Passionfruit vine is crawling

Over here it is known as markisa, a vine that lasts for more than 5 years.  It will start flowering and fruiting after a year.  I germinated quite a number of them last year, most were given away to friends, 2 of them planted in Seri Iskandar home garden and one is grown here in Putrajaya backyard garden.

Passiflora_edulis , Markisa (Melayu) 

passionfruit (English), maracuya (Spanish) , granadille (French), 

maracuja (Portugese), liliko'i (Hawaiian) 

Passionfruit vine - markisa

Passionfruit vine - markisa

Passionfruit vine - markisa

Passionfruit vine - markisa
with bamboo trellis

The passionfruit vines will thicken and eventually cover up the whole trellis. In the meantime , taro (keladi) can still grow and use the space underneath.

Bangchik and Kakdah

Putrajaya Backyard Garden

rain, a ripe markisa and tropical juice.

Sunday 12th August 2012

Weather has mind of it's own which work on a system  we have no real control. Temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, and rainfall are the parameters that weather would play around. So yesterday, weather decided to pour rain over Pasir Gudang. It wasn't the heaviest of rainfall, but it helped filling up spaces between soil particles which had been empty and dry for almost three weeks. Earthworms would find their tunnel a lot smoother to slide through. Roots would  absorb the much needed source of life into their system, and leaves would paint themselves greener to trigger off heavier photosynthesis. Frogs would croak, serenading the cooler days ahead. Birds in the morning would flutter for long awaited feather-do cum shampoo.

It was Monday 6th of August 2012, that we plucked a ripe markisa / passionfruit.  Yesterday which was a week later, the fruit didn't change much, probably a shade darker.

5.8.2012

12.8.2012

a ripe markisa / passion fruit

markisa  the inside

markisa the inside of one half

markisa the inside of another half

markisa, content scooped out

markisa drink

markisa two glasses.

The scooped content of markisa was added with water, stirred and strained.  A little bit of sugar and ice cubes were added to bring about another tropical juice. The fragrance is paradise.

bangchik and kakdah

johor

MARKISA passion fruit, ripening process

Ripening is a process in fruits that causes them to become more palatable. In general, a fruit becomes sweeter, less green, and softer as it ripens. Even though the acidity of fruit increases as it ripens, the higher acidity level does not make the fruit seem tarter, which can lead to the misunderstanding that the riper the fruit the sweeter. This is attributed to the Brix-Acid Ratio. (wikipedia)

Friday 3-8-2012 8am

passion fruit / markisa : morning of 3rd August 2012

Saturday 4-8-2012 8am

passion fruit / markisa: morning of 4th August 2012

Sunday 5-8-2012 8am

passion fruit / markisa: morning of 5th August 2012

Sunday 5-8-2012 6.30pm

passion fruit / markisa: afternoon of 5th August 2012

I finally plucked it early in the morning of Monday,  6th of August 2012. We are not going to consume it yet, but to let it complete it's ripening process on the table, to ensure seeds will attain maturity for better chances of germination.

bangchik and kakdah

pasir gudang Johor

Tendrils of markisa / passion fruits

Growing markisa is fun in itself.  We can never miss the sight of tendrils. These are little fingers of markisa. They grab on objects , circle and hold. To allow sway or movements either imposed by the weight of fruits or the gust of strong winds, tendrils has springs. They are very flexible.

baby tendril: 

tendril with end out of place

tendril, getting very brown as it matures

tendril, long and tapered loop

tendril

tendril, still winding

whenever it can get hold of objects, tendril will wind itself into little spring.

tendril grab tight

tendrils: Three tendrils interconnected

also three tendrils interconnected

tendril

tendril grab one of the stems and hold

tendrils: 

tendrils, very springy and flexible.

A tendril is a specialised stem that is used by climbing plant for support and attachment by twinning around suitable hosts

bangchik and kakdah

pasir gudang johor

Passion fruit / markisa update 3

To start with I didn't do much to soil. I dug shallow about six inches, deep enough to put in the vines. I am not too worried since the vines had been in black polybag for almost six months, and they should be strong  to push out roots. Cloth lines become trellis, four green coated wires connecting both ends should be ok for the the vines to crawl and for tendrils to circle and grip.

Three vines on the left pole and only one on the right. So midway along the green wire should be their boundary.  So when the time comes for pruning, the vines would be cut back a yard or two before the midway. No pruning yet so far.

What can we say, since flowers look so exotic half through full bloom, and fruits dangling down look like real tropical paradise.

passion fruit bud, ready in a day two to open.

passion fruit flower half open

passion fruit flower half open

passion fruit flower

passion fruit flower

passion fruit flower

baby fruit: within days after flowering

little fruits getting bigger

little fruits getting bigger

fruits hanging

passionfruits

passionfruits

passionfruits

We had taken 3 fruits so far and 

we are waiting for the next one to turn yellowish.....

bangchik and kakdah

pasir gudang

markisa, passion fruit update 2

I know our pokok markisa or passion fruit vines are growing, and producing fruits. I am expecting more, hoping to see hundreds dangling, like what I have seen in google pictures. However that's the best  our vines could offer. So far we had taken 3 fruits, ripened well, yellow in colour.

MARKISA:  crawling along cloth lines

a wide view of passionfruit vines 

with cloth lines as trellis. 

MARKISA,  fruits dangling.

PASSION FRUIT FLOWERS

I am almost certain that our passion fruit flowers opened up later in the day, around 5pm. I checked out around midnight, they were still wide opened. The next morning the flowers folded up  and stay folded for a few days until baby fruit push through. There were four flowers yesterday evening, and I definitely hope all four would end up as fruits. 

bunga markisa

passion fruit flower

passion fruit flower

markisa hanging on

another view with fruits hanging down, 

while the vines are crawling along the cloth lines.

 I hope the wire will be able to stand the weight.

markisa, this should ripen soon.

Gradually, the colour changes from green to yellow. 

It's time for harvest when it turns yellow

earlier post on markisa
Markisa, passion fruits update 1  June 1 2012
passionate about passion fruit or markisa   May 16 2012

Reduce weight with vegetables and fruits     May 7, 2012

It requires a bit of patience to separate markisa seeds. I have collected enough seeds out of the three fruits that had been harvested. So there will be little seedlings soon!

bangchik and kakdah

pasir gudang johor

Markisa, passion fruits update 1

The last post was about two weeks ago. I had to be away for days, back home and then out again, which effectively disrupt my gardening plans, and blogging too. The pictures were taken 3 days ago with fruits getting much bigger.  Even my car doesn't look so shiny. So nature has it's own way of wax polishing!

Passion fruits are green in colour with little white spots randomly distributed all over. The shape is almost round. The remnants of the old flower still visible, drying up at the top portion of the fruits, while the little old stigma visible at the bottom.

markisa / passion fruit, the old flower still visible at the top

markisa / passion fruit

markisa / passion fruit, remnant of stigma at the bottom.

markisa / passion fruit, waxy shine with white spots

The other day I did a bit of weeding, put top soil around the root area and 

placed kantan leaves as ground cover.

Soon the fruits will change colour, green to yellowish green. 

I am watching closely.

........... b a n g c h i k      a n d      k a k d a h ..........

j o h o r