When Will My Passion Fruit Vine Start Flowering?

[TropicalNebraska]

I have a passion fruit vine that is a year old and is over three feet tall now. I started fertilizing it this fall with 1 teaspoon of Miracle Gro Bloom Booster flower food every 2 weeks. When should it start flowering if I keep fertilizing it at this rate? Should I increase how much and how often I fertilize it? The package says to fertilize it with 1/2 teaspoon every two weeks, but I think my plant might be able to handle more since it is a large and mature plant.

[rainbowgardener]

You are in Nebraska? That means your passion fruit is growing indoors?

Even though it is indoors, it is still going in to winter and the days are very short. Your passion fruit will not be doing much and should not be fertilized. Just let it rest and start fertilizing again in spring. It should flower and then fruit next summer.

[TropicalNebraska]

Thanks! Yes, I live in Nebraska. I'll hold off on the fertilizing until spring. I do have my plant indoors since it's too cold outside.

[Rose bloom]

Passion fruit blooms at two years old. In Nebraska, I think it might grow a little slower than in sunny, dangerously hot Calif. I have passion fruit too. I wish you good luck!

[tomc]

Passiflora is a vine. You remind me of me trying to grow them in NH.

Keep it from frost and it'll go gangbusters next June.

[Rose bloom]

Right. Thanks, tomf.

[TheWaterbug]

I grew my vine from seed taken from fruit off my Mom's vine (probably Frederick, since that's what they sell at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. around here). I sowed seeds in April of 2013, so my vine is now 18 months old.

It started flowering about 2 months ago, so I guess this one is precocious

But the several dozen flowers since then have set zero fruit, which worries me. I even hand-pollinated a few flowers, and they still dropped. I'm hoping it's immaturity and or the wrong season, as opposed to this Frederick hybrid seed being unfruitful.

[imafan26]

If you have the purple passion fruit it is more tolerant of cooler weather. Cooler weather in general slows the passion fruit growth down. The purple fruit does not have as much juice but it is sweeter than the golden passion fruit. Golden fruit are more common here although both are around. Most of the vines grow wild so the birds plant them and they climb over trees and fences. The golden passion fruit is a tropical variety and likes heat. It can set fruit in its' second year.

The purple variety may take longer. I also read that if the seed you planted was a hybrid, it may not come true.

[applestar]

I've been wanting to grow "Maypop" -- Passiflora incarnata -- which is the only species that is said to be winter hardy here. When I initially starting thinking about it, I was told that you need male and female plants, then I heard contradicting stories. Some Maypop articles don't mention anything about male and female plants.

...but I just came across this explanation....

While this plant does have perfect flowers (contains both male and female parts), many of the flowers are functionally male – the female parts have atrophied or grow in a way that will never allow fertilization. This means that not all flowers will set fruit. The Maypop will change the number of female flowers it produces throughout the growing season based on the growing conditions.

https://tcpermaculture.blogspot.com/2012 ... aypop.html

I wonder if other species of passionflower have similar issues?

[imafan26]

In my wanderings I came upon this. Since these fruits are so prolific that they are actually considered weeds, I did not realize that they could be a bit fussy about pollination. It sounds like when the vine blooms it would be best to hand pollinate to make sure you get fruit.

Adaptation: The purple passion fruit is subtropical and prefers a frost-free climate. However, there are cultivars that can take temperatures into the upper 20's (°F) without serious damage. The plant is widely grown in California as far north as San Jose, the Monterey Bay Area and the San Franciso Bay Area. The vines may lose some of their leaves in cool winters. The roots often resprout even if the top is killed. The plant does not grow well in intense summer heat. The yellow passion fruit is tropical or near-tropical and is much more intolerant of frost. Both forms need protection from the wind. Generally, annual rainfall should be at least 35 inches. Passion fruit vines make good container specimens but require maintenance. They perform well indoors.

Flowers: A single, fragrant flower, 2 to 3 inches wide, is born at each node on the new growth. The bloom, clasped by 3 large, green, lifelike bracts, consists of 5 greenish-white sepals, 5 white petals and a fringe like corona of straight, white-tipped rays, rich purple at the base. It also has 5 stamens with large anthers, the ovary and triple-branched style forming a prominent central structure. Purple passion fruit is self-fruitful, but pollination is best under humid conditions. The flowers of the yellow form are perfect but self-sterile. Carpenter bees are the most efficient pollinator, much more so than honey bees. Wind is ineffective because of the heaviness and stickiness of the pollen. The flowers can also be hand pollinated.