Passiflora incarnata?

Has anyone had an success growing this outside here in the UK? Ive always wanted to have a go at growing an edible passion fruit (one that's not insipid anyway...) and I've read that this one is pretty Frost Hardy at the roots unlike Passiflora edulis

Anyone tried previously?

 

Hi ICR, I tried it outside in sunny Northants some years ago. It didn't survive, although the winters weren't all that bad and the roots were well-mulched. A lot depends on whether you're growing from seed and can afford to gamble!

 

There was one at The Lake Hotel on Shore Road hanging over the wall heaving with flowers and fruit. Also my neighbour had one at The Mansion which fruited to ripening stage. Not sure which variety though. Perhaps you could take a wander down there?

 

Think I tried it once years ago, it died

It was around the time T&M were stating, that, and another hybrid of it, forgotten the name, were root hardy, probably more than 20 yrs ago.
Well they might be root hardy in warmer summer climates, but if it should survive its likely to take most of the summer regrowing some leaves, let alone flowering and forming fruit, in the UK.

You could try Edulis, pot grown, might not fruit first year from seed, but should stand a good chance in year two.
I'll let you know, I've got a couple grown from seed last year.

Is there such a thing as a non insipid passion fruit?

 

Thanks everyone

I've got some seeds arriving so I will give it ago

 

the hint of whether something grows or not in your area you get it simply by looking around in garden and houses and stores. Particularly the stores wouldn't want to sell anything not suitable for the area. In this area (East London) the passiflora thrives. I personally find it a bit of an alien flower but, I have to admit, it is skillfully created.

 

I have to disagree, @miraflores. For many years I lived in High Wycombe. The "soil" is a thin layer nearly pure Flint on a "bedrock" of chalk. You could not imagine a more alkaline soil. Yet all the shops and garden centres pushed azaleas, rhodedendrons, heathers, etc. (The trendy plants at the time). They did not stand a chance. You could not even grow them in raised beds filled with acid soil, unless you could guarantee rainwater 365 days of the year, as the water was very, very hard.

There are lots of passionflowers that are around, but although they fruit, and the fruits are edible, they are not very palatable. Certainly not the same passion fruit that we buy in the shops.

We were actually also considering sourcing a culinary passionflower, as our current pfs grow well here, but if they are root frost-tender, they are sadly not an option for us....

 

you may well be right, Shiney, I thought there was only one type. Do they need different climatic condition and in what do they differ?

 

There are over 500 species plus all the hybrids and cultivars! Their growing conditions vary enormously.

 

Moin Moin everyone.

Don't mind me digging up this old thread. A little bit of necromancy never hurt anyone....

I started another thread more recently here, but I thought it would be more appropriate to use this one for my experiences.
I bought those two after almost a year long search and after acquiring a 40%off voucher they even became somewhat affordable (but still pretty expensive)





As you can see my 2 passiflora incarnata recently started to take a liking to the sunshine and 25ish°C in my plant nursery. It started sprouting directly from the roots with a few more shoots on the way if you carefully remove some of the top layer of mulch.

I was planning on planting them outside in may, where they will get a nice sunbathing spot right in the middle of my garden. As a climbing aid, I have a wrought iron pavillon which is about 250cm high and currently inhabited by a few runner beans and two kiwi plants.

The USDA climate zone here is 7b (more like 7a - 8a depending on what map you use) and the soil is somewhat normal. Neither lots of clay, nor sand, but with a slightly below average pH.

I will keep you posted

 

Small update:

While the weather outside seems to have missed the memo about the end of winter (heavy snowfall and -1°C), my incarnatas are totally unimpressed and continue to thrive.

Here's a picture from two days ago when I could actually still see the lawn, now buried in snow:



There are seven shoots on the left plant and four on the right. But probably more beneath the soil waiting for sunshine and the right time.

 

Another Update:

Two weeks have passed and to support the incarnatas, I gave them a bamboo stick each. Took them less than an hour to tightly latch on to them.
They are now outside during the day to prepare them for wind and weather. But as the nights are still near the freezing point I don't want to take any chances and tuck them away safely every evening.

 

Another update from my two passiflora incarnata:

Slugs love them while they are young! Both where completely ravished by slugs, but managed to grow back with a little bit of help. A slug collar stopped the assault and after growing a bit the slugs seem to have lost interest.



One plant has broken the 2 meter barrier in mid July and started blooming around then.



The other is behind schedule but slugs did a lot more damage here.
The flowers are pretty short lived (2-3 days before wilting) but as one flower closes, another opens up. So there is always some place that's blooming.

The bars of my wrought iron pavilion are quadratic with 1x1 cm in diameter. This seems to be sufficient for them although about 50% of the climbers are missing their target and start slipping and coiling around themselves. So I guess they shouldn't be a lot thicker to give them enough grip. But you can always guide them and start knotting the climbers yourself to keep them fastly attached.

Will keep you posted.