best setup for growing passion fruit

[irun5k]

I picked up a small purple possum at Jene's yesterday.  The spot I have in mind is adjacent to a 20' run of 6' picket fence.  My neighbors previously had an ornamental red passion vine (several, actually) on this fence and eventually it became quite a mess... rather untrained and eventually developed  lot of thatch underneath.  One issue was that there really wasn't anything to support it except the top of the fence.

I'd like to do something to keep the new vine a little more organized this time.  I was thinking about running some guide wire along the fence, maybe two or three horizontal runs stood off from the fence by a few inches.  Or, I was considering creating some type of wire grid on maybe just one of the 6' wide fence panels.  I have no problem spending time during throughout the week to train the vine but I'd (1) of course like it to do very well and (2) like to set up some sort of structure that is most conducive to managing it.

Comments or other ideas (or photos!) appreciated...

[pineislander]

It should cover the fence easily. What you could do is to prune it back annually to remove the old 'thatch' and let it start over. Mine seemed to respond to the cold-then-warmer weather this past month with fresh growth even with no care so it must be a seasonal 'flush' that is setting up. So, a mid-winter pruning might keep it tidy. A single wire might be best, it scrambles very well and mine have been able to grasp the bark of pine trees and begin making their way up. Using a wire grid might just make it harder to prune. 20 feet isn't very long, it will probably make it to the end and come back again.

[irun5k]

Thanks, good point on a grid pattern making pruning more difficult.  I will probably try to go with a a few horizontal runs.  I do feel that this is a little like trying to herd cats, based on my previous experience, but I've also seen some relatively tidy setups so I have hope

[sahai1]

I think no matter what it will be disorganized... just cut it back to the main root every 2 years, it will quickly regrow but you might miss some fruiting.  I do not know much about 'farming' passionfruit, but I imagine it will be less productive if not trimmed back, just like Gac (which I have experience) and grapes (just read about that).

I like the Thai method of farming these vines, which are 2 meter pole with rafters across the top, which are then topped with netting.  The fruit is highly encouraged to drop through the netting, but the leaves stay atop.  So instead of trellised rows, you have large square areas that can be walked under.

You can diversify your vines also, so that when one is trimmed back you can still have something. I have some 'fence' style spans which now have gac, passionfruit, and wing beans, and they are playing together nicely.  Vanilla is coming up underneath.

I will start to build some trellis squares soon, wing beans are just too difficult to find and harvest on trellises.

[sahai1]

google 'passionfruit farm' in Thai, I'm sure you will see a lot of great examples which are cheap to make:

สวนเสาวรส

[FruitFreak]

I've been contemplating a multi-purpose trellis design and keep coming back to a traditional T trellis with posts spaced at 16'.  The 5' wide horizontal T's would be threaded with 1/8" galvanized aircraft cable (one on each side of the T) to a turnbuckle to earth anchor.  Grape and passion fruit vines could be grown in between the posts and cordons trained horizontally.  If both outsides cables are used two rows could essentially be grown on the same trellis.  I wonder if the inside shading would be a big deal?