Passiflora

Züchten neuer winterharter Passionsfruchtsorten

Deutsch: Für mehr Informationen über Passionsblumen und Passionsfrüchte kann ich die Internetseite www.passionsblumen.info sehr empfehlen. Hier findet ihr wahrscheinlich mitunter die besten Informationen über die Gattung Passiflora auf Deutsch im Internet.

Breeding passionfruit for cold climates

This is today my biggest breeding project. I have been growing Passifloras for 10 years.

My ultimate goal is to breed different varieties of Passiflora that produce good edible fruit outdoors in Central Europe. To this goal I have trialed around 140 different plants for their ability to withstand cold winters and produce good fruit.

I have come up with 3 different strategies that I pursue to reach the goal.

- selecting Passifloras that can be grown from seed as annuals like tomatoes. Those are selections of P. foetida, P. arida and related species.

- selecting tasty, early emerging P. incarnata. They are hardy perennials and can resist at least -15°C but they need a hot summer to produce mature fruits.

- selecting sweet P. caeruleas. They are hardy and stay green in winter. But the fruit is bland. So improving taste is the primary goal.

- complex hybrids: This is the ultimate goal: Having a plant that unites all advantages of different species. I am working with P. tucumanensis, P. edulis, P. cinncinnata, P. caerulea, P. incarnata and some other species. The main issue here is to getting the right combination of traits and overcoming fertility and ploidy issues.