Shrub · Passifloraceae
Passionfruit
Passiflora edulis
Give it full sun, sharp drainage, and a strong trellis, and this fast vine rewards you with fragrant fruit.
Full sun
Every 2–4 days
50–86°F · 10–30°C
70–75 days
Overview
Passionfruit is a fast, tendril-climbing vine whose thin, coiling tendrils reach out and grip whatever they touch, hauling the stems upward. It grows for its fragrant fruit, a rounded shell that splits to reveal soft, jelly-like pulp studded with seeds. Native to the warm country running from Brazil into northeastern Argentina, it wants heat, humidity, and steady moisture, and it can pile on more than 35 feet of leafy stem in a single year, so a strong trellis carries the weight.
Two forms set the look of the fruit apart. The purple type ripens to a deep purple shell and is self-fertile, taking to cooler, higher ground, while the yellow type swells larger and clear yellow, needs a partner to set fruit, and belongs in warm lowlands. Growers graft the purple onto yellow roots to join them, since the yellow form resists the soil diseases that rot purple vines grown on their own roots.
Up close, the vine reads as vigorous, its broad green leaves layered over a fast-thickening framework of stems. It earns its moderate rating through disease pressure rather than fussiness, leaning on sharp drainage against root rot and on a close eye for the wilts and viruses that mar its leaves and fruit. Keep the soil moist but never soggy, prune it back each spring, and the fruit fills out and ripens about 70 to 75 days after the flowers open.
Care
The short version: full sun, fertile soil with sharp drainage, and small, frequent waterings to hold the roots evenly moist. A strong trellis catches the tendrils and climbing stems, feeding runs through the growing season, and an early spring cutback sets the vine to flower on fresh green wood.
Light
Passionfruit spreads its broadest, deepest-green leaves and sets the most fruit in full sun. It hangs on in partial shade with thinner growth and less to pick, so strong direct light draws out the fuller, heavier vine.
Water
The vine takes small, frequent waterings to hold the soil evenly moist, roughly every 2 to 4 days, but never sits in wet ground. Sharp drainage is essential here, since standing water at the roots turns them soft and brings on the rot that kills a vine outright.
Soil
It roots into moist, fertile, well-drained sandy loam, a loose, gritty soil that lets water slip through fast. A pH between 6.0 and 7.5 suits it, running from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline.
Temperature
The vine keeps its leaves green and growing in the warm band from 50°F to 86°F (10°C to 30°C) and has no frost tolerance. A hard cold snap into the mid-20s°F blackens and kills a vine to the ground, so it stays in zones 9 through 12 or moves under cover in a pot.
Humidity
Matching its tropical roots, the vine holds its leaves plump and glossy in air on the humid side, around 50% to 80%. Dry air curls and slows the foliage, so a humid spot or regular moisture around the plant keeps it lush.
Feeding
A balanced fertilizer every 4 to 6 weeks through the growing season, spring into fall, keeps the vine fed. Ease off the nitrogen after the first year, or the plant throws a dense wall of green leaves at the expense of fruit.
Pruning
The vine flowers only on new green growth, so cut it back early in the growing season. Clip out the dead, weak, or crowded stems and shorten the leafy tangle hard to hold its vigor and keep the hanging fruit within reach.
Repotting
In the ground the vine rarely needs repotting. In a container, step it up a pot size each spring once the roots coil around the walls, growth thins, or the soil dries out almost as fast as it is watered.
Size & spacing
This is a large, vigorous vine, its tendril-hung stems climbing 10 to 20 feet (3 to 6 m) and spreading 3 to 10 feet (90 cm to 3 m) wide. Give it a strong trellis or fence and real room, since it can throw all that leafy length in a single fast year.
When to plant
Passionfruit runs on warmth and folds at frost. Sow the hard fresh seed indoors in late winter to early spring, set the young vines out in spring once the soil warms and the cold clears, and the fruit swells and colors from midsummer through fall, ripening about 70 to 75 days after each flower opens.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: late winter to early spring; sow fresh seed, which germinates in 2 to 3 weeks
- Plant: spring after the last frost once soil is warm
- Harvest: flowers spring through fall; fruit ripens about 70 to 75 days after flowering, peaking midsummer through fall
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 9–12
Temperature: down to -7°C
Troubleshooting
Most passionfruit trouble writes itself across the plant, as a sudden slump of the whole vine, leaves chewed to their veins, or fruit that hardens into a woody shell. The fast root and crown diseases are the ones to spot early. Match what you see below, then act before it works down the stems.
The whole vine wilts and slumps down all at once
When a full, healthy vine sags and folds fast, look to the base, where Fusarium canker or Phytophthora crown rot is usually at work. The crown carries dark, sunken lesions, and the roots turn soft and mushy to the touch. An infected vine is beyond saving, so pull it out, correct the drainage, and replant purple stock grafted onto yellow flavicarpa rootstock, which stands up to the disease.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy affected vines
- Improve drainage and stop overwatering
- Graft purple scions onto yellow (flavicarpa) rootstock for resistance
Fruit turned hard and woody, leaves marbled with mottling
A thick, woody rind on lumpen, misshapen fruit, set against leaves marbled with a green-and-pale mosaic, marks woodiness disease, a potyvirus. Aphids move it from vine to vine as they feed. No infected plant recovers. Pull it and destroy it, knock back the aphids that carry it, and start again on fresh ground with clean, virus-free stock.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy infected vines
- Control aphid vectors
- Replant with virus-free stock
Leaves eaten down to lace, veiled here and there in fine webbing
Two feeders take the broad green leaves apart. Caterpillars, the larvae of the butterflies the vine feeds, chew the blades down to bare veins and leave a skeleton of ribs behind. Spider mites stretch fine, silky webbing across the undersides and stipple them with pale, dusty flecks. Handpick the caterpillars, wash the mites off with water or horticultural oil, and let natural predators clean up the rest. A vigorous, well-spaced vine leafs back out fast.
Fix:
- Handpick caterpillars
- Spray water or horticultural oil to knock back mites
- Encourage natural predators
Toxicity
The ripe fruit, its shell splitting over soft, seed-flecked pulp, is safe and delicious, but the rest of the plant is not for eating. The broad green leaves, ropey vines, and hard unripe green fruit hold cyanogenic glycosides that can release cyanide when chewed, a mild hazard for pets and a reason to keep curious children away from the foliage. Stick to the ripe pulp and there is nothing to fear.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Mild
A cat that bites into the broad green leaves or a hard, unripe green fruit may drool and bring its food back up, turning sluggish past a mouthful. The green foliage carries the trouble, while the soft ripe pulp does not.
Dogs Mild
A dog that gnaws the tough, ropey vines or a firm green fruit tends to drool and sour its stomach. A mouthful of the leathery leaves can leave it sluggish or short of breath, which is worth a vet call.
Horses Mild
A horse cropping the leaves or the smooth green unripe fruit can go off its feed and turn dull. The cyanogenic compounds packed in the leaves drive that, not the ripe, wrinkling fruit.
Rabbits Mild
The green leaves and stringy vines hold the same cyanide-releasing compounds and never belong with rabbits. A small taste of the soft ripe pulp now and then does no harm.
Livestock Mild
Cattle, goats, and sheep that strip the leaves and firm green fruit can develop digestive upset and low energy. The ripe fruit poses no real threat, only the green growth does.
Birds Mild
The foliage and hard green fruit are best kept from pet birds because of the cyanogenic content. A little of the ripe, juicy pulp is fine in small amounts as an occasional treat.
People Ripe fruit safe
The ripe pulp, jelly-like and studded with seeds, is a kitchen favorite and perfectly safe to eat. The green leaves, vines, and hard unripe fruit are not, and children are kept from them.
Skin contact is not a concern; wash hands after pruning. Keep curious pets and children from chewing leaves, vines or unripe green fruit.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Passionfruit sorts first by the color of its fruit and then by named selection. These are the forms you are most likely to see on the vine.
Purple passionfruit (Passiflora edulis)
The self-fertile form ripens to a deep purple fruit and does best in the cooler air of high-elevation tropics.
Yellow passionfruit (P. edulis f. flavicarpa)
Its fruit swells larger and clear yellow, it needs a second vine to pollinate, it favors warm lowlands, and it serves as the disease-resistant rootstock the purple form is grafted onto.
Possum Purple
A vigorous purple-fruited selection that has become a favorite across Florida.
Frederick
A partly self-fertile hybrid whose large fruit carries a wash of purple across the skin.
Companions
Passionfruit grows well alongside a few plants that draw pests away from the vine base, keeping aphids and nematodes off the roots and stems.
Plant near
Marigold: Interplanting near the vine base can help deter nematodes and some pests.
Nasturtium: Acts as a trap crop that lures aphids away from the vine.
How to propagate
Passionfruit starts several ways, from the hard little seeds in a ripe fruit to grafts and layers that copy a vine exactly. The method comes down to whether you want speed or an exact clone of a favorite plant.
SeedEasy
Spring; sow fresh seed soon after removing it from the fruit · Germinates in 2 to 3 weeks; fruiting within about a year
Seed is the easiest and most common start, and the hard little seeds come straight from the jelly of a ripe fruit. Sow them fresh in spring and they sprout in 2 to 3 weeks, with the first fruit following inside about a year. The yellow form is often raised this way for use as seedling rootstock.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Warm season · Roots in several weeks
Semi-hardwood cuttings, taken from firm, half-woody stems in the warm season, bring a named cultivar back true to type. They push out roots over several weeks and keep the parent's traits, which seed-grown plants do not always match.
GraftingDemanding
Warm season · Weeks to months
Grafting joins a purple scion onto yellow flavicarpa rootstock during the warm season, binding the two stems into one. The union knits over weeks to months, and the finished vine resists Fusarium and nematodes far better than the purple form on its own roots.
Air layeringModerate
Growing season · Several weeks to root
Air-layering clones a vine by wounding a living stem during the growing season and letting roots break out of the wound over several weeks while it still hangs on the parent. The new plant is rooted and growing before it is ever cut free.
Myths
Every part of the passionfruit plant is poisonous, so the fruit is unsafe to eat.
The fully ripe pulp, soft and jelly-like, is edible and eaten the world over. Only the leaves, vines, and hard green unripe fruit hold cyanogenic glycosides that can release cyanide when chewed. Eat the ripe fruit freely and leave the green foliage alone.
The ASPCA Purple Passion Vine warning applies to edible passionfruit.
The plant on that ASPCA page is Gynura aurantiaca, an entirely different species the ASPCA lists as non-toxic. It is not Passiflora edulis, so the warning never applied to this fruit-bearing vine.