Growing Passion Fruit in the Philippines
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Rio Sibraoir
Posted on: March 24, 2007

I’m from the Philippines. I recently got passion fruits from a local market. Ours are yellow in color. How does it vary from the one I saw in the Internet which is purple in color?

It is a different species. There are many species of passion fruit and the one from the local market is probably well suited to your particular area.

I’m interested in growing the plant from its seeds. Can you help me how? Are there downloadeable reading materials from the Internet that can help me grow and propagate this fruit in our garden?

Provide a trellis for the plants. The soil should be well-drained and hold moisture. Work in compost and/or sand depending on whether your soil needs water holding capacity and nourishment or if you need to improve the drainage.

Before you plant the seeds, remove the aril (fleshy attachment) attached to them, as it inhibits germination. You may want to dry the seeds first as it is easier to remove all membranes and arils at that point. If pulp is left on the seed, the seed may mould instead of germinate.

Plant the cleaned seeds and cover with soil to twice their thickness. The temperature must be 25 degrees Celsius or more, with some species germinating best at 35 degrees Celsius. Depending on the age of the seed and the species, most seed will germinate in 10 to 28 days, but some seeds, even from the same fruit may take over a year to come up.

Cover the seed bed with some boughs to increase humidity. Or, grow them in pots which can be covered. In this case wait until the plants are about 10cm tall before planting them in their permanent spots. Water frequently for the first week or two after transplanting.

Be warned that some seedlings may take a very long time to flower, while most flower at two years of age.

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