How to Grow Passionfruit

Passionfruit is a beautiful plant, with purple and whites flowers. It grows well in tropical and subtropical climates. It is pollinated by bees, rich in vitamins and antioxidants, and is a perfect plant to grow in your garden here in Guam. *If you have a known latex allergy, take caution when eating and handling the fruit*

Time of Planting: Dry season. Plant seeds in a very sunny area with protection from wind.

Spacing Requirements: No specific requirement, however, they need to be planted around something it can cling to or climb on such as a fence.

Time to Germination: 10-20 days.

Special Considerations: Passionfruit needs something to climb over: a fence, a water tank, a trellis, anything will do. Watch where you plant them, because they will be up in the crown of a nearby tree. It also requires a lot of water, so be sure to water often especially when fruiting.

Common Pests and Diseases (and how to manage):

Disease:

1. Brown Spot Fungal Disease: remove and dispose of any diseased fruit and prune vine for increased air circulation; apply a copper-based fungicide

2. Passionfruit Woodiness Virus: no control but can recover once fertilized and watered

Pests:

1. Passionvine hopper: hose off with water and then apply oil spray.

2. Scale insect: scrape off insect with toothbrush or gloved hand and then apply horticultural spray oil.

3. Mealy bug: remove by hand and apply a horticultural spray oil or imidacloprid. Wipe off sooty mould with a damp cloth.

4. Fruit fly: use paper or fine mesh cloth bags to prevent maturing fruit being stung. Pick ripe, unblemished fruit and dispose of infested fallen fruit.

Harvest (when and how): Within 6-8 months the plant will begin to produce fruit. When they are ready for harvest, they will simply fall to the ground and are protected by their thicker outer skin layer.

Eating: Smooth-skinned passion fruit is not ripe. Ripen at room temperature, uncovered, out of direct sun, until the fruit skin dimples and darkens, then it is ripe. To eat a passion fruit raw, cut it in half and use a spoon to remove the pulp from the rind. The rind is not edible. People can eat both the seeds and the pulp, or just the pulp.

Storing: Refrigerate ripe passion fruit in a plastic or paper bag for up to 2 days. Passion fruit pulp and seeds can be frozen for up to 3 months. Whole passion fruit can also be frozen.

How to Save Passionfruit Seeds

Recommended Population Sizes: Collect at least 6 seeds from the fruit.

Harvesting: Remove seeds from fruit and plant as soon as possible. Older seeds, while they can do so, take a lot longer to germinate and sometimes do not at all.

Cleaning and Processing: Take out seeds from fruit and remove pulp through a strainer. If not planting immediately, wash the seeds in water and allow them to dry for 3 to 4 days before washing them again and drying them in the shade.

Storage and Viability: If you need to store the seeds, place them in an airtight plastic bag and refrigerate them for up to 6 months. Do not put them in the freezer.