You are very well informed. Are you familiar with the history of the Frederick cultivar of edulis? That one does well for me and temps drop into the teens every winter. I don’t think the ones I grow outside have the time to make fruit before cold sets in. In contrast, the greenhouse specimen is very happy and produces fruit. I cloned it this spring so I’m planning to create a microclimate with a cinderblock wall and a couple 55 gallon rain barrels. Maybe an overhang to keep the light frost from settling on the fruit. Perhaps if necessary drape a remay cloth over the front of the overhang.
I’ve heard of Frederick, but I’ve no experience growing it. It’s a real monster from what I’ve read, but in no way, shape, or form hardy here. Even our milder winter would probably kill it.
Best of luck with it in ground! If you can find P. cincinnata, that one might be worth trying where you are. Passiflorista on eBay sometimes has it (that’s the shop I got my hybrids from as well). Much, much harder to find is P. tecucumanensis, that one is also fairly hardy, edible, and supposedly ripens very quickly.
Those anthers have an interesting orientation…
Should make pollination easier. Except for the fact that the plant isn’t self compatible.
3 Likes
I feel like I’ve seen that only temporarily, when the flower has just opened.
Nice flower!
2 Likes
It took a bit, but the anthers look normal now.
2 Likes
What’s really weird is, I don’t think any other flowers were open when this one was. These plants are notoriously self incompatible, and wild ones haven’t started blooming yet and are the wrong ploidy anyway. I suspect this will be poorly filled.
1 Like
I have a few maypops about 4’ long now but I think a deer is eating the flowers?
1 Like
i just planted two maypops last month, got them from One Green World, they don’t seem to grow as vigorously as the purple passionfruit i had that died this past winter. i got a few flowers so far. i know maypop are much more hardy but how does the fruit taste compared to the purple passionfruit? what color will it be when it is fully ripe?
2 Likes
I only got a couple due to animals getting them so I eat mine when they were green and came off with a little tug. They tasted little like lemonade to me. I would think if they yellow up a little they would be sweeter?
1 Like
Edulis grew much faster than incarnata in my experience here in the Midwest. The purple passionfruit completely covered a fence in no time for screening but no fruit, of course.
1 Like
It’s not as pungent/strong, not as tropical, and if properly ripe, not as sour.
Flavor hard to describe. Sometimes can have banana or orange/pineapple ish flavors.
Here they stay green when ripe. Others say theirs turn yellow. But the best way to know it’s ripe is to let it drop. They will be very fragrant. I believe the smell is like a nice apricot (I’m not experienced with apricots) - old folks here call maypop “apricot” or “apricot vine”and I believe that’s why. They don’t taste like apricots, I can say that.
1 Like
has anyone tried to grow banana passionfruit (passiflora mollissima) from seeds? i’m having a hard time finding the plants online and don’t know how easy (or hard) they are to grow from seed.
They are easy from seed. I fermented mine in orange juice (organic for more natural conditions) and started them indoors on a heat mat. They would probably also germinate fine in a pot outside if it’s warm, but it might take longer.
The problem with P. mollissima is that the fruit quality is highly variable. There are acres of vines in the highlands of Kauai, Hawaii and I couldn’t find a single fruit that tasted good. If you really want to grow mollissima, probably best to keep hunting for a choice clone.
2 Likes
Ok, the first hybrid passion fruit has ripened. It actually feel from the vine about a week ago but was still a bit green and hard. After ripening up a bit more it turned yellow and soft. Fruit set was early June, so a month and a half to two months flower to ripe.
The fruit was well filled.
While still not as aromatic as I’d like, the flavor is good. Solidly tropical tasting, very much the classic passion fruit flavor. The pulp starts out sweet and becomes sweet-sour.
Several others fell from the vine not long ago. I’ll test them at various stages of ripeness.
If anyone wants seeds just let me know.
9 Likes
I grow the banana passionfruit I got a rooted cutting from fruitwood nursery for a few dollars. Really recommend their cuttings and rooted cuttings due to the price being unbeatable
ok, will re-check because they currently are out of stock