Worth knowing:
The evergreen and perennial climbing plant can grow a few meters long and is easily be cultivated with a climbing frame or a trellis. The marvellous and 5 to 8 cm big blossoms stand out of the shiny light-green coloured, three-lobed leaves of the Passion Fruit. On top of the ten white sepals and petals are the yellow-green coloured stamens and the corona that has a purple colour at its base. When kept in a bright and warm place throughout the year, the Passion Fruit will also produce its chicken egg-sized brown-purple fruits, out of which juice can be won.
Natural Location:
The Passiflora edulis has its natural habitat in Brazil, northern Argentina and in Paraguay. Because of its fetching fruits the plant can nowadays be found in all tropical and subtropical regions.
Cultivation:
Seed propagation indoors is possible throughout the year. To increase the germinability, you can place the seeds in warm water over night for priming. Press the seeds gently into moist potting compost and cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out. Don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm with a temperature between 25°C and 30°C (for example near the heater) and keep the earth moist, but not wet. Usually it takes about two to four weeks until germination.
Place:
A bright and preferably all-day sunny spot will lead to a rich blossoming. When kept in a shaded place, the stalks of the Passion fruit will sprout, but the flowers won’t show.
Care:
The Passion Fruit prefers quality earth for tub plants containing a fair part of expanded clay or gravel. If the soil is too dry, the plant will soon cast the leaves, so see that you keep the earth always moist using lime-deficient water, but avoid waterlogging in the saucer. From March until October your plant needs for a rich blossoming a weekly dose of fertilizer for tub plants. Long sprouts can be pruned during the growth period. The roots of the Passion Fruit will colonize the pot in a short time, therefore, the plant should be shifted to a bigger pot every year.
During the winter:
In autumn you may leave your Passiflora edulis outdoors until shortly before the first nightly frost. Then, it has to be moved inside and hibernates either at room temperature or in bright and cool place with a temperature of around 10 °Celsius. Depending on the light and warmth that you provide, the plant might or might not cast the leaves - so water your Passion Fruit accordingly to the leaf volume. In late winter you may strongly prune back the sprouts to 20 to 30 cm length, so the plant will start to shoot again in March.
Picture credits:
- © Dinesh Valke - CC-BY-SA-2.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Maximiliano Gomez - Pixabay -
- © Lucia Barabino - Pixabay -
- © RitaE - Pixabay -
- © Washington Wagner de Campos - CC-BY-SA-4.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
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