Passion fruit is easy to grow but has its finer points; you need to master the correct planting method
Passion fruit also has a rather more technical name——Passiflora edulis, and among fruit trees it is known for being “easy to grow”. Although passion fruit is easy to grow, it still has its finer points, otherwise you cannot grow fruit with good quality and high yield. Below is an introduction to a fairly practical passion fruit planting method for everyone's reference.
I. Passion fruit planting methods
Judging from the current passion fruit planting situation in various regions, there are mainly two planting methods: one is planting by seed, and the other is planting by cuttings.
1. How do you plant passion fruit by seed?
(1) Sowing time
Planting passion fruit by seed is relatively rare in fruit tree production; generally only specialized passion fruit nursery companies use this method to grow passion fruit.
Because passion fruit is a tropical fruit, it has relatively strict requirements for temperature and light when sowing. The suitable temperature for sowing is 20-30°C, and the daily light duration must be no less than 8 hours, so passion fruit is suitable for sowing in the two periods of late spring and early autumn.
(2) Sowing method
After preparing the land and applying fertilizer, sow the passion fruit seeds by broadcasting to raise seedlings, and cover with 1.5-2 cm of soil. Once the seedlings grow to about 50-70 cm, the seedlings can be graded and transplanted for final planting.
2. How do you plant passion fruit by cuttings?
Planting by cuttings means propagating by taking cuttings of the passion fruit's main vine. Afterwards, the main vine will continuously grow side vines, which means the cutting has successfully taken root, and then it can be put onto the trellis as soon as possible.
II. Building the shed and trellis for passion fruit
As a vining plant, after successfully propagating passion fruit, you must promptly build a shed and trellis for them, so that they can bear fruit as early as possible.
For the passion fruit trellis pattern, you can refer to the flat-top style, fence style, herringbone style, arched style and door-shaped style, vertical style, T-shape, and double T-shape; the materials are cement and stone pillars or wood posts with anti-corrosion function.
After building the trellis, use wire to pull a 50 cm×50 cm mesh canopy.
III. Orchard management for passion fruit planting
1. How do you fertilize passion fruit?
Passion fruit has a relatively large demand for nitrogen fertilizer, so during fertilization, nitrogen fertilizer is mainly used, supplemented by decomposed farmyard manure and compound fertilizer. Starting from final planting, fertilizer can be applied once a month.
2. How do you water and irrigate passion fruit?
Passion fruit is not suitable for too much watering, so when watering, be sure to maintain ventilation and avoid water accumulation. You can water once the soil is dry. Note that drainage should be timely during the rainy season, and in the hot summer it is best to water once in the morning and once in the evening, with the amount each time not too large.
For the watering method, it is recommended to use sprinkler irrigation, so that all passion fruit branches can receive water evenly.
3. How do you prune and train passion fruit?
After the passion fruit's main vine has grown side vines, the side vines should be pruned; generally keeping 3-4 side vines is enough. In addition, if the branches become too dense, they also need to be pruned in time.
4. How do you prevent and control passion fruit pests and diseases?
In the prevention and control of passion fruit pests and diseases, prevention is mainly relied upon. Common diseases include anthracnose and stem base rot, and pests include thrips and mites. Persist in observing the orchard every day, so that problems can be discovered in time and the right remedy applied early.