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Passion fruit vine taking over yard

17 years ago

I planted a purple passion fruit vine about three years ago and it is now huge. I planted it at a point where one fence intersected another to form a T. It has vines 50 feet long growing in three directions making the width of the plant about a hundred feet and still growing. I had an 8 foot high 8 foot wide playhouse that it completely covered where I can hardly see it anymore. Now it has jumped the gap between the fence and the house and may be preparing to cover the house. It has also jumped onto a Eucalyptus tree and may soon try to cover that. Does anyone know how big it can get if I just let it keep going? It produces buckets full of fruits and the vine looks extremely healthy and the leaves are a beautiful dark green color. The base of the vine is over two inches thick. I live in Orange County , Californa, so the growing conditions must be just right, even with my terrible clay soil. But I did plant it next to a retaining wall that was backfilled with sand and gravel so maybe thats why it is growing so good.

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Comments (5)

Krstofer
17 years ago
I've seen caeruleas down there (burbank / van nuys) *completely* cover those tall skinny juniper-looking trees... My sis had 10 - 15 in her back yard along the fence.. Couldn't even tell what kind of trees they were.

The bushes along the back of the pool? (Where the helicopters dip during the fires...) Covered.
Neighbor's fence? I think there was one under there...

The vines were as thick as my wrist in some spots- Looked more like 'tree wood' than 'vine'.

I don't think it's the parent vine that's covering the whole thing (in your yard or hers) as little 'volunteers' were coming up all over the place. Don't know if they were suckers or from seed- As hers had fruit all over it as well, some seeds had to fall & sprout.

I'd imagine they might be like the blackberries up here- Give them space, eventually they'll fill it. If it has no natural controls (butterfly larvae, disease, those weird bugs who eat the seeds) & manages to avoid attacks from the weed-eater & lawnmower I don't think it has a limiting factor.
baci
17 years ago
Mine seemed to take off the third year. I was afraid of the plant encroaching on neighboring property, so I placed mine in deep pots. They grow great they way, & are producing fruit. They will probably continue to grow, but you might consider the fact that they could go onto neighboring properties. It takes quite a bit of continual digging to get rid of one, & they are not that difficult to transplant. If an animal ate the fruit, they could also reseed.
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Sometimes when they are that small the gulf fritillaries appear to be all black. Especially after a recent molting when their black "spikes" are a little big for their little body, the spikes are about all you can see. When he gets a little bigger it will be easier to see the dark brownish/orange color. Most likely it is a gulf fritillary, very nice addition to the yard. As for the ants, passion vines secrete a substance (sweet I guess) that the ants love. You will see them around little glands on the plant and of course on the flowers looking for the good stuff. They do commonly get the little caterpillars too though, along with other predators.
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Dig each sprout you don't want - it's an ongoing battle in our zone and one you can't win. The runners are over a foot deep beneath the surface of the soil.
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Why not kill the vine with kindness? Fill jars with dilute Roundup solution (3 parts water, I part Roundup), place ends of vines in the jars through holes in the lids and seal the jars by twisting the jar, not the lid. The jars can be hidden by shrubs or other vegetation. The vines will gladly take up the Roundup/water solution and be grateful for the additional water. Top off the solution in the jars as needed with additional solution as the vines take in the water and transport the roundup into their roots. Next year, the vines will be very unhealthy if they even survive the winter. Repeat the second year if necessary. All the roots are probably interconnected, so all parts of the vine in your yard and the neighborÃ¢ÂÂs yard will eventually die. Commiserate with the neighbors when they express sadness over the unexplained death of their beloved vine.
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I'd cut that sucker off cleanly - it'll probably resprout, but doubt that the top will recover or survive. Don't know if you could cut up the top and root cuttings or not, but I'd probably give that a shot...
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eloise_ca
17 years ago
I wish I had planted my p. Incense in a container! It has sprouted all over the place and I have to cut it down &/or severely trim to keep it from swallowing my other plants. On the opposite side from where originally planted, it has covered a fence; the problem is that it keeps climbing up a pine tree and onto my neighbor's cable wires so I have to be vigilant and cut it back before it reaches the wires -- never ending job! It attracts lots of butterflies and bees, and has beautiful scented flowers and lots of fruit which I just leave alone. One does get excited about how big passiflora can grow, but be warned as it can destroy other plants and property!
kw9erfan
6 years ago
My neighbors made the choice to build a wooden trellis over their sidewalk that is next to the fence that separates our property. The passion fruit grows over my fence and has basically found a friend in my orange tree. I'm in Orange county too and just got a notice about a plant disease that is fatal to citrus trees and has no cure. On my way to californiacitrusthreat.org to find out how to protect my orange tree. The disease is called Huanglongbing (citrus greening disease). Notice sent with my water bill this month.
User
6 years ago
There is a class c motorhome under all this

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