Purple passion and lilikoi in half shade?

[Daintree]

So, because of where my greenhouse is situated, things that need full sun have notoriously not done well.
One plant that I have really struggled with are passion vines.
I can get spectacular green growth, but never a flower. Not one.
I have, once again, started some lilikoi and purple passion fruit seeds (it is a sickness, I know...).
If they got enough sun, how long until they flower and fruit?  I was thinking about putting them outside this summer, but moving something that needs a really big trellis can be a problem.
Can I get fruit in one year?  Or should I grow them in the greenhouse for a couple of years then bring them outside to bloom, realizing that I probably won't be able to get them back inside again?
OR, can I throw enough light on them to get them to bloom and fruit in my part-shade greenhouse.
OR, do they just need some nutrient I am not giving them? I use fast-draining acidic potting soil, Osmocote Plus and Miracle Grow (regular or bloom, depending on the plant).
Any help would be appreciated!

Carolyn

[spaugh]

You should use mature cuttings instead of seedlings in your situation.  They are more likely to flower.  My experience is PF vines need to hit a pretty large critical mass before flowering, especially from seed.  The guy Joe Real had a small one in a pot he was girdling, you might try that. 

[coyote]

Hi Daintree if you do decide to put them outside and depending on how tall the pot is I might consider protecting them from rabbits.  The rabbits in my area absolutely annihilated my passion fruit last summer, but it could have been an odd/bad year as they seemed to go after almost everything

[Brebarian]

I don't think sun exposure should be a problem. Half-shade should be fine for a passion fruit vine in my (totally anecdotal) experience with the Fredericks variety. Both my vines are in dappled sun/part shade during most of the day, and produce good-sized crops twice a year. Also, vines in general are understory plants, and should be able to fruit in the shade. 

That said, I agree with Spaugh about the size/critical mass, the larger the vines the better. While I've seen plenty of potted vines (5 gal, trellised to 4-5 ft tall) in nurseries putting on fruit, they seem to lack in quantity and quality. After putting them in the ground, they seem to take a year to really start producing bumper crops.

I wonder if perhaps you don't have a lack-of-nutrient issue, but a too-much-nutrient issue. The more I neglect my passion fruits, the better they seem to do (I don't fertilize at all), and I know that too much nitrogen can cause some fruiting plants to hold off flowering and fruiting, and put on the spectacular growth you mentioned instead. You might try holding off the fertilizer entirely with a plant or two and seeing how it goes.

[Daintree]

Thanks all!
I don't have access to any mature cuttings locally, so I will plunge on with the seedlings for now.  My last ones were two years old and took over the greenhouse. 
I'll try NOT fertilizing these new ones, and then just being patient.
As for putting them outside, we don't have a problem with rabbits in my neighborhood, but the squirrels do a LOT of damage.  They have eaten many of my Maypop vines over the years.

Carolyn

[pineislander]

Have you ever considered planting in ground within the greenhouse but letting a vine run outside the house once weather warms enough?