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Re: Passiflora

Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 6:10 pm
by foxd
Alan_L wrote:I really don't know how to tell if they're ripe. Some critters pulled a couple of the green fruits down and had ripped them open. Was mostly empty except for the seeds which had a "jelly" covering. Smelled *really* good.
needmore wrote:Ripe when yellow or purple depending upon species, still edible when wrinkled but that is a tad overripe.
The fruity smell is probably the best way to tell if they are ripe, since it makes you want to eat them. :)

They jelly covering is delicious! BTW, in anticipation of a bumper crop of passionfruit, I bought a potato ricer to make separating the juice from the seeds easier.

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 6:33 pm
by needmore
Aw Dan you just slurp the juice seeds & all! Unless of course you intend to make Lilikoi jelly or shave ice syrup.

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2011 7:43 pm
by Alan_L
This page has some good info:
http://uswildflowers.com/journal/?p=747

Says that they have a "tinge of yellow" when ripe. When starting to shrivel or when mostly yellow they're over-ripe and still edible (like Brad said) but "more of a rotten-sweet flavor than a sugary sweet flavor".

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 12:30 pm
by foxd
needmore wrote:Aw Dan you just slurp the juice seeds & all! Unless of course you intend to make Lilikoi jelly or shave ice syrup.
Or saving the seeds for possible future. From what I've read, the plants are near perfect for selective breeding, but it hasn't been done.

Alan_L wrote:This page has some good info:
http://uswildflowers.com/journal/?p=747

Says that they have a "tinge of yellow" when ripe. When starting to shrivel or when mostly yellow they're over-ripe and still edible (like Brad said) but "more of a rotten-sweet flavor than a sugary sweet flavor".
I'll check it out. The definition of ripe appears to be variable. :?

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 2:49 pm
by foxd
I seem to be getting better at judging ripeness and have been regularly snacking on the fruit. Those are really good to eat!

I don't know yet if this is going to be typical of one of the vines, but I couldn't help noticing that the one fruit I harvested from it had a much higher pulp&juice to seed ratio. Hopefully other fruit from this vine will have the same characteristic...

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 1:25 pm
by Samajax
Grows like a weed down here..underground runners, climbing up everything.

But it is one of the first flowers of early spring (massive amounts of blooms now), the flowers are beautiful ..and it's the larval food source of the gulf fritillary butterfly, so I grow a patch.
Passion flower- resized.JPG

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:39 pm
by Alan_L
Samajax -- that looks like Passiflora caerulea, not the Passiflora incarnata that we can grow in z6. Ours blooms much later in the year.

Beautiful though! Does it produce edible fruit?

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:09 pm
by canadianplant
Im testing Incarnata up in zone 4. I prought my seedlings inside for the winter, and they broke dormancy in february, and have foot tall growth. I cant wait to plant them!

P Cerulea, is said by some sources to grow in zone 5, on a south wall, heavily mulched. I cannot for the life of me, germinate the seed, so I havnt had a chance to test this. I do believe the fruit is edible, but not as good as incarnata, or passionfruit itself.

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:49 pm
by Samajax
You're oh so right Alan..it is the Passiflora caerulea. The flowers aren't quite as showy as the incarnata.

Fruit and seeds all the time. Ripe when wrinkly yellow- the squirrels are always first in line for chow.

This covers a huge section of fence right now, but in a bad winter there can be a lot of die back. In the spring it had better get it's leaf on soon, cause
the Gulf Fritillary larvae will strip this thing bare. It is their favorite food.
fritillary larvae.jpg

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:51 pm
by foxd
I have a Passiflora caerulea that I grew from seed. It was the only seed in the batch that germinated. It never flowered and for several years I planted divisions outside, but they never survived the Winter. I finally planted the whole plant outside to die. It came back the next year. I suspect it will come back this year too. :?

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:32 pm
by Samajax
I caught one of those buggers making progress on a bloom- shot through my office window.

By the end of the day, this bloom bud had quite a chunk taken out of it..

The whole vine is crawling with larvae, small and large. Luckily, the winter was not bad and there is plenty to go around.
fritillary larvae eating- resized..JPG

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2014 3:08 pm
by foxd
Update: The Passiflora caerulea finally died.

This year the Passiflora incarnata are coming up everywhere except where they were planted. :?

I am considering putting in several trellises and just having a passionfruit vineyard. :lol:

Thinking further, I have lots of large bamboo canes, cable ties would speed tying them together, the idea looks very doable. 8)

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 2:30 pm
by Alan_L
foxd wrote:This year the Passiflora incarnata are coming up everywhere except where they were planted...
This started for me last year (from the plants you gave me a few years ago). These spread an amazing distance underground in my garden -- 10' or more. Most are nowhere near the pergola support they're intended to climb. :roll:

Still, I wouldn't be without these vines. One of my favorites!

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2014 7:05 pm
by foxd
Alan_L wrote:
foxd wrote:This year the Passiflora incarnata are coming up everywhere except where they were planted...
This started for me last year (from the plants you gave me a few years ago). These spread an amazing distance underground in my garden -- 10' or more. Most are nowhere near the pergola support they're intended to climb. :roll:

Still, I wouldn't be without these vines. One of my favorites!
I know what you mean, I love the flowers and fruit!

Re: Passiflora

Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 8:04 pm
by foxd
I may have mentioned in the past that one of the Passion Flower vines would produce fruit that had four brown stripes on it. This year this particular vine seems larger and more aggressive than the others. Leaves have turned a dark green color and are 8-9 inches across. (There may be larger leaves.) It has outgrown and looks like it is getting ready to attack the bindweed. :shock:

No sign of flowers yet. I will try and post pictures with something for scale.