[Arid_gardener] Re: Passion fruit

[Carolyn Hills]

Fred - 

 

Passionflower vines grow well here in the low desert, as long as they are
protected from frost in winter. I have tried to grow them in my home garden
in Phoenix, but my house is in a frost zone, so I lost them each of the last
three winters. There are some great examples in our demonstration garden at
the Maricopa County Cooperative Extension (4341 E. Broadway, Phoenix). They
are located just off of the southwest corner of the parking lot, climbing on
a metal arch in the herb garden that surrounds the vegetable garden. You can
visit the extension office at any time. One of the passionflower vines
climbing on that arch has been there for many years, and we planted a couple
of new varieties just last March. They are planted in full sun in rich,
loose soil, and get plenty of water from a drip irrigation system.

 

Passionflower vines produce underground stems (rhizomes) just like bermuda
grass, so if you plant in a nice rich bed with plenty of water, be prepared
for the vine to take over the bed. If you want to control the rhizomes, cut
the bottom off of a 15- to 20-gallon pot, plant the pot, and plant the vine
inside of the pot with plenty of rich soil. As passionflower vines are
tropical, they will thrive if you give them a dose of nitrogen fertilizer a
couple of times per year. 

 

Passionflower vines are the host plant for the Gulf Fritillary butterfly. In
the fall, the female butterflies lay their eggs on the vines, and then you
will see lots of ugly, hairy caterpillars gobbling your plants. Check out
http://www.sasionline.org/fritillary/fritillary.html for a fantastic set of
photos and description of the Gulf Fritillary lifecycle written by a Tucson
enthusiast. Once the plant is well established (after one or two years), you
can let the caterpillars eat all they want, as the root/rhizome system will
put out lots of new growth after it warms up in spring. Until then, pluck
off as many of the caterpillars as you can to keep the plant healthy. The
plant goes dormant in the winter anyway, so no problem to support the
caterpillars after the plant is established, and you will be able to watch
the new butterflies emerge!

 

If you're not interested in supporting the Gulf Fritillary population,
Monrovia makes a variety of passionflower (Passiflora vitifolia) that is
extremely resistant to them (see
http://www.monrovia.com/plantinf.nsf/0/922A68738092FACD8825684D0071F9B6).
Before my vines got clobbered by the January frosts, I noted that, while my
other passionflower vines were covered in caterpillars, the Monrovia vines
were hardly touched.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Carolyn Hills

Maricopa County Master Gardener Volunteer

Member of Arizona Herb Association (www.azherb.org <http://www.azherb.org/>
)

 

 

  _____  

From: arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu
[mailto:arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu] On Behalf Of Dick
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 6:41 PM
To: Fred Botha
Cc: arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu
Subject: [Arid_gardener] Re: Passion fruit

 

Several members of the Arizona Rare Fruit Growers club have successfully
grown the fruit.

 

I had an 8 foot section of six foot tall chain link fence covered for
several years until it gave up the ghost for some unknown reason. Several
other members have successfully grown it but I don't know of any at the
present time. The blossoms were delightful but the ripe fruit was much too
sour for me out-of-hand. I never acquired a taste for it and it was too much
trouble to juice and add sweetener. It may well suit you taste, however. 

 

This vine died suddenly after several years and I've seen others go the same
way for unknown reasons. I have never attempted to replant but may after
this reminder. It is an aggressive, lovely vine, however. Go for it.

 

This time if the year, plant in well drained soil in morning sun with
afternoon shade so that it can gradually creep into full sun with a root
system that can maintain leaf turgidity.

 

Dick Gross, Master Gardener Volunteer

University of Arizona

 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: Fred Botha <mailto:botha at modelsandcomponents.com>  

To: rkgross3 at cox.net 

Sent: Monday, July 30, 2007 9:30 AM

Subject: Passion fruit

 

Hi, 

We live in north west Phoenix and would like to grow passion fruit.  We have
seeds that are sprouting and ready to be transplanted.  Do you have any
suggestions to assist us?

Fred Botha. 

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