The reason no one has answered is mainly do to one thing. One never knows when shopping at either of the two big box stores if you are actually getting what you are paying for. They have a tendency to purchase from the lowest priced provider and often the quality control is poor or even none existent. Many of us have had the misfortune of buying a tree from such stores only to find that they were seedlings and won't fruit or the fruit is not to our liking or that the tree was mislabeled. Not saying everything they sell is bad or mislabeled but it only has to happen to you once or twice before you decide you would rather purchase from a reputable local or online tree nursery.

Passion Fruit has a tropical flavor and grows abundantly in the Hawaiian Islands. The fruit starts off green and turns yellow when it ripens. There is a variety on the island of Kauai that turns purple when it ripens. It has a hard outer shell but can be split open very easily with a knife. It has large seeds and hardly any flesh. The fruit is best when the outer shell looks like a prune. It may look shrively but who cares. It's what's inside that counts.

Passion fruit is renowned for its tropical flavors and is used mostly to make juice. It is mixed with orange, pineapple and other tropical fruit juices. Although I love to open it and eat it seeds and all, not too many people would prefer eating it that way.

As you know, passion fruit is a vine and will virtually cover a large tree if allowed to do so. The fruit is plentiful and is the size of a medium sized peach.

I would say that it flourishes in warm climates and cannot handle a winter season. I am not a professional passion fruit grower though and could be proven wrong. As other forum members know, I grow apples, peaches and blueberries in my back yard in Hawaii and that is considered to be uncommon and have been told that peaches cannot grow here.

Anyway, I hope this proves helpful.

Kenny B

Hi Kenny,

Just curious about your peach and apple trees grown in Hawaii. Where in Hawaii are you? And what varieties are they?

Sandra

Do you know which type you have? Maypop? other?

A couple of the passionflower hybrids common in the horticultural trade will survive winter as roots in zone 8/9 with good mulching. You would have to look up which, check the selection names on the plants themselves, and if they are the ones desired hope they are labeled right (as mentioned by another poster).

Then you have the problems of passionflower pollination.

The native maypops are easy, and are edible, but have more musty aroma in with the passionfruit aroma.

The passion vine that home depot sells is most likely passiflora edulis "frederick". This is the same passion fruit that you can buy at the store. If you're in California, you can grow it pretty much anywhere as long as you are below about 2000 feet elevation. It will grow well in all Gulf/Florida zones 9b and above as well.

sk290,

On page 3 of this forum, I sent a message out entitled "Anyone growing peaches, apples or blueberries in Hawaii?" You can read up on it and the responses. This forum has become well known as messages leave the first page earlier than before.

It's good to see that others know about passion fruit. I grew up eating it as a kid.

Kenny B

Specifically, the Purple Passion flower vines sold in HD and Lowes where I used to live were the wild native "Maypop" variety. The Flower is beautiful and smells just like Purple sweet tarts. They are extremely hardy... Grow like mad.

None of the ones I have bought out of HD and Lowes have ever fruited -- even though I even tried hand pollinating them... and I have owned a bunch of them.

I talked to some fellows at local Nurseries that sold cultivated fruiting varieties of passion fruit vines -- they said there were Male and Female plants... and the showy HD Plants were Males (No wonder I couldn't get fruit...) Female fruiting plants are considerably more expensive and available only in Nurseries...

I have tried eating the wild "Maypops" out of ditches on the side of the road... Unimpressed... Nothing special to say about them... They have none of the wonderful taste of a Cultivated Passion Fruit...

To sum up my personal experience:
"Homestore" passion vines are great if you want hardy vines that produce lots of Flowers and no Fruit.
If you want Fruit, get cultivated Fruiting varieties out of proper Nurseries...

YMMV.

John

Update to the previous post...
According to the Seed catalogs -- Passion vines are self-fruitful... not Male and Female...

That doesn't explain the explanation I got from the Nursery guys.. or why mine never fruited in 15 years... even though I frequently hand pollinated...

The rest of it is all based on my own personal experience with Home Store Passiflora, Roadside Maypops, and the like....

My advice is still:
If you want Fruit -- Buy proper cultivated fruiting varieties out of catalogs.

Thanks

John

If you are in California, this year my local HD had Passion fruit Frederick, Ruby Glow and Flame - all three from LaVerne Nursery whom I trust very much. So, you should be fine if you got one of these labeled from LaVerne nursery.

Here is a link that might be useful: LaVarne Nursery's subtropical offerings

that reminds me, i have seen things growing on the side of road, they look orange, size about pinpong balls. are they passion fruits?

so has anyone ever bought those passion fruit vines from home depot, and see any passion fruit growing?

7-8 years ago, I planted a Home Depot passion fruit plant on the north side of the house next to a rosemary plant. It gets some morning sun and that's it.

The passion fruit grew well for couple of years and died. The next year, a "sucker" came out a foot or so from where the old passion was. The new plant is totally under the huge canopy of the now matured rosemary and gets no water. But this new guy grew like crazy flower and fruit hanging 10 20 ft from the plant.

I am seriously thinking of transplanting the tough guy to a better more sunny spot. I think it deserved it.

To get fruit you need two plants from different parentage, not male and female. My local Lowes carries Edulis, and Frederick most commonly, but also has Ruby Glow. I usually hand pollinate with two small artist paint brushes. The pollen from one plant pollinating the other plant without mixing the brushes. This works best later in the afternoon. Flowers only last the one day.

The only Passiflora my home depot has ever carried is "Lavendar Lady" which is nothing special, not winter hardy here, and not for fruit production. I wish they carried maypop, but I can't find this one locally anywhere...

in the nor cal bay area i've seen three different home depots carry "frederick"...summer winds has "frederick" and "muryacuza" (sp?)...at least these past two weeks...

Summerwinds in norcal south bay area also sometimes has Passion fruit vine "Nancy Garrison". You can also have them special order it if they are out.