Passion Fruit Planting Methods and Key Technical Points
SummarySoil: Choose sandy soil that is fertile and well aerated. Planting: Mix an appropriate amount of decomposed organic fertilizer with sandy loam to use as covering soil or planting soil. Fertilizer and water: Apply 10-15 kg of decomposed farmyard manure per hole; after the seedlings survive, apply dilute manure water once every 30 days. Trellising: When the young vine grows to 40-50 cm, promptly set up supports and train the vines onto the trellis. Flowering: It flowers in June and enters the main fruiting period in the second year.
1. Soil
It is suitable for planting in sandy loam that is fertile, loose in texture and well aerated. It should not be planted in heavy clay soil, tight sandy soil, cold sandy soil or plots prone to erosion. A soil pH of 7.0 or below, neutral to slightly acidic, is preferable.
2. Planting
When planting seedlings, remove the old leaves, then take off the nursery bag. An appropriate amount of decomposed organic fertilizer can be mixed evenly with sandy loam to use as covering soil or planting soil. When planting, straighten out the root system, then fill the soil in layers and tread it firm and compact, and water the soil thoroughly. When planting the seedling, the root crown should be 8-10 cm above the ground. After planting, form a tree basin and cover it with 50×50 cm plastic film.
3. Fertilizer and Water
When planting passion fruit, an appropriate amount of base fertilizer can be applied at the same time as digging the holes, generally 10-15 kg of decomposed farmyard manure per hole, and then the holes can be backfilled with soil before planting. After harvesting the fruit each year, sufficient base fertilizer should be applied together with pruning and weeding, with 8-10 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer per plant. Topdressing is carried out after the plants survive planting, once every 30 days, first light and then concentrated, mainly using dilute manure water.
4. Trellising
When the young vine grows to 40-50 cm, supports should be set up promptly and the young vine trained onto the trellis. When the main vine of the young plant grows to 70-80 cm, keep 2 side vines, then train them separately onto the trellis as the first layer of main vines. When the plant grows to 1.5-1.6 m, keep 1 strong side branch, which together with the extended main vine serves as the second layer of main branches, then train them separately in opposite directions onto the trellis, so that they form a double-layer, four-branch vine structure.
5. Flowering
The flower buds of passion fruit differentiate in the current year, usually differentiating while new shoots are growing. It takes about 30 days from flower bud differentiation to flowering. For cutting seedlings planted in the current year, they generally flower by June, and a small amount of fruit comes to market by August. In the second year they enter the main fruiting period. From March to November each year, they flower multiple times. On the fruiting branch vines, each node at the base can form 1 flower, and 4-6 normal flowers can form in succession; afterward, normal-growing flowers can form every 2-3 nodes.
6. Fruiting
The fruit ripening time of passion fruit mainly depends on the flowering season. Generally, flowers that open in May-June reach maturity 50-60 days after flowering; flowers that open in August-September need 70-90 days to reach maturity; flowers that open after October need 100-120 days to enter maturity. Usually, hand pollination gives a higher fruit-setting rate. From mid-June each year to early February of the following year, there are ripe fruits available for picking, with the more concentrated harvest periods in early July and late October.