Passionfruit

Passionfruit is one of the classic flavours of summer and the vine is a boon for home gardeners. You can plan on a great harvest just 18 months after planting if you follow Linda's tips. Passionfruit are evergreen climbers that love to ramble over fences, sheds and outhouses, or up a veranda, pergola or screen. They are self-clinging, due to their spidery tendrils. They prefer a north-facing position, and though they will take a westerly or easterly position you may find them sneaking around to the north to find more sun. Growing 2m high and 2m wide they are easy to fit into the home garden and as they fruit on new growth, it is necessary to prune them after fruiting each year, which increases ventilation, removes unfruitful wood, and keeps the vine a manageable size. Be wary of planting passionfruit near bushland areas as some have the potential to become weeds.

Soil

Passionfruit dislike wet feet and are prone to root rot in wet soils, so select a well-drained garden bed or slope. Add organic matter, such as composted manures, as well as a little lime, to the soil before planting.

My growing tips:

Plant in autumn, or bare-rooted in winter. Create a framework by selecting the vigorous shoots for training along wires or support. Keep to this framework or you will find yourself swamped by invading canes. Fruit is produced from current season's growth so it is important to trim after the last frost or in early spring. We advise pruning back by about one third. Remove weak growth and dieback. Every few years thin out the vine to increase ventilation. It's easy to see why passionfruit are so hungry – they produce so much fruit! Feed with a fruit tree fertiliser and a little extra potash. We like Harvest. Side dressings of Organic Life or Sudden Impact for Roses are also useful. When choosing your fertiliser, keep in mind that fertilisers high in nitrogen will produce leaves at the expense of fruit. Water deeply once a week in spring-summer; add seaweed to the watering can once a week.

Tips & Tricks:

· Grafted specimens cope better with wet summers, and we find them stronger and more forgiving. Passionfruit also grow from seeds and cuttings.

· If it rains during the flowering period, hand pollination of flowers is recommended to boost the yield.

· Plant both 'Black' and 'Panama Gold' passionfruit to get fruit all year round!

· Passionfruit vines last up to seven years, and after this time will need to be replaced.

· Grow passionfruit on a trellis, fence or support that faces west or northwest for best growth and productivity.

Choice varieties:

All 350 species of passionfruit have dramatic star-shaped flowers that may be red, violet, pink or white. For best fruit, look for these varieties:'Nellie Kelly, Black' – distinctive taste, heavy cropper, tolerates frost to –2 degrees. Grafted. Rootstock prone to suckering if you dig around the plant. 'Panama Red' – vigorous with large, red-skinned fruit. Skin goes soft when ripe.'Panama Gold' – wonderful large fruit that appears all through winter.'Banana Passionfruit