Ricky, So sorry to see all the concrete and plastic involved in this BBQ event. Hope there was enough tasty meat to make it worth it. There seemed to be enough denim clad buns to keep the event interesting though. Excellent pictures of the canal and the small ships traversing it. I too wonder how larger commercial traffic gets through. Thanks for the pics!

Just leave it and hope. Cutting back etc will not help. 9 degrees should not upset it. It is the daytime sun that will do it. Dont pick green fruit as they will not ripen properly and may be toxic. Myles Here is a link that might be useful: Passion Fruit.

Karyn, Did you let your Tamarillo die in the cold? If so, when did it go? I'm curious partly because Annie's Annuals claims that they are only hardy to 41 F. I passed on one last time I was there partly because of that: http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=306&account=none The only Physalis fruit I've tasted are tomatillos--so the cape gooseberry will be new to me assuming it fruits. I started a few of the seeds early since I have more than I'll need--they germinate quite well and I have a few very young seedlings both inside and outside. I'm really interested in seeing how these turn out. Purdue has a nice collection of articles on them. From one: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1398&page=241 "Goldenberry fruits are succulent golden spheres the size of marbles with a pleasing taste. They are protected by papery husks resembling Chinese lanterns. The attractive and symmetrical husk with its edible yellow fruit inside gives it an eye-catching appearance and potential market appeal. In most places where they are grown, goldenberries are now considered fruits only for backyard gardens or for children to pluck and eat. Given research, however, they could become commercial fruits of particular interest to the world's up-scale restaurants and bakeries. This is the strategy that established markets for kiwifruit in the 1960s and led to a multimillion dollar annual crop. Goldenberries already carry prestige in some international markets. Europeans, for example, often pay premium prices to dip them in chocolate or decorate cakes and tortes. In addition to having a future as fresh fruits, goldenberries make excellent jam; in fact, in India, they are known commonly as "jam fruit." In the United States they are best known as preserves marketed under the Hawaiian name "poha."" Another article, titled "Goldenberry, Passionfruit, & White Sapote: Potential Fruits for Cool Subtropical Areas" describes their apparently easy cultivation as annuals in Watsonville, about 50 miles South of me (similar climate, slightly cooler highs in summer): http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1993/v2-479.html And yet another: http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/cape_gooseberry.html Great to hear about the giant passionfruit. I have a vague memory of reading somewhere that plants arise that produce giant fruit but that it wasn't as tasty. So do you think this is the product of another bud sport? Were there other fruits on that same branch? I guess I'm curious what the chance is that the seedlings will give giant fruit. Grapefruit size--off a regular P. edulis f. edulis plant? I guess I don't know enough to know how unusual that is. Weightwise, how much bigger would you say it was than the others from that vine? We have a loquat that got hundreds of fruits this year. Then I pruned it back literally about 75%--it was necessary and the trees tolerate pretty much anything. I saw one flower spike a week or two ago, I've been meaning to check again to see how well the tree is going to do after all that trauma.

Most of the grocery stores around here carry P. edulis. A lot depends on the variety that you have but most are easy to start from seed and the fresher the better. You can clean the seed prior to planting or plant it with the aril still on (but remove the juice). Barely cover the seed with potting mix and keep it warm. You can cover the pot to hold in humidity but remove the cover when it germinates. If it is an edulis you can probably grow it outside in the ground. It might die back during the winter but will grow when it warms up. Since there's loads of seed in each fruit try some inground and keep some in a container with protection. They might need cross pollination to set fruit and hand pollination might be necessary. If it's edulis I think the purple variety is self pollinating but not the yellow variety. Most like full sun and don't want wet feet. Make sure they are in well draining soil. They are average feeders and I honestly feed my passies infrequently. Potassium increases flower production. I dig a bit of chopped banana peels into the soil around my plants. I don't remember where I heard about doing that but the plants seem to like it. You might want to check out the passiflora forum.