Passiflora alata 'Ruby Glow' finally fruits

[Guayaba]

Enjoying the last of the P. alata flowers this weekend and wondering how long it will take for the fruits to mature. It seems in south Florida and Hawaii previous posts suggest March or April.  Does it really take about 7 months for these fruit to mature?
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=4610.msg63463#msg63463
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=15254.msg194334#msg194334

I hope the fruit don't rot in our cold wet winters.  I was also able to get a P. macrocarpa to flower and fruit using P. alata as a pollen donor.

P. alata flowers and fruit






P. macrocarpa flowers and fruit

[pineislander]

Did you hand pollinate?

[SonnyCrockett]

Cool.  I'm a big passiflora fan.

My p. Edulis fruits hung and kept maturing under the first frost.  I probably would have done better to pick them the day before, since some of the fruits were burned by the frost.

[Guayaba]

Did you hand pollinate?

Yes I hand pollinated with P. caerulea as the pollen donor. It’s the only other combination that has worked since P. alata is not self fertile.

[Guayaba]

Cool.  I'm a big passiflora fan.

My p. Edulis fruits hung and kept maturing under the first frost.  I probably would have done better to pick them the day before, since some of the fruits were burned by the frost.

You make a good point. P. edulis fruit usually do fine here maturing over winter, so I hope P. alata will do the same.

[barath]

It should do fine for you -- I was able to get fruit from Ruby Glow and straight P. alata last year in the East Bay, and you are in a warmer area.  The P. alata type fruits don't seem to drop on their own -- you have to pick them when they turn orange.

[Guayaba]

It should do fine for you -- I was able to get fruit from Ruby Glow and straight P. alata last year in the East Bay, and you are in a warmer area.  The P. alata type fruits don't seem to drop on their own -- you have to pick them when they turn orange.

It's great you were able to get another from of P. alata  to use as a pollen donor.  Do you recall when the fruit turned to an orange color?

[barath]

It should do fine for you -- I was able to get fruit from Ruby Glow and straight P. alata last year in the East Bay, and you are in a warmer area.  The P. alata type fruits don't seem to drop on their own -- you have to pick them when they turn orange.

It's great you were able to get another from of P. alata  to use as a pollen donor.  Do you recall when the fruit turned to an orange color?

I think I harvested in January.  If I remember right, they didn't flower at the same time, so I used P. edulis flavicarpa (Hawaiian Lilikoi) to pollinate them.

[Guayaba]

It should do fine for you -- I was able to get fruit from Ruby Glow and straight P. alata last year in the East Bay, and you are in a warmer area.  The P. alata type fruits don't seem to drop on their own -- you have to pick them when they turn orange.

It's great you were able to get another from of P. alata  to use as a pollen donor.  Do you recall when the fruit turned to an orange color?

I think I harvested in January.  If I remember right, they didn't flower at the same time, so I used P. edulis flavicarpa (Hawaiian Lilikoi) to pollinate them.

Thanks for the information on the ripening date. I hope to harvest in January or a bit later.  I attempted cross pollination with P. alata and P. edulis 'Frederick', but I had no luck.

[barath]

It should do fine for you -- I was able to get fruit from Ruby Glow and straight P. alata last year in the East Bay, and you are in a warmer area.  The P. alata type fruits don't seem to drop on their own -- you have to pick them when they turn orange.

It's great you were able to get another from of P. alata  to use as a pollen donor.  Do you recall when the fruit turned to an orange color?

I think I harvested in January.  If I remember right, they didn't flower at the same time, so I used P. edulis flavicarpa (Hawaiian Lilikoi) to pollinate them.

Thanks for the information on the ripening date. I hope to harvest in January or a bit later.  I attempted cross pollination with P. alata and P. edulis 'Frederick', but I had no luck.

My goal in using P. edulis flavicarpa was to save the seeds from the cross, because I've read that P. alata x P. edulis flavicarpa can produce good tasting fruit, but I think I forgot to save them and ate them instead...

[greenman62]

i grew P. edulis flavicarpa , incarnata, and  Passiflora Foetida
i tried hand pollination, but also saw lots of bees on all of them
several flowers on each plant.
i never got 1 fruit
anyone know why ??

i also had a Purple Possum, but it never even flowered.
it regrows every year for 3 years now, and i might see 2 or 3 flowers in spring
and thats it, no more flowers and no fruit.

 a few years ago, i grew P Incarnata by itself and got 1 fruit.
it stayed in a container, and never got over 5ft long.
i once read if you restrict the roots it is more likely to flower and fruit ??

[Guayaba]

i grew P. edulis flavicarpa , incarnata, and  Passiflora Foetida
i tried hand pollination, but also saw lots of bees on all of them
several flowers on each plant.
i never got 1 fruit
anyone know why ??

i also had a Purple Possum, but it never even flowered.
it regrows every year for 3 years now, and i might see 2 or 3 flowers in spring
and thats it, no more flowers and no fruit.

a few years ago, i grew P Incarnata by itself and got 1 fruit.
it stayed in a container, and never got over 5ft long.
i once read if you restrict the roots it is more likely to flower and fruit ??

Some Passiflora species like P. alata are self infertile, so they require another plant (of the same species) with a different genetic make-up, or a closely related species to have successful fertilization and fruit to be produced.  There have been crosses produced of Passiflora foetida x edulis and P. incarnate x P. edulis flavicarpa that were successful, but some of the hybrids are sterile and won't produce fruit or viable seed.  Here is an example of one study that looked and returning viability using colchicine treatments - http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/26/12/1541.full.pdf

I also experienced P. edulis 'Purple Possum' to be a shy bloomer.  After a few years, it finally picked up steam and flowered and fruited profusely. Just my two cents, but P. edulis 'Frederick' has been more reliable for me and produces larger fruit.

Nice Passifloras you have growing by the way!