Passion Fruit Vine
Answered by: Richters Staff
Dorothy McLeod pleads
Help!
Several years ago, I bought a tiny passion fruit vine from you. The first year, it got eaten up by something or other and spent the next few years recovering. This year it got even and grew all over the patio and on up the the neighbour’s balcony. It has about a dozen green fruits of various sizes. I had to bring it in last night as frost threatened. Most of it is wound up in a ball and takes up half the living room (well, it takes up a lot of space). My questions are:
1. Is there any chance the fruits will ripen if I provide supports for it in the living room?
2. Would it be better just to prune it to about five feet high? Will it survive?
Thank you for any advice you can provide.


We don’t know if the fruits will ripen. The plants are going to suffer from the sudden change in light levels, and you probably will notice leaves turning yellow and dropping. There is no doubt that the plant will need to be cut back eventually to get it to a more manageable size for the indoors. Whether the fruits will continue to ripen will depend on many factors, few of which are working in your favour right now. We have to hope that the fruits are large enough to continue the ripening process much like tomatoes will. We recommend leaving the fruits on the vines until they either ripen or show signs of degradation. Carefully move the vines into a location getting more than four hours daily. On mild days, move the plant out when possible. After you harvest the fruits (we hope!), prune back vines to five feet as you suggest. Provide copious sunlight and when you see signs of new growth, fertilize with a balanced liquid fertilizer like 6-6-6 Lakefish fish emulsion.

Back to Growing Herbs | Q & A Index

Copyright © 1997-2024 Otto Richter and Sons Limited. All rights reserved.