Guavadilla vine

Has any one grown a guavadilla? If we can get hold of the seeds we would like to grow it along our fence as the fruit is very delicious and it is a hardy plant.

 

Passiflora edulis is the most-common edible variety. We had one on the Isle of Wight which produced fruit annually, but there is a micro-climate near Ventnor and the fruit was able to ripen.

I don't know how it will do in Worcestershire but no double someone will come along and advise you if they fruit in that area ... they need lots of sunshine!

 

We had a vine growing in our garden in Cape Town which has a similar climate to Britain except hotter in the summer but just as cold in the winter which is why I was wondering if it would survive over here.

 

I've been growing passion flower from seed (most likely passiflora edulis). In my (small) experience, they take a long time to germinate, and only one so far has germinated. The one that germinated was sat in a moist pot, covered in clingfilm, sitting on my bathroom floor. I believe they need a certain amount of warmth to sprout so if growing from seed I'd start them off indoors! I've now sat it on the windowsill. It's growing, slowly. I live in the UK. Hope that helps a weeny bit!

I have also seen a passion flower taking over a wall in Newcastle last year. It was flowering and smelled beautiful.

 

I dont think you can actually compare Cape Town with the UK.
I assume we are talking passion flowers/fruit?

The only half reliable passion flower in the UK is cerulea and that has taken a hammering in most places this winter.
I think you will need a greenhouse to grow any of the accepted fruiting species.

 

I am talking about the fruit vareity. I can assure you that in winter Cape Town gets just as cold as the UK and also with lots of rain which is why I left there in the sixties. Summer is sunshine virtually 24/7 though. :lollol:

 

Just making sure we were talking Passiflora species.

With that now clear, I'm still pretty sure it would struggle to grow here, outside all year.

I spoke to a S African mate at work, from Cape town today, and when I asked him if the climate there was in any way comparable to here, he just laughed.

I dont doubt it gets cold and wet at times in winter but at a latitude of 34 degrees south, its never going to get the long freezes we get.

 

Ask him about the snow on the mountains less than 30 miles form Cape Town during the winter and when the wind blows off those mountains. They may not get snow but it gets darn cold but then when I spent over twenty years in the tropics before returning to Cape Town perhaps it felt worse. However I think we will give the guavadilla idea a miss. Thanks. :lollol:

 

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news