Passionfruit

Sun

Full sun for reliable flowering and fruiting; light afternoon shade is helpful in very hot inland gardens.

Water

Keep the root zone evenly moist during growth, flowering and fruit development. Water deeply during dry weather, but never leave roots standing in water.

Soil

Fertile, well-drained soil enriched with compost, preferably slightly acidic to neutral. Avoid waterlogged clay and strongly alkaline soil.

Height

10-20 ft (3-6 m) on a support

Spread

10-30 ft (3-9 m) along wires or trellis

Flowers

Spring through autumn in warm conditions; white flowers with a prominent purple-and-white crown of filaments.

Foliage

Evergreen. Glossy, dark green leaves, usually with three lobes on mature growth; tendrils attach the stems to supports.

Growth

Fast in warm weather

Care needed

Medium

• Pollinators
• Heat tolerant
• Wildlife
• Low allergen
• Edible

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Hard

Toughness

Needs looking after

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   2 ft (0.6 m)

2. After 1 year

   3 ft (1.1 m)

3. After 2 years

   5 ft (1.5 m)

4. After 3 years

   6 ft (1.8 m)

   full size

About 3 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Toxic

Invasive in

the US and Australia

In the garden

Spreads vigorously: plan to contain it.

Growth rate

Fast

• Install a strong trellis or tensioned wires before planting, and tie in the main stems while young.
• Water deeply whenever the upper soil begins to dry, especially while fruit is swelling.
• Apply a balanced fruit fertiliser in spring according to the label; avoid heavy nitrogen feeding, which encourages leaves rather than fruit.
• Mulch the root zone, keeping mulch clear of the stem.
• Protect from frost and cold winds; move container plants into bright, frost-free shelter before cold weather.
• Check pollination requirements before buying: many purple forms are self-fertile, while many yellow forms need a genetically different compatible vine.

Pruning. In early spring, once frost risk has passed, remove dead, weak and tangled stems and shorten previously fruited side shoots to several healthy buds. Retain the main framework and train new shoots along the support; flowers and fruit develop on new growth.

A first useful crop usually comes 1-3 years after planting, depending on the plant's starting size, warmth and pollination. Harvest from summer into autumn, or over a longer season in tropical climates, when fruit reaches its full purple or yellow colour and detaches easily; collect naturally fallen fruit promptly. Slightly wrinkled skin is normal in ripe fruit, but discard fruit that is mouldy or fermenting.

Early spring

Prune established vines as growth resumes, after frost risk has passed.

Spring

Plant after the soil warms, install supports, feed and renew mulch.

Late spring

Tie in new growth and check that shoots are not climbing into nearby trees.

Summer

Water consistently and check flowers for pollinator visits; hand-pollinate if fruit set is poor.

Summer to autumn

Gather ripe fruit frequently and remove fallen or damaged fruit.

Autumn

Move container plants under frost-free cover before cold nights arrive.

Winter

Keep sheltered plants bright and frost-free, watering less while growth is slow.

• Train along sturdy boundary wires to create an evergreen edible screen in frost-free gardens.
• Cover a strong pergola for summer shade, keeping fruit within reach for harvesting.
• Grow against a sunny, sheltered wall to make use of a warm microclimate.
• Train a container-grown vine on a substantial trellis in a greenhouse or conservatory.

Garden styles it suits: Edible landscape, Tropical, Modern courtyard, Potager (kitchen garden), Food forest and Homestead.

Plant it with: Basil, Chives, Calendula and Nasturtium.

Wildlife: Flowers provide pollen and nectar for bees; large bees are particularly effective pollinators. Birds and mammals may eat the fruit and disperse the seeds.

• Flowers but little fruit: check cultivar compatibility and pollinator activity; transfer pollen between compatible flowers by hand if necessary.
• Root or collar rot: improve drainage, keep mulch away from the stem and avoid planting in persistently wet ground.
• Aphids and scale insects: inspect young growth and stems; wash off aphids and treat persistent infestations with an appropriately labelled insecticidal soap or horticultural oil.
• Woodiness virus: mottled or distorted leaves and unusually hard, misshapen fruit have no cure; remove affected vines, use clean tools and replace with healthy planting stock.

Ripe pulp and seeds are edible for people. Leaves, stems, rind and immature fruit contain cyanogenic compounds and should not be eaten; substantial ingestion can cause serious poisoning. Keep these parts away from cats, dogs and horses, although species-specific poisoning reports are limited.

Where it spreads. Can escape cultivation and smother vegetation in Hawaii, northern New Zealand and parts of eastern Australia, including Queensland and New South Wales. Collect fallen fruit, remove unwanted seedlings and check local weed guidance before planting near natural areas.

• Blue passionflower (Passiflora caerulea)

  Usually has five- to seven-lobed leaves, blue-and-white flowers and orange ripe fruit. It is substantially more cold-tolerant and is grown mainly as an ornamental.

• Maypop (Passiflora incarnata)

  A cold-hardy herbaceous vine that dies back in winter, with lavender-purple flowers and greenish-yellow ripe fruit.

• Banana passionfruit (Passiflora tripartita var. mollissima)

  Has long, hanging pink flowers and elongated yellow fruit rather than the rounded fruit of common passionfruit; its leaves are softly hairy.

Passiflora refers to flower structures that Christian missionaries associated with the Passion of Christ, while edulis means edible.

Propagation. Take semi-ripe cuttings during warm weather to preserve a known variety. Fresh seed also germinates in warmth, but seedlings vary in fruit quality and pollination requirements. On grafted plants, remove shoots arising below the graft union.

Accepted botanical name

Passiflora edulis

In the US and Canada

Introduced in Hawaii, the lower 48 states, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands.

Native range

Argentina Northeast, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central and Paraguay.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.