Ideally, young passion vines should be set in the field early in spring after danger of frost is past. In Florida, passion vines are planted 3-4.5 m (10-15 ft.) apart in rows 4.5-6 m (15-20 ft.) apart. ¹

In areas with potentially freezing or cold temperatures (<50°F), young plants may be planted in early spring when the chance of frost is over. In areas with warm to hot temperatures, plants may be planted anytime (temperatures <90°F) as long as irrigation is available during dry periods. ²

For home landscape plantings, a simple but strong fence or trellis that can withstand high winds when covered with a vine may be used. For commercial production, there are numerous trellis designs and configurations. A common method is a vertical trellis with rows spaced 10 to 15 feet (3-4.5 m) apart. Spacing between plants in the row varies between 6 and 10 ft. Rows should be planted north-south to maximize exposure to sunlight. Ground cover, plastic mulch, or conventional mulch can be used to suppress weeds and maintain soil moisture. An alternative to planting directly into native soil is to use grow bags, which allow for custom-blended media that is disease- and nematode-free. Typically, these container-grown plants are placed on a stand (e.g., cinderblocks) to facilitate drainage and avoid direct contact with the soil. ²

Horizontal trellises have cross-pieces at the top of each post with 2-4 wires strung horizontally 60 cm (2 ft.) apart along the top of each cross-piece. Vertical trellises consist of heavy posts without cross-pieces, with 2 or 3 wires strung along the row like barbed wire fencing, attached to the posts from the top down at intervals about 30-40 cm (12-16 in.) apart. ¹

Trellis wires should be No. 9 or 10 galvanized steel. The posts need to be stout enough to withstand the weight of the vines throughout a season that normally includes the buffeting of strong winds. Ideally they should be long enough to provide a trellis height of 1.5 m (5 ft.), with 45-75 cm (18-30 in.) in the ground. Trellis rows should be oriented north-south for maximum exposure to sunlight, and the vines should be allowed to grow together along the trellises to promote cross-pollination. ¹

Passion vines in their native state clamber up available trees or rocks and spread out to catch the available sunlight. The yellow passion fruit has naturalized in this manner in some parts of southern Florida. In cultivation, vines should be trained to cover the wires of the trellis or fence on which they are grown. ¹

Young vines are trained by aiming a growing up toward the top of the trellis and once there, allowing a shoot to grow along each wire in each direction. A 2-wire trellis provides 4 sprouts growing along the trellis away from the vine's trunk. Once started, the vine should be allowed to grow without pruning throughout the season, since the more vine there is, the more bearing surface there will be. With self-incompatible forms of yellow passion fruit it is particularly desirable to allow 2 different, cross-fertile vines to grow through each other and intertwine so as to promote heavy fruit production. ¹

Depending upon the trellis design, vines should be trained to grow in a manner that maximizes the canopy surface area. An option is a “curtain” training system (Fig. 1), in which one main stem reaches to the top support wire, with vines spreading horizontally and then drooping down like a curtain to fill in the open space below. ²

If laterals do not emerge in time, they can be forced to leaf out by pinching off the shoot tip. When the vines reach the wire they are trained in opposite directions along it. All laterals below the wire are pruned off. Laterals emerging along the wire are allowed to hang down freely; they are the secondary shoots branching into tertiary shoots. Secondary and higher order shoots are the fruiting wood which has to be thinned and rejuvenated by pruning. ³

Vines should be pruned in late winter when they are not actively growing. Use a 10% bleach solution or quaternary ammonium to disinfect cutting tools between each plant to avoid spreading disease. Over time, if left unmanaged, the new vine growth may become dense and cover older vine growth that loses its leaves, forming a thatch-like canopy composed of dead leaves. This can be a source of fungal diseases that negatively affect new leaves and fruit quality. ²

Vines can be pruned back to the main vine or healthy branches from the main vine. All dead and weak stems should be pruned out and pruned back to vigorous stems so that they can resume healthy, active growth in early spring. A good time to make the first fertilizer application is after pruning. ²

The passion vine is a short-lived perennial. Some yellow passion fruit vines in southern Florida have persisted in the field for 10 years, but this is exceptional. A more realistic life expectation is 3-5 years. A vine that appears to have excessive deadwood may have lost so much vigor that it should be removed and replaced with a young, healthy plant. ¹