How To Grow Passion Fruit

Introduction

in this article, I’m going to show you How To Grow Passion Fruit

• Common Name:- Passion Fruit
• Scientific Name:- Passiflora edulis
• Family:-Passifloraceae
• Growth Type:- vine, can grow up to 30 feet
• Flowers:- variegation five petals and sepals
• Fruit Type:-Fleshy
• Native in:-Southern Brazil, Paraguay, Northern Argentina

Importance

• Good for Diabetics
• Younger looking skin
• Enhance Immunity
• Keeps your heart healthy
• Prevent Osteoporosis
• Improve insulin sensitivity
• Reduce anxiety
• Provides key nutrients.

Recommended Varieties.

• Yellow Passion  ( Passiflora edulis f. flavicarps)
• Purple Passion  (Passiflora edulis f.edulis)
• Giant Passion    (passiflora quadrangalaris)
• Banana Passion (Passiflora mollissima)
• Sweet Passion (Horana)  (Passiflora ligularis)

Cultivation

Climatic requirements

• Prefer tropical to subtropical humid climate.
• Grow well 2000m up to sea level
• Annual rainfall :- 1000mm- 2500mm
• Temperature    :-  20⁰c – 30⁰c

Soil requirements

• Sandy loam with 6.5-7.5 pH
• Excellent drainage
• Should be rich in organic matter.

Passion Fruit Cultural Practices.

•  Panting Materials:- seedlings, stem cutting plants
• Spacing:-  between 02 rows: 2m/between 02 plants: 4 .5m
• Planting hole size:- (60×60×60) CM
• Planting Period:- Start of the rain in September or October.

Field establishment

1. Should select healthy plants.
   • shade until one week                                   
2. after planting
   • add mulch around the                                  
   • root system.
3. Make piers:-   30cm front of the row between every 2 plants Straight and strong. Can use concrete or wooden piers. Height:- 2m, Wire concatenation:- gauge 14 wire, Galvanize wire, up to 1 ¾ -2 m earth level

Irrigation                            

•  can use a water hose or drip irrigation system.
• Can use mulch to reduce evaporation.
• Eg:- coir dust, dried grasses

Weeding

• remove weed around the plant 60cm-90cm circle.
• Other land surfaces can grow grasses or other cover crop and cut it short.

Fertilizer application

Application time	Urea	TSP	MOP	Kiserite
Before planting	45	80	40	55
2 month after planting	45	80	40
6 months after planting	45	80	40
10 months after planting	45	80	40	55
14 months after planting	80	140	70
18 months after planting	80	140	70
22 months after planting	80	140	70	55
26 months after planting	115	200	105
30 months after planting	115	200	105
34  months after planting	115	200	105	55
After every 4 month	150	260	140

Pest and Disease Management

Pests                                                    

• Aphids                                 
• chafer beetle    
• Mealybug
• Red spider mite

Higher animals;- monkeys, squirrels

Control

• Remove damaged plant parts
• Use recommended insecticide (abamectin, imidacloprid)
• Weed control
• Pod covering by using the net.

Diseases

• Anthracnose
• Brown spot disease
• Passion fruit virus disease
• Scab
• Root rot

Control

• Field sanitation
• Remove affected plant parts and destroy it
• Apply insecticide for control vectors
• Apply recommended fungicide.

Special Management Practices

Training of vines  

• give support to grow until wire
• can use stick or rope.
• occasion to grow single stem until wire.
• remove all lateral branches having below the wire.
• grow after vine to wire, should remove terminal bud & occasion to grow 2 lateral branches to cross direction.
• grow the lateral branches up to 2 m remove terminal bud. Now well grow the flower-bearing secondary branches.

Hand Pollination

• purple passion variety can set fruit by self-pollination.
• yellow passion variety is self sterility plant.
• therefore self-pollination leisure is very low.
• should pollinate different vine flower for fruit setting.
• can get successful fruit by using hand pollination.
• usually yellow passion variety flowering time is 12.00 pm
• Can start of the hand pollination at 1.00 pm
• Should not pollination between same passion vine flowers
• Pollination is successful by pollinate different passion vine flowers.
• Got pollen by anther and apply to stigma by using a paintbrush with fine fibre, cotton swabs.
• If not having rainfall 2 hours after pollination fruit setting is successful.

Pruning

• Passion fruit has 5 years of economical life span.
• So it is necessary to the pruning of vines to get high yield through the this life span.
• Objectives of Pruning of vines are, harvesting is easier, promote growth, keeps vines growing in a designated area.
• Cut off any dead, weak or diseased portions of the vine.
• Remove tangled vines by cutting them away with hand pruners
• Prune away up to one-third of the exiting vine to promote new growth.
• Cutaway dead vines anytime during the year.

Harvesting

• Yellow passion;-Can harvest 70 days after flowering. Outer skin colour turn to even yellow colour & shiny surface.
• Purple passion;- can harvest 90 days after flowering. outer skin colour turn to Dark purple.
• Main harvesting period – March to August
• Can get maximum yield at 3^rd year

Grading, Sorting, transporting and storage

• Should not use ruff collecting and transporting method.
• Same shape & size fruits store separately.

Value-added products

• Cordial
• Passion Fruit Butter
• Passion Fruit Juice
• Beverage
• Passion Fruit Jelly
• Passion Fruit Ice Cream
• Body Wash
• Bath and Shower gel

check out my other article:How to Grow Mushroom (Ultimate Guide)