fruiting habits of sweet lilikoi

[samuel]

Hi everyone,

i am interesting in learning about your experience with sweet lilikoi (Passiflora alata).

I have been growing 3 vines (seedlings) put together on a single structure. They started fruiting the second year from the 3rd flush of flowers. I used to do some hand pollinating while flowering but was a bit discouraged when i observed that not all flushes but one out of 2/3 would set fruits. I was not able to follow up these vines because i moved to another place.

Is this hazardous fruit setting a common habit of this specie? I was very enthusiastic with this fruit because of its sweetness but regarding productivity i am not sure how it goes...

I would have liked to know more about it. Do you know if that is a commercially grown specie? Are they generally grown from seed or cuttings?

Thanks!

[Mike T]

Samuel I bought some fruit several years ago that were P.alata X P.quadrangularis ad was so impressed that I planted the seeds.It flowered prolifically and I hand pollinated but after nearly 3 years of fruitless effort it bit the dust and volunteered for mulch patrol.This probably had more to do with being a hybrid rather than having alata blood (sap).

[fyliu]

What I was told by a French grower is they need to be pollinated by a different genotype plant. So you need to use a plant grown from a different seed. Furthermore, The flower structure does not allow bees to do pollination, so you'll have to get to them in the morning before the bees steal all the pollen. The last point I remember is that the curvature of the pistil determine whether he pollinates a flower or picks it. Curve down means receptive and up means sterile.

The gentleman is able to set every fruit he pollinates and have deals to sell the fruits to a couple of local restaurants.

[fruitlovers]

Hi everyone,

i am interesting in learning about your experience with sweet lilikoi (Passiflora alata).

I have been growing 3 vines (seedlings) put together on a single structure. They started fruiting the second year from the 3rd flush of flowers. I used to do some hand pollinating while flowering but was a bit discouraged when i observed that not all flushes but one out of 2/3 would set fruits. I was not able to follow up these vines because i moved to another place.

Is this hazardous fruit setting a common habit of this specie? I was very enthusiastic with this fruit because of its sweetness but regarding productivity i am not sure how it goes...

I would have liked to know more about it. Do you know if that is a commercially grown specie? Are they generally grown from seed or cuttings?

Thanks!

Hi Samuel, Passiflora alata is grown commercially in Brazil. I saw it in stores there. Also i saw that Anestor was growing it on his farm on a big trellis. I don't think he hand pollinated and it had a lot of fruits on it. You are probably missing the correct pollinatior? As you can see here the fruits can get quite big and have nice sweet taste:

 BTW, lilikoi is the Hawaiin name for P. edulis var. flavicarpa. We don't grow P. alata here, so there is no Hawaiin name for it.

[Soren]

Hi Samuel, I have been growing it for many years. It does require cross-pollination, and here that happens naturally (sunbirds could be among them), but I get bigger fruits with hand pollination. It is fairly drought and nematode resistant.

[samuel]

Hi everyone,

thanks to all  for these informations, i will try them out and will let you know about Sweet lilikoi fruiting in Reunion. Fyliu, any chance you put me in contact with this compatriot farmer from south california?

here is a link showing the first sweet lilikoi ever filmed in Reunion history. Starting from 2'25. This video was shot for local TV making a  subject about agroecology. This will give you an idea of the former yard i used to live in.

Arterre et l'agroécologie

[fyliu]

Samuel, unfortunately Patrice is one of those people that do their own thing and don't mingle with groups like CRFG. "The only thing rare about CRFG are the growers themselves." I met him through a mutual friend as he was finishing his trials on growing P. alata and preparing to grow them in large scale. I'll find out how to contact him. His place is findable by GPS coordinate only because all the roads for several miles have the same name.