Passionfruit infertility? No fruit on my passionfruit.

by Ken
(Melbourne, Australia)

Now three years in, our passionfruit (on grafted root stock) is again producing flowers in abundance and looks a picture of perfection. It has yet to set a single fruit. I have corrected the ph level, added sulphate of potash (both suggested by the local nursery), fertilised and even spoken to it kindly.
In response, it continues to drop its spent flowers.
Any ideas friends?

Comments for
Passionfruit infertility? No fruit on my passionfruit.

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Jan 28, 2010
 Bees?
by: Ann

This was a complaint made by a friend to me a number of years ago and it turned out there was a lack of bees in her yard to pollinate the flowers. Hand pollination with a paint brush finally gave her fruit.

If this is your problem, perhaps planting some bee attracting plants close by such as lavender, salvia or borage.
Feb 06, 2010
 flower drop
by: bill t

Why do my vines flower but don't set fruit?

There are several reasons for vines flowering but not setting fruit.

* Poor pollination. This is the main cause and can be due to bees not working the flowers (for example during heavy rain); temperatures being too low or too high for pollination (optimum temperatures for pollen germination are between 20°C and 35°C); or rain directly reducing the viability of the pollen (moisture causes the pollen grains to split).
* Boron deficiency.
* Extended periods of overcast weather. This may cause flower drop regardless of pollination problems. I copied this from a website, hope it helps Cheers Bill:)
Feb 12, 2010
 Passionfruit Flower Drop - Ants?
by: Ken, Melbourne

Thanks for the suggestions. I have been busy with a paint brush trying to replicate what bees do so well and have set one (yippee!) fruit after much effort. Bees are not working the vines though are active with squash type flowers.

My paintbrush efforts have revealed another possible cause - the vines are 'running' with black ants and every time I pollenated with the brush, ants would scurry out of the flower. I had thought their presence of no concern but now I wonder?

Any thoughts and control possibilities would be appreciated.
Mar 07, 2010
 Ants on passionfruit
by: Margaret Brisbane

Can someone let me know if the myriad of black ants that run out of the flowers on my passionfurit are the cause of dropping flowers and no fruit?

I am already trying to cross polinate with a paintbrush due to lack of bees.

It seems there is a lack of bees world wide due to pests and over chemical use.
Apr 09, 2010
 passionfruit not setting fruit
by: mallory

our nellie kelly passionfruit is loaded with fruit this year. however our panama red and panama gold has lots of flowers but is not setting fruit even after hand pollinating.
Apr 10, 2010
 Follow-up by Original Contributor
by: Ken

I have effectively eliminated ants as the cause of infertility with passion-fruit. We have two vines - standard purple and Panama Gold - and both are constantly alive with black ants.
Unlike the last contributor however, this season our Gold has taken off with a heavy fruit load whereas the purple, though the more prolific flowerer, continues to drop them.
The only consolation is that the Gold, far more vigorous, will eventually cover the barren plant and eiher shame it into production - or mercifully strangle it!
May 05, 2010
 ants on vines
by: bill t.

The ants are not the problem with fruit or no fruit. There is some other insect or plant disorder playing host to the ants which are after whatever the other pest is leaving behind.have a look beyond the ants and find out the underlying attraction for the ants.Cheers Bill T. :)
Apr 06, 2011
 no flowers on panama passion fruit
by: glenda

I have a panama black passionfruit that I purchased about twelve months ago . It has plenty of green leaves but has not had a single flower. It is growing in full sun. I am hoping someone can give me some advice. Should I have cut it back in spring to get flowers?
Aug 13, 2011
 passion fruit has no flowers
by: dennis

i have 2 grafted passion fruit vines put in three years ago they are great but have to flowers or fruit- the other lady glenda has a similar problem
Aug 14, 2011
 why passion fruit not flowering
by: Mo

I have helped so many friends get their passion fruit flowering, it seems to be a big problem always. I don’t knw why nurseries haven’t wised up and put in better growing instructions. And I’m no horticulture expert, just a live and learn greeny that loves to grow things.

Usually it take at least one to even 3 years before flowers start coming and they only come on NEW growth, so each year around late winter/spring, prune the vines back to some good strong stems.

They have shallow roots, so need lots of water and food, but not too much rich nitrogen food because they will be too leafy with large floppy leaves and the flowers that do come can just pwiff off in the breeze, so sad, I’ve stood by and watched with a friend when that happened to hers.
Sep 17, 2011
 Pollinating
by: Roy

I have read the many varied ways of pollinating my Panama passionfruit and I thank those who have supplied the answers I have been looking for. I planted four plants about ten months ago and they are growing out of control and I looked and saw some flowers today so because of the lack of bees I will make some buzzzzzing noises and use the paint brush method. I live in the shoalhaven area but the plants seem to thrive on the weather here at the moment. Is it normal for the flowers to open and shut all the time?
Sep 17, 2011
 lots of passion but no fruit
by: bill t

Apart from maturity of passion fruit, has anybody considered,the addition of "Potash" when there is plenty of green, on any flower, fruit bearing plant.
Please be careful that the fertiliser you are using, has the correct proportion of essential elements, or too much of one or the other is detrimental to success of your efforts.I have been growing as close as I can to Organic, but still need to add "potash"to get results. Hope this helps.Happy gardening Cheers Bill T. :)
Nov 11, 2011
 GREAT PLANTS NO FRUIT
by: Wayne H

three years old passionfruit (on grafted root stock) is again producing flowers in abundance and looks a picture of perfection. It has set a single fruit growing well then started to shrivel, after picking it & opening it there was nothing at all inside. I have corrected the ph level, added sulphate of potash In response, it continues to drop its flowers. I have planted a banana passionfruit about 4mt away & 2 years later still no fruit they both look healthy with flowers only on the grafted has anyone any ideas if not i will remove both & try again
Nov 11, 2011
 Flowers== Bees
by: bill t

Lack of polination. A lot of coment on using the paint brush polination method.Anybody ever thought of planting flowers near or around your fruit plants?Think about it what is the main attraction of bees no matter what the situation. FLOWERS/ BEES.
Happy gardening Bill T.:)
Nov 16, 2011
 Passion fruit NEW
by: Anonymous

I have 100ts of flowers and 100ts of bees but no fruit, is any one to help
Jan 13, 2012
 Passion fruit flowers but no fruit NEW
by: Lim

My experience is that you need lots of water once the fruit starts to grow. I water my plant twice a day in the hot summer. I give it lots of feeding with seaweed fertilizer every 1-2 weeks.

I think grafted plants produce fruit sooner than little seedlings, these seedlings can take more than a year, maybe up to 2 yrs to fruit properly.

I hand pollinate too because I read that rain or damp can make the pollen sticky, and it is damp or raining some mornings when the bees are at work, so I wait until the day is dry later on and rub one flower into another or use a little paint brush. Hope this helps as I get delicious passionfruit! Lim
Jan 14, 2012
 passion fruit infertility NEW
by: bill. t

Plenty of boy flowers and no girl flowers. its part of natures plan, we got to get together to produce offspring.Find a way of getting the flowers together to produce fruit. One very good way is to introduce little annual flowers, either planted near the vine or in planter pots near and around the vine especially along the direction the vine travels. try to choose bee attracting plants but keep it simple so you can enjoiy the view and watch your effort blossom and fruit.
Hope this helps,happy gardening Bill T. :)
Jan 14, 2012
 original graft keep shooting NEW
by: Wayne H

three years old passionfruit (on grafted root stock) is again producing flowers in abundance and looks a picture of perfection. But now the original graft is shooting all through the area near the main stem i keep pulling them out but the keep coming back in abundance could this cause the vine not to set fruit
Jan 22, 2012
 Passion fruit flowers but no fruit NEW
by: Lim

Definitely chop off every bit of the understock growing below the graft. I would say it will stop the main plant growing properly. Keep chopping the unwanted shoots off, although not sure why you have this happening, may be the graft is not attached well. Follow the advice in this column and you should see fruits. Lim

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