Passionfruit ripening

the Decoy

Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2018
Messages
3
Climate
Sub-Tropical
hi again. I’m in Brisbane, and I have several passionfruit vines around my house, different varieties. They are all quite loaded with fruit (all still green). Every week one or two fall - while still green. It’s now getting quite cold in our area, leaving me with loads of green fruit yet to ripen... will these fruit still fully ripen through the winter months? Do passionfruit still continue to ripen without the warmer weather? These plants are only a year old - this is their first fruiting season. Also, I plant to cut them back by a third once the fruiting is complete - what is the best time of year to do this?

Any advice greatly appreciated!
 
  • Like
Reactions: DTK

ClissAT

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
1,842
Location
Pomona, Qld
Climate
Sub-Tropical
If the fruit is fully sized but not ripe the vines need more water.
At this time of year we are seduced by the weather & lulled into a false sense of security over the fact we have mulched enough to keep the soil moist.
However the humidity drops rapidly so with the plants still in full leaf & fruit, they are expiring at a rapid rate.
There simply isn't enough moisture in the soil to provide sufficient to plants that have long stems & lots of leaf.
Water laced with a dose of Potassium will help hold the fruit so it can ripen.
Unfortunately, passionfruit don't ripen off the vine if green when picked (or fallen).
They must be colouring before picking.

Cutting back by only 1/3 is probably not enough.
Most PF should be cut back to the main trunk every year as soon as fruiting is finished & given a good fertilizing in the early spring.
The first fertilizer should be high in nitrogen then just before Xmas it should be changed over to a high potassium type to enhance fruiting.
 

Letsgokate

Valued Member
Premium Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2014
Messages
910
Location
SE Queensland, Australia
Website
letsgotravelaustralia.com
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Thanks Clissat for some great info. :thumbsup:

In my case my passionfruit are on a drip irrigation so they are getting enough water. The fruit is ripening just slower than in summer. Maybe due to it being cooler.

Mine are actually going to be moved as they are in pots. We need to move the fence they are climbing on to make way for the orchard enclosure. They have to be cut right back to the main trunk so it’s great to know they will handle being cut that far back :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: DTK

Mojtaba

Active Member
Premium Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Messages
22
Location
Shahru i, Khuzestan ,Iran
Climate
Arid, Desert, or Dry
View media item 476
passion-fruit.476
Hi friends, it's been a while since I've been trying to grow a passion fruit in my own home but I can't figure out the reason my passion fruit is gone,Temperatures in our region rise by up to 50 degrees in the summer,Passionate fruit works at what temperature
 
Last edited:

ClissAT

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
1,842
Location
Pomona, Qld
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Hello Mojtaba, welcome to this garden forum.

Looking at your plant as big as I could make the photo, it looks like each years growth gets dried and killed in some way.
The soil looks like heavy clay so it might be holding too much moisture and not holding enough air.
I see you are in Iran so I'm wondering if you are also using recycled water due to dry conditions?
However this year did I hear your area had unprecedented rain?
But the photo shows old growth from previous years so the problems experienced by your plant are more than recent.
So I wonder if your water is ladden with salts from being recycled or from poor quality ground water.
If you usually use recycled water from household sources, it will have a lot of salts in it from cleaning products, soap, etc.
Add to that the heavy clay soil which holds those salts around the roots too long.
Making compost from kitchen waste can help. There are a couple of ways to make compost.
But one easy way is to simply make a hole beside your plant and bury the food scraps right there, but you have to be sure other household animals won't dig them back up again. So put a few bricks or big stones on and use less water because kitchen waste already had a good amount of moisture in it.
Also add chopped hay or old grass ontop around the plant to protect the roots from the heat of the day.
Passionfruit like sun but not hot soil.
 

Mojtaba

Active Member
Premium Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Messages
22
Location
Shahru i, Khuzestan ,Iran
Climate
Arid, Desert, or Dry
Thank you for your response, there was a lot of rain in Iran this year as well as in our province and I was hoping this would increase my passion fruit, is it really heavy soil and the question is if too much soil would cause this plant to die?and photo it take in 12 september 2019 is not old and this plant have 1.5 year old and Does it help raised bed whit trelis forpassion fruit growth?High temperatures do not cause any problems if i use raised bed?
 
Last edited:

ClissAT

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
1,842
Location
Pomona, Qld
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Yes, heavy clay soil is not good for passionfruit.
But you can fix it by immediately adding lots of small gravel.
I would start a new hole next to your plant.
Make the hole big, add 50/50 gravel and soil, then every day or two dig in all your kitchen scraps.
I'm trying to think of materials that are free and readily available to you right now.
The gravel will just loosen the heavy soil and air will be trapped around each small stone.
The kitchen waste will compost down into that mix.
Add a little guar gum or agar, 3teaspoons in 2 lt water.
Guar gum or agar agar can be mixed with water and applied to help break down the clay. Its considered a wetting agent but clay is a strange soil.
Clay is made up of millions of minute platelets which are glued together by an electrical current and trap water between the platelets which is why it gets very wet and full of salt which is attracted to the electrical current.
Wetting agents disperse the electrical current which allows the clay platelets to fall apart into a slurry.
Then if you have lots of organic matter mixed into the soil, the slurry will mingle with the organic matter to make nice loose fertile soil.
So by adding all your kitchen waste and some chopped hay or dry grass, that breaks down into the organic matter to mix into the clay slurry.
I must add a caveat here because I don't know exactly what type of clay you have since there are various types. There are some which won't work with the above recipe.
But it is easier for you to try this method first.
The worst that will happen is that the mixture in your new hole will simply get wetter for a while. But by adding yet more gravel, hay and compost you will solve your problem.
If the clay is very bad and there is no drainage you might have to build up your mix to well above ground to allow excess moisture to drain away.
If you want to test how good or bad your drainage is, dig a hole 30cm deep and 30cm wide and half fill with water. If the water doesn't drain away within 2-3 hrs then your drainage is bad so you should build up a mound to put you plants on.
They will put some roots down into the moist parts and have others up in the drier soil for the needed air.
You can then make that your new hole for you plant.
 

Mojtaba

Active Member
Premium Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Messages
22
Location
Shahru i, Khuzestan ,Iran
Climate
Arid, Desert, or Dry
Unfortunately this plant no longer exists because it is dead,If I want to grow a new plant again,Does it help raised bed whit trelis forpassion fruit growth?High temperatures do not cause any problems if i use raised bed?
 

ClissAT

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
1,842
Location
Pomona, Qld
Climate
Sub-Tropical
I was just now able to see the other photos. Only the one of the bare stem was visible until just now.
Yes raised beds will help a lot.
Dig in kitchen waste and hay as often as you can to help with increasing soil volume and fertility.
 

Mojtaba

Active Member
Premium Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Messages
22
Location
Shahru i, Khuzestan ,Iran
Climate
Arid, Desert, or Dry
nfortunately my plant no longer exists because it is dead:cry2:I want in this season germination another from seed in raised bed
 

ClissAT

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
1,842
Location
Pomona, Qld
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Use the recipe for good soil that I wrote out for you above to make a big mound of lovely soil full of organic matter and fertility.
Put your seeds in and all should be good.
Good luck Mojtaba!:wave:
 

Mojtaba

Active Member
Premium Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Messages
22
Location
Shahru i, Khuzestan ,Iran
Climate
Arid, Desert, or Dry
Hello guys what type of passion fruit I can planting in my climate Or if the soil is good, it doesn't matter
 

Mojtaba

Active Member
Premium Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Messages
22
Location
Shahru i, Khuzestan ,Iran
Climate
Arid, Desert, or Dry
Passion fruit is happy in hot weather, only suffering from heat if temperatures regularly climb above 100 F but in our Region temperatures go to 122 F what i do ?I want buy new passion fruit Seedlings please help me:cry2:
 

ClissAT

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
1,842
Location
Pomona, Qld
Climate
Sub-Tropical
As i wrote in my earlier post Mojtaba, use compost and gravel to gradually make a big mound of soil if your natural soil is poor clay or other type of poor soil.
Raised beds serve a variety of purposes. They bring the growing surface up higher for people who struggle to bend over. They raise the growing medium higher to aid drainage when the natural soil is poor draining like most clays are.

But if I'm reading your multiple posts clearly, you are using waste water from the house which will contain detergents, cleaners and soaps.
All these chemicals add a lot of salts to the water making it quite toxic if its the only water a plant receives.
When this type of water is continually poured onto the same bit of soil, that soul place gets toxic as well until nothing will grow there.

Since you have already had previous plants die, I suggest you find locals who are growing a garden. Or ask your neighbours what sort of passionfruit they are growing as ask if you can get a seedling from them please. Also ask what water they use.

Its almost impossible for me here in Australia to advise you adequately when I have so little to go on.
 

Mojtaba

Active Member
Premium Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Messages
22
Location
Shahru i, Khuzestan ,Iran
Climate
Arid, Desert, or Dry
what sort of passionfruit they are growing as ask if you can get a seedling
Thanks for the tips but maybe you will not believe in my city no one knows the passion fruit, Those who know about it are few, and most salespeople whit no information
 

ClissAT

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
1,842
Location
Pomona, Qld
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Ah I see! I always think of the people from the desert countries as being great gardeners in the courtyards inside their homes.
But I also see from watching tv showing overseas countries, that many people now live in unit blocks with just tiny balconies or none.
Still, I think it would pay you to travel to the older parts of your town where there are old homes with courtyards and see if you can find any with gardens.
I was also thinking maybe you could ask the farmer who gave you the dragon fruit if you could get a bucket or bag of soil. Depending of course what your transport type is.

Here I must give a caveat as I am unaware of your political situation regarding yours and neighbouring countries or even within your own country. So when I write about gardening shows from other countries I see on my tv, that information is often devoid of any political interests. So its not my intention to apply any overtones to the information contained here.

Several years ago I saw a documentary about some young men living in ......it might have been Syria...... who were sick of having no fresh vegetables. But they also had no proper soil to grow anything in but they had water (maybe from rain?)
So they each made up a backpack and walked many miles every few days to fields on the outskirts of their town. They scraped up soil from the fields into their backpacks which they carried back to town. They created small raised beds one by one over many weeks using the debris around them.
They had to order seeds by mail order which took some time to arrive at a distant safe address.
First they planted quick growing greens and tomatoes, then quick growing fruits.

So it just takes (sometimes a lot of) lateral thinking to negotiate around a dilemma.
 
Last edited:

Mojtaba

Active Member
Premium Member
Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Messages
22
Location
Shahru i, Khuzestan ,Iran
Climate
Arid, Desert, or Dry
I always think of the people from the desert countries as being great gardeners in the courtyards inside their homes.
Our area is not really a desert, it is very hot in the summer, our home is big, I will send you pictures soon to see that our house has brought Soil from elsewhere and That's why it needs more refinement.Our country is four seasons and green at the same time.Hope you can come and have a trip
 
  • Like
Reactions: DTK
Top Bottom