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Good job on the fruits!It's funny (and frustrating) how long it can take sometimes... I had some seeds from fruit I tried to germinate in mid-May, they had low germination rate, only about 1/20 after a few weeks, but then a second one in October, 5 months later.
All my ligularis vines are in the middle of blooming, so I'm wondering if they're triggered by temps or daylight. Hopefully they go on cue this coming spring.
The new laurifolia seeds sprouted >80% (31/38, they sent a lot of extras this time), which was way better than the 30% from my own ligularis fruit (7/24). Also, I had almost given up on this spring's PSI seeds, but finally 1 miniata sprouted after 7 months.
I think they could get more but I think from a maintenance and harvesting efficiency standpoint or a commercial trellis that was the goal. Similar to grapes I guess.Could be - most farms don't seem to have individual plants running on endlessly and have them fairly close together and compact on their trellisses.
Awesome work man, I did some research and in commercial plantings for p. Edulis they typically get 50 Fruits per vine.Interesting, I'm a bit surprised they don't get more, considering how big p. edulis can get. Mind, you it varies a lot from plant to plant, when I was in Madeira, I saw some plants that were very large, spanning across 15-20ft pergolas, and others that were much smaller, like a small clematis, but still mature enough to have fruit.
Wow, those nightshades are wacky!The taxonomy with the black ones is a bit tricky. There's solanum retroflexum, which is I believe the one I have, and also solanum nigrum/scabrum, and they often get mixed up.
I have black, growing wild.
Interesting about the Mission Dolores pollen. This is the first year fruiting for me and I haven't seen any pollen yet. Only saw the first flowers in July, so maybe too hot, but we don't get that hot either. I was able to pollinate the flowers with purple edulis. Flowers are open 2 days, so they get a double dab. We just tried the first fruit the other day. I don't know if they are considered fully ripe, but they had fallen off on their own (~70 days after pollination), and the one we tried had an incredibly floral taste. The other one is still on the counter to see if there is any difference.Congrats! The fruit looks ripe to me.
Nick, I live a couple of blocks from the ocean, so humidity is usually high, with misty mornings and evenings. We've only had a handful of days in the the 80's, mostly been in the 70's this summer. Pollen was viable when we were still in the 60's during the day and cool at night. Not sure of the agricultural restrictions in Canada, but we can trade cuttings if you're interested. Flowers are really beautiful red/pink and the vine has been flowering nonstop since spring. Another one to try is Decaisneana, I really like the taste on this one and it is pretty sweet with really beautiful flowers. I haven't tasted a fully ripe Mission Dolores yet, but the three I've cut open have a honeysuckle floral and light melon fragrance.If Mission Dolores requires 60s for viable pollen, then that might be tricky, but I'd still consider growing it for just the flowers.
There were a few okay purples, and perhaps I might have kept them if I didn't have the parents (Possum and Frederick). Also, it's not just taste, but some make smaller fruit, or less juice/pulp, or the vine just lacks vigor. In any case, I haven't gotten lucky so far. I have not tried any reds.Well, maybe I'll consider getting a Possum Purple next year since there's a nursery in my province that sells them.
Note that some flavicarpas may be self-incompatible. My vines didn't appear to set fruit unless I manually crossed them. Also, I didn't get much, if any, sets when trying to pollinate them with purples, but since I had enough yellows, I didn't bother trying to figure out the magic incantation of doing those crosses.
"My p. edulis were from plant bought long ago at Home depot was p. 'Fredrick' but there are no true Fredrick around any more except maybe Rick McCain, other p. edulis/edulis small seedling and have been propagating older red type edulis for years along with 'Black Knight', Possum Purple, Red Rover are seedling and cutting started. P. edulis flavicarpa grows like crazy and is flowering a little more but is a beast of a grower (should cut back one day and graft edulis on it's roots). Have been getting seeds yearly from PSI seed bank.My summers are cooler than both Laguna Beach and Fallbrook, CA, so I think they'd do well if they don't mind being moved indoors for the winter, just a question of finding a source.
have p. alata, p. deciasneana, p. quadrangularis, p. ligularis, p. purple tiger, p. laurifloria all outside for couple years now only get light frost for short durations in Winter."
ScottR, can you clarify when you say there are no true Fredericks around anymore.
Nick, thanks for sharing your experience and photos. Beautiful flowers. Have you tried Antioquiensis or Mission Dolores? Not sure if your summers are too hot, but maybe if grown in shade? I had an Antioquiensis set a couple of fruits from less than a year old seedling, but the vine died before they had a chance to ripen. The roots were infested with root knot nematodes when I pulled it out. Wish I had taken some cuttings before it died because I haven't been able to find another plant. Mission Deloros is growing vigorously with constant flowering from a less than 2 year old plant. Pollen isn't viable at warmer Summer temps but easily set fruit in late spring with hand pollination. Fruit is really unique from other passion fruits I've tried. I'm going to plant a lot of the seeds. I have one alata x edulis cross that has been slow growing but looks like it's finally established and will put on some good growth.
Very nice collection you have there. Do you think the tzimbalo will turn cream with purple strips like a Pepino when it is ripe?Maybe slightly more cream than the one I picked, but not like a pepino.
I do prefer them less acidic, but the problem was the seedling variation. I planted out several seedlings from a good fruit we had, and they all had their unique flavors, but unfortunately not in a good way. All were more acidic, but most also had some unenjoyable off-flavors. I also had tried a few seedlings from some purple varieties and they also taste different enough from each other. Waiting on this next batch of smaller flavicarpa seedlings to see if I get lucky this time around.Are the purple ones still variations of "good" taste wise at least?
The big flavicarpa seedlings are super vigorous and can fruit within a year of sowing, but I haven't gotten any good tasting ones out of them. I am trying to use them as rootstocks for everything else though. The less vigorous varieties are at least 2 years for me so far. Cuttings may flower instantly, but they won't hold anything without some size. I have a 2 yr old ligularis that is holding 3 fruit, but it has not put out any more flowers past those 3 that came out in spring, despite all the extra vegetative growth. I had to manually pollinate it with edulis, but at least it set something. I have 2-4 other sibling vines that didn't bother to flower at all yet.What makes them not tasting for you? I know they're supposed to be more acidic and less sweet than the purple ones but beyond that?
