Hi all, I live in Austin and am keen to acquire some Granadilla fruit (Passiflora ligularis) for my girlfriend. She is originally from Columbia and it’s her favorite fruit.
I can barely keep a cactus alive, so the preference would simply be to buy it - catch is I can’t find it online or locally after much research. But I’m highly motivated and willing to grow it if possible.
Though there are seeds available online, I assume it’s simply not possible to grow something like this in Texas.
So I’ve come to the experts to ask - what would it take to grow such a tree here?
P. ligularis is adapted to cool mountain environments where it never freezes. Austin is way too hot for it. Outside of cool, moist coastal areas in California that don’t freeze, there are really no areas in the US where it could be grown outdoors. P. edulis could be grown there, but will still require winter protection, as they can only withstand the slightest freezes.
I often see ligularis fruit in gourmet grocery stores, so that may be your best bet.
Ok, I figured that might be the case but was curious if it might be able to grow indoors or something. I haven’t found it in any grocery stores yet but I’ll keep looking.
Do you mean Colombia…in S. America? It’s equatorial…did it grow in high elevations or ?? I always think of that region as hot and humid but there are some serious mountains, too, with cool mist, etc.
Passiflora ligularis is not a tree, it is a vining plant so you’d need something for it to climb onto. I second the opinion of @kiwinut. I also like P. ligularis fruit and have raised a few plants myself, but they require a cool, frost-free climate. Supposedly their ideal growing temperatures are 62-64°F and they don’t like temperatures above 77°F, which seems to line up with my experiences this season. Their leaves got sunburn with temperatures around 86°F and they didn’t grow the whole season, probably due to heat stress.
I have grown passion flower (P. edulis) indoors and while the vines grew well, it never flowered. The windows just filter out too much light, so you’d need artificial plant lights. P. edulis also likes warm environments, P. ligularis would be trickier. But you can give it a try. Granadilla fruit are sometimes available in stores when they are in season. The seeds come right up when you plant them.
Granadilla is a very sweet type of passion fruit with no tartness. You should look into passion flowers that are suitable for your growing conditions and similar in taste. Look for hybrid passion flowers that are marketed for sweet fruit and suitable for Texas growing conditions. You could ask at your local plant nurseries.
Also, Maypop, Passiflora incarnata is a passion flower that is native to Texas and can produce tasty fruit, depending on the individual plant. You can also buy seeds/plants of those and give it a try. You need two different varieties of passion flower to get fruit (two different seedlings or cultivars).
It might be doable, but it won’t be easy. I’m thinking you can try growing in a pot. Give them a large tomato cage (or double-stacked?) and secure the vines to it. Take it outside in October as the weather cools, under a tree or shade cloth to provide relief from the still slightly hotter than ideal temperatures. Then move into the sun in late October when temperatures are more ideal. Bring it into the garage or house on nights with frost in the winter, but it should be okay outside during winter days (50s-70s) and milder winter nights (40s-50s). If you get a really long stretch of cold, maybe move them to a sunny window so you don’t have to bring them in and out day after day. Then in late Feb through to April, they should get some fairly consistently frost free and not too hot weather. Then in May you’ll need to have them under shade/dappled shade again. And June-September will have to be in your air conditioned home by a bright window.
I’m trying to grow them in Canada. It’s almost the opposite situation here. Our summers mostly have days in the 70s-80s and nights in the 50s-60s, which is optimal for them, so they can be outside from May to October, and then by a bright window in my heated home at ~70F for the winter.
So far, they are just beginning their second season outdoors. No fruits yet, but they grew well in their first season, and the vines got several feet of growth indoors. They’re supposed to fruit on their 2nd year, and my plants have several 6-8 ft vines and are now getting 6-7 hours of sun on a southwest facing fence. Here’s to hoping.