Summer would not be complete with out having a passion fruit vine in the garden.Widely grown in the warmer parts of the world it is a native plant of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. It is now grown commercially from Sri lanka to New Zealand and Australia.A climbing plant that grows quickly in a position it likes, covering unsightly fences and walls with its interesting flowers and fruit.

There are three varieties, Banana passion fruit, “passiflora mollisima” an oval or elongated fruit not unlike a rather squat banana. The fruit of this vine has very sweet tasting fruit. The drawback to this vine is that it can become a pest so maintaining control over its growth and spread is essential. It also tolerates cooler weather and light frosts.The most common is the edulis variety can also tolerate weather to a light frost. A prolific cropper, I had over 200 fruit off a 1-year-old plant.The third is the giant form “quadrangularis” it has huge sweet purple fruit and like the rest of the variants is a vigorous and fast growing plant.

Growing passion fruit could not be easier. They seed very readily from seeds that have dried in the skin. Plant in a well-drained light soil spot in the garden that has had plenty of compost added. These plants are sun lovers and like a fence that gets the sun most of the day. As a climbing plant, it will need support as it begins to climb either a fence or trellis. Wire fixed across the fence so that the tendrils can be encouraged to hold on for support. Other suggestions are chicken wire, or plastic garden trellis from a hardware or garden shop.

Passion fruit are gross feeders and relish a complete fertilizer with a nitrogen rich base. Side dressings of sulphate of ammonia every three to six weeks will give a boost to the plant. Poultry manure can be used if care is taken to keep it away from the main stem. You may prefer just to use a liquid fertilizer every couple of weeks. » Read more: Passion Fruit Pleasures