How to plant and care for Passion Fruit

Passiflora edulis

🍓 Fruit 🌸 Flower 🔁 Perennial

The edible passion fruit: a vigorous, tender climber with striking flowers and purple, aromatic fruits. Needs a greenhouse, conservatory or very sunny room.

At a glance: harvest in September.

When to plant and care for it

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Flowers

Harvest

Prune

Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.

Growing Passion Fruit: what it needs

Light: Full sun · 6+ hours a day
Watering: Water freely in summer, sparingly in winter
Soil: Fertile, well-drained soil
Spacing: 2 m
Height: 3–5 m
In pots: Only in large containers
Feeding: Tomato feed weekly in summer
Hardiness: USDA zones 10–11

Step by step

On planting day
Plant
Plant 30 cm away from the wall or fence, leaning the stems towards it on canes. Tie them to wires or a trellis as they grow.
0–1 days after “Plant”
Water In Well
Give a full can of water, then keep moist for the first few weeks while roots establish.
7–14 days after “Water In Well”
Mulch Around the Base
Spread 5 cm of compost or bark around the plant, keeping it off the stems.

Every year

February
Prune
Cut side shoots that fruited last year back to two buds from the main stems.
May
Feed Weekly
Feed every week with tomato feed from late spring to early autumn.
July
In Flower
In flower — hand-pollinate with a paintbrush if insects cannot get in.
September
Pick Passion Fruit
Fruits are ripe when they turn purple, wrinkle slightly and drop.
Starts from year 2.