetres - that’s ideal.




Varieties
There are many different varieties of passionfruit. Some to look out for include:The grafted Panama Gold - which has big fruit and its skin is a golden yellow colour. The Panama Red – which is red skinned, has rather large fruit, and is also grafted. Both are good to grow in the tropics. But for southern Australia, the grafted Nelly Kelly black passionfruit is the best choice.

Growing
A great spot for a passionfruit vine is one that’s out in the open, has full sun and no trees or competitive roots. Grow it on a structure like a strong trellis or up and over on a pergola. In the olden days every passionfruit vine was planted on top of a lamb or sheep's liver, ox heart, or some other piece of offal, to provide iron. Stick it at the bottom of the hole, cover it up a little bit, and then plant the passionfruit as normal.If you don't want to use a lamb's liver, or offal, you could use pelletised chook manure. And scatter that about a metre around the root system. Do this about twice a year. Remember that passionfruit vines are also hungry and thirsty and love a well-drained soil. It’s also a good idea to put some mulch around the root system, to protect it from the hot sun. In its first year the little vine will tendril its way across the wires. Just nip out the top little bud and it will shoot out laterally. This means you'll get lots of side shoots, and expect fruit in about 18 months.Given plenty of food, well-drained soil and lots of water, you will end up with a great passionfruit vine.



And, a little tip - when you see the fruit developing, get your little child to get a nail and scratch their name into the fruit and you end up with your own branded passionfruit.



Problems
Why do my vines flower but don't set fruit?
There are several reasons for vines flowering but not setting fruit.
Poor pollination. This is the main cause and can be due to bees not working the flowers (for example during heavy rain); temperatures being too low or too high for pollination (optimum temperatures for pollen germination are between 20°C and 35°C); or rain directly reducing the viability of the pollen (moisture causes the pollen grains to split).
Boron deficiency.
Extended periods of overcast weather. This may cause flower drop regardless of pollination problems.

Why are fruit dropping off my vine?
There are three possible reasons for fruit dropping off vines:
irregular watering in which the vines at times get insufficient water
fungal diseases
fruit fly and severe mite damage, particularly with young fruit.

Why are my leaves going yellow?
The most common cause of leaves going yellow is passionfruit woodiness virus. Other possible causes are:
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.

What are these spots on my fruit and leaves?
Spots on fruit and leaves are usually caused by fungal diseases. The most likely causes are:
Alternata spot
Brown spot
Septoria spot.

Why are my fruit bumpy or malformed?
There are several causes of bumpy or malformed fruit. Here are the main ones.
Passionfruit woodiness virus. This is the most likely cause, particularly if your vines are not growing well and there are mottled yellow leaves present.
Boron deficiency.
Insect damage, particularly fruit fly.

Why are my fruit shrivelled?
There are several possible causes of shrivelled, poorly developed fruit. The main ones are:
fruit fly damage
sucking bug damage
poor pollination
boron deficiency
insufficient irrigation when a heavy crop is set.

Why are my vines dying?
There are three possible causes of vines dying.
Phytophthora blight, which shows first on the new growth, particularly after prolonged wet weather.
Fusarium wilt. This is most likely if resistant rootstocks were not used. It normally causes rapid (within one or two days) wilting of the entire plant, especially in very hot weather.
Base rot - a dry corky collar rot at ground level.

Why are my vines growing poorly?
The most likely cause of vines growing poorly is passionfruit woodiness virus. The disease is generally present at some level in most vines. When vines are growing vigorously, symptoms are not normally evident, but when vines are under any sort of stress (for example, cold weather, lack of water, lack of nutrients), the disease becomes evident and slows growth. Affected leaves are yellow and mottled and affected fruit bumpy and malformed.