So I have been on a mission to find some different types of passion fruit that can be grown in Southern California. It seems to me that everyone has the Fredricks variety and I would love to establish a vine that has some different acid to sugar balance.
I stopped by Exotica in Vista this last Monday to buy a Grumichama and several different mango seedlings for rootstock. While we were down in the area, me and the family went to another favorite nursery, Atkins Nursery. We bought several boxes of white sapote, reed avacodos and passion fruit.
While I was picking out the bigger Fredricks passion fruit from the box, I noticed another box of passion fruit sitting next to it. The thing that caught my eye was all the different colors and sizes. I asked the young guy that was working there and he told me that a local man grows a lot of different types and gives them to him to sell at the farmers market.
If anyone has any idea what types these are or if they might be in contact with the person in Fallbrook that is growing these, I would be interested in hearing more.
There look to be three different cultivars from my observations: two yellow types (one of short, fat & circular, the other is long & oval) and a very light red colored one. This one has five distinct ridges that don't show up very well on the photos.
I will post a taste update in a few days when I have the time.