Tips for growing passionfruit

Let me tag a couple of our resident horticulturalists for you @RosieW.

Hopefully @Adam_W, @CathM, @Branchy249 and other Workshop community members can have some helpful advice for you.

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/4163#Comment_4163

Hey @RosieW, sorry to hear your story but... it's surprisingly common.
Frustrating thing is that you see seemingly neglected passionfruit performing amazingly well yet one you look after turns its toes up.
Okay, a few thoughts that might help...
First-off where are you? Just rough region.
Technically passionfruit are warm climate plants so think tropical, sub-tropical and warm temperate.
On saying that they can survive & thrive in micro-climate pockets but… if summer isn’t long enough or hot enough they won’t produce fruit. Period.
Yes, you are correct they are hungry, horticulturists will call them ‘gross feeders’ gotta’ love that expression, I had a mate like that once… anyhews…
Well-composted manure & quality compost as well as controlled release fertiliser are a must.
They will tolerate full-sun through to semi-shade with the rough rule of thumb being the hotter the climate the more shade they will in-fact require.
Now, here’s the biggie, the main cause of passionfruit failure – soil and water.
They need really free draining soil. Their ideal soil is a fertile sandy-loam.
Too dry & they will suffer and probably survive, too wet & they will die. Quickly.
A waterlogged plant can die almost overnight.
A problem can arise when you have added extra composts and manures too close to the root ball. Even if the soil is perfect the additives hold too much moisture.
And if you’ve added too much of them? Likewise. Soil goes gluggy.
They will not tolerate clay soil or soil that even only occasionally gets waterlogged.
If you have such a situation then plant them in a decent sized mound above the clay.
They are also surface rooting with fine roots so you need to keep them well mulched, personally I favour lucerne or pea-straw for these sort of things.
Phew… okay, that’s about it.
Hope something in there makes sense!
Good luck!

simondavis

If you dug the sheep manure in with the root stock, you may have over-fertilised and effectively "poisoned" the plant. A friend recently added Dynamic Lifter in with the plant, a Chinese Star Jasmine - very tough plant in my experience - and it almost died. We lifted it, dug out the planting hole and replaced with clean soil and it sprung back to life. Most horticultural experts (which I am not) seem to suggest you apply the fertiliser over the top of the soil after planting. Even slow acting organic fertilisers apparently. Good luck !

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/4163#Comment_4163

@Adam_W @simondavis Thanks for your advice. Sounds like I overfertilised at the root AND waterlogged the poor plant - as it did literally die overnight. I am clearly a passion fruit murderer! I’m in melb so would like to try that full-sun spot one more time next summer. If it carks it again i’ll give up!

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/64233#Comment_64233

@simondavis you’ve brought up a couple of interesting points that when viewed with @RosieW's issue are really worth unpacking so here we go…

The biggest problem with planting is that to generalise about how to do it correctly, beyond a couple of basics, is asking for disaster.

Why?

Simple... Too many variables.

These include – type of soil, type of plant, type of climate, time of year.

Here’s the closest you could come to a safe generalisation about planting & then I’ll dissect a few of the points to demonstrate the hazards of generalising.

Step 1) – Dig a planting hole to at least twice the pot width and slightly deeper than the pot.

Step 2) – Carefully remove the plant from the pot, position in hole & check depth. The top of the potting mix on the plant should be sitting at the same height as the surrounding soil. Adjust hole depth if required.

Step 3) – Improve the soil that will go back into the hole by adding compost or manure and fertiliser.

Step 4) – Backfill the hole with the improved mix. Create a watering wall ‘dam’ around the perimeter of the hole. Spread fertiliser on surface. Water well.

Step 5) – Stake plant if required.

Step 6) – Apply mulch around area, water well & you’re done.

To tease that out…

Step 1) – This is fine if you have a good free draining soil.

If you have clay then it will kill most plants. Never dig into a clay-pan. You must plant above it and this may mean creating a planting mound and adding clay breaker to the soil to help break-up the clay beneath your planting.
Digging into a clay pan and then dropping a plant in is like putting the plant into a saucer of water. With watering & rain it will drown.

Step 2) – Tick, tick, tick.

Step 3) – This is the most risky area of generalisation… Any compost or manure added must be very well broken down or composted. ‘Well rotted’ in old gardeners lingo.

Fresh manures and composts that aren’t reduced to fine 'crumbs' should never be used. There is too much risk of them scorching or continuing to breakdown in the soil and introducing all manner of fungal disorders or turning soil anaerobic, that is, free from oxygen and smelly.

Likewise any fertiliser – it must be suitable for use at planting time & suitable for the plant variety.

My personal favourite is Scotts Osmocote Plus Organics. I have never had a bad outcome with any of it.

Then you have the issue of plant variety. Different plants need different amounts of organic matter. Add lots of compost when you’re planting a grevillea or banksia or kangaroo paw & you’ll be lucky if they last a week.
Don’t add lots when you’re planting a Murraya or a lilly-pilly and they’ll not perform well.
Then there’s the soil… if it’s sandy you’ll need double the compost & manure. If it’s a silty-loam then a 1/2 of the ‘regular’ amount.
And the climate – too much organic matter added to a soil in a high rainfall climate can result in the soil around your plants holding too much moisture and going anaerobic.

And finally time of year – personally I use less compost etc. if I’m planting in Autumn/Winter as the risk of it staying too moist for too long, not breaking down & causing fungal problems is higher.

Step 4) – Tick, tick, tick.

Step 5) – Staking must use at least 2 stakes and be done so as to avoid the root ball. When tying the tree/shrub it should still be allowed a little movement in all directions to allow ‘reaction wood’ to develop. This wood is the equivalent of tree muscles that help it resist falling over or snapping in prevailing winds.

Step 6) – Make sure mulch is at least 40 to 50mm thick and clear of the trunk by at least 50mm. Any fertiliser spread should be suitable for both the plant and for use when planting.

Now… I haven’t said any of this to try & overcomplicate things, just to help folks realise that just a little research before planting & using the right products will generally give you a truly awesome outcome!
Know your soil, know your plant, know your climate & happy gardening 😀

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/64237#Comment_64237

Never give up @RosieW 😀
Now is actually a very good planting time as soil is still warm enough for roots to get established then come spring the plant will really take off.
Maybe have a read through my other loooong post too for some more tips.
Cheers

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/94718#Comment_94718

Fantastic advice @Adam_W. Many thanks for sharing your expertise.

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/94719#Comment_94719

All right @Adam_W you've inspired me to give it another go. I just love the flowers and am trying to encourage more insects in the garden. If it fruits that's a bonus. Recommend any variety over another for sunny/rainy/windy/crazy Melbourne?

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/113814#Comment_113814

Awesome @RosieW 😀
I'm going to ask a good friend of mine, who is Melbourne-based & an incredible food-gardener, for her advice on the best variety so stay tuned!

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/124549#Comment_124549

Better yet, ask her to join the community @Adam_W. 🙂

Jason

Isobel

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/124549#Comment_124549

I would also be interested in a good variety to grow in Melbourne. Thanks for the advice @Adam_W.

stvjenkins

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/131758#Comment_131758

Passion fruit in Melbourne /////////; mine grew over a 6 foot wire fence and maybe 8 foot wide; this was directly sun and northwind affected..clay soil... watered by the heavens and me in extreme high temperature ...it was a banana passion fruit ... the fruit was as long as the width of your hand and of course shaped like a banana.
i used to get buckets of fruit to give out to all the school mums and dads... i did nothing near the root systems at all... it grows i would say similar to a cactus... all love and care from a distance... good luck ... mine i took down when i had to take a tall tree down near it.. i am glad for you question it is very good. inspired me to join this workshop only to let you know the can be grown in Melbourne easily... thankyou for your time in reading this enjoy

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/136156#Comment_136156

Many thanks for sharing your experience @stvjenkins. I'm sure @RosieW appreciates the feedback.

Let me also extend a very warm welcome to the Workshop community. It's fantastic to have you join us. I hope you find plenty of helpful information and inspiration from our members for your home improvement projects around the house and garden. Feel free to post whenever you need a hand with anything.

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/139139#Comment_139139

Thanks very much @stvjenkins. Doubly inspired - think i've been overthinking it! I'll give that a go. Really appreciate the response.
Rosie

stvjenkins

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/141164#Comment_141164

Okay thankyou for those acknowledging me entering this group looks really interesting...

stvjenkins

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/141164#Comment_141164

i forgot to share this with you you seem sincere about giving it another go.... so dig the ground at least one foot deeper than you are going to plant the passionfruit ... then buy a liver and place it into the hole cover the liver with soil about 4 inches at least then plant the passionfruit cover with soil and leave now you are also in the running to take passionfruits to school for otehr families to enjoy you will have so many!!!!! let me know how it goes!!!!

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/131758#Comment_131758

Oh dear... somewhere in my little mind I was positive I'd answered this post... my bad.
My awesome Melbourne food growing expert said look at the Nellie Kelly range as they are grown in Victoria.

They can also give you selection advice.

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/136160#Comment_136160

Thanks for all the advice. I do feel it's a bit cold now, but will definitely give a Nellie Kelly another crack next spring. Thanks again, Rosie

Isobel

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/136160#Comment_136160

Is it too early to plant a new passionfruit vine in Melbourne @Adam_W?

I assume I should wait until Spring and no more frosts?

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/139171#Comment_139171

Hi @Isobel, I'd be holding off until things warm up a little.
What you'll find is that the nursery generally won't stock passionfruit until the best planting time so use that as your trigger.

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/4160#Comment_4160

before planting my grafted Nelly passionfruit I chose a site that had the roots in shade and the vine itself able to attach to a wide trellis that was subject to full north sunlight and west sunlight. then on either side of where I intended to plant the passionfruit plant I dug two holes about 60 cm feet deep. into each hole I added a cattle liver in each hole (Had to order from the butcher). The livers were huge. then covered each liver with 15 cm of pulverized 12 month old sheep manure. Then, without disturbing the holes with a liver in each one I dug the hole where the passionfruit was to go. Added 15 cm of gypsum in the bottom of that hole. forked it in a little. them planted the passionfruit and filled the rest of the hole with the soil in the vicinity. For the first year it hardly moved. In the second year it took off like a racing car at the start of a race. mulched around the plant, keepin any mulch 15 cm away from the stem at all times. rarely watered it as the roots are cool. it is the leaves that are drawing energy from the sun. Gave it a top up just recently with some Neutrog fertilizer as it has lots of flower buds. My rule for my garden us to focus most of my effort on the soil and the plant will respond accordingly.

passionfruit leaves oct 2018passionfruit flowers and buds oct 2018

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/64667#Comment_64667

Brilliant result. Many thanks for sharing @Suzie72.

Let me extend a very warm welcome to Workshop. We're rapt you could join us and trust that you'll get loads of great advice and inspiration for your projects from our helpful members. Feel free to post whenever you need assistance or have something to share.

And please let me know if you ever have any feedback about how we can improve Workshop for you.

Jason

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/94988#Comment_94988

thank you Jason. My garden started as pure hard clay. That abundance of clay is no longer as obvious in parts of the garden as I make use of masses of gypsum. There is almost no gypsum amount I would call "too much" gypsum. I also make use of the very good quality mulch/compost that the council sells by the trailer load. And I have often treated myself to a present of 10 bags of pulverized 12 month old sheep manure for birthdays and Christmas, (what could be better as a present:) ?

Now my front garden soil is almost black soil, and easily dug. The back is still being worked on. There are still two complete no go areas (too much clay) in the back garden - one especially bad - even the weeds are not interested in the really bad area. Eventually both clay areas will get attention, but not yet. . The areas I have attended to, (meaning = improved the soil) at the back are now supporting aspargus, ginger, almond tree, strawberries, lemon tree, apricot, plum, redlove apple, yellow peach, white peach, satsuma plum, parsley, mint, the passionfruit, and a clementine nectarine. There is also a loquat trees but I leave that tree for the possums to enjoy.

MitchellM

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/94988#Comment_94988

@Suzie72 That's fantastic! Liver as fertiliser? Could you please enlighten me about that process, I have never heard of it before.

Sounds amazing!

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/113985#Comment_113985

Hi MitchellM,
Liver is very nutritious. For people and for plants. Liver is possibly the most nutrient-dense food in the world. It's packed with essential nutrients, rich in protein and low in calories.
Plants need nutrients just as much as people need nutrients.
When I was pregnant my iron levels were not high enough, according to my Doctor, so rather than telling me to drink the vile tasting iron supplement - instead the doctor told me to make and serve (once a week) a stir fry with lots of vegetables and saute very fine strips of one small lambs liver and mix the strips of lambs liver into the saute vegetables. (lamb's liver is the only type of liver I have ever eaten)
I served the lamb's liver strips with a saute of onions, cauliflower florets, broccolli florets, bok choy, red capsicum, water chesnuts and baby corn. Ate it with chop-sticks and a side of steamed rice once a week for the rest of my pregnancy. My iron levels improved as a result and it also gave me more energy.
Passionfruit vines like a very nutrient rich growing medium.
A couple of large raw bull livers are perfect. you will need to order them in advance from your meat supplier and they are large. They need NO preparation. Do NOT even think of cooking them - you want every last fresh nutrient in the fresh liver. Do NOT even think of chopping them up - you want a big mass that can work it's magic under the soil.
Once you have the livers home get them into the ground as soon as possible. Dig the hole deep so that no local dog can smell the livers and so that you too cannot smell anything as they slowly enrich the soil below. I dug the hole 24 inches deep (60 cm metric) and I chose to also cover them with some sheep manure, just to get the party started below the ground and then covered it all with ordinary soil.
The worms in your soil will think they have died and gone to heaven when they find the liver.
Then the worms will further enrich the soil around the buried livers as worms urinate and defecate often, and that too enriches the soil further. Worm urine is more dilute than human urine, but just like human waste - worm urine has ammonia as well as urea. Thus the ammonia and urea waste products from the worms will also enrich the soil around a passionfruit
Adding a couple a big raw bull livers 24 inches below the ground is win win for the passionfruit, and for the worms, and for the soil fertility. And a fresh liver is a natural product.
hope all the above is enough to convince you of the benefits of using liver in this way?

https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/discussion/comment/124667#Comment_124667

ps:
I am in the southern hemisphere - hence north light is the warmest aspect in the southern hemisphere.
if you live in the northern hemisphere then naturally you would choose the southern light - which is the warmest aspect in the northern hemisphere.

TraceyC2222

Hi there. I always bought two passionfruit plants at one time and i planted them a few meters aparts. I bought dynamic lifter small bag and added it to a large white plastic bin with a lid, i then filled it with water. It dynamic lifter gets very soft. I then after a week, added the watered mixture about three scoups to the main stem each week of the passionfruit, i had wire stressling above the fence line and each week as vigourously as it grew, i would tie up more stems to encourge it to grow up and thick. It sure did and i had fruit within no time. I have found passionfruit one of the easiest fruits to grow. The nelly kelly is the most hardy. I did by accident pick up a miss marked new variety that was yellow. I pulled it out, the fruit was sour and really not nice. I

use the area down the side of the house that is wasted and not used in most cases, however i have found if you get good sun and shade its the perfect postion to plant passionfruit. I used a soup scoup thats left that in the bucket, each week i just watered it down. Its actually the best way to save money also and get a good use from your dynamic lifter instead of throwing the pellets down on the ground, just a few soup laddles full of the concentrated water solution, plus a good water once a week, unless its been raining, dont add more water, these areas typically have everything the passionfruit need to grow really well. Warning, the smell is very high when taking the lid off, however its the best solution going and you truly cant fail. You also must use the right garden ties to tressle the plant up. I had passionfruits so full of juicy stunning fruit and they were the size of a large lemons. I never needed any pestiside either. So that made it organic. you can freeze spare fruit or bottle it, or just share with your neighbours. Good luck. I think its getting the right position and making sure you have equal sun and shade, along with plenty of water and fertiliser. I just did that weekly. You cant go wrong. Good luck. Just make sure you side of the house, has good sun shade. Its easy to make a garden bed with a good potting soil, then the weekly dose of dynamic lifter in liquid form, is amazing, i watered one bag down for well over a year, before topping it up. just leave the bucket down the side and out of the sun. Bless. Tracey.