Passionfruit

Looking after your Passion Fruit

The Passion Flower (Passiflora edulis) is the true edible passion flower producing sweet edible fruit in autumn. It is not as hardy as the common ornamental variety and will need some frost protection so we recommend growing it in a pot and keeping it indoors during the winter months.

When indoors make sure your passion flower gets plenty of light, by putting it near a window but a little way back from the glass. They need to be protected from temperatures below 5C so a bright room, conservatory or heated greenhouse is the best place in the winter.

Whilst your passiflora is in a small pot you will need to water it regularly especially if in a warm spot. Try to keep the compost damp – not dry and not soggy. Over the summer months your passion flower will benefit from a dose of liquid feed every couple of waterings to help keep the foliage healthy and you could put it outside for a summer holiday.

You should expect the first dramatic flowers in the spring and the egg shaped fruits to follow and they are ripe and ready to harvest once they have turned a deep purple.

Over time you might want to keep twisting new tendrils around the supplied support to keep it neat. These plants are vigorous climbers and can be trained up a wall or trellis if desired. Alternatively if you want to keep it to a manageable size you can prune your plant back at the end of the summer and repot it in the spring to keep it nice and bushy.

Problem solving

If the leaves start to turn a pale or mottled colour your plant needs more nutrients and will benefit from a good dose of general house plant or citrus feed every couple of waterings until it greens up again.

If during the summer months your plant stops flowering or the buds drop before they open it may not be getting enough sunlight so try moving to a sunny spot and hold back on any feeding until you see flower buds begin to develop.