It's not CA. but Hawaii

Hi Daniel,

I'm curious if you've tasted your fruits. I grew P. tripartita var. mollissima ("true" mollissima) in Sunnyvale and tasted P. tarminiana (the plant normally called "mollissima") and thought they were both awful. However, I've been assured that at least some strains are very good, though. Apparently Strybing has such strains and they might be selling something (or other Tacsonias no doubt) at next Saturday's sale.

If you are in the summer cool part of zone 10 (Sunset zone 17 or 24, not sure about 23) and want good fruit, you might try P. antioquiensis. I've heard that is good tasting although have not tried the species fruit (just a couple hybrids). They often have that at Strybing sales and had it at the UC Berkeley B.G. plant shop last I was there.

If you are in the hot part of zone 10 (Southern California, Sunset zones 21, 22) you might need to give your plants afternoon shade. If there is a really hot part of zone 10 (Palm Springs area?) it might be too hot.

Hey Mark,

Yeah, I've tasted the fruits and they are quite bitter/tart, but are very sweet and flavorful. The juice is very powerful so I diluted it with water and added some lemon rind.

I live near the coast in Santa Barbara so it is pretty humid where I live. I germinated some seed and they are growing a lot faster than my Frederick passion fruit seedlings. (Triple times as fast.) They are also very easy to germinate from seed. My banana passion fruit seedlings are about half a foot tall. I am currently trying to grow some cuttings from a vine I noticed growing on a trail. It completely covered an oak tree and the surrounding area.

Thanks for the zone advice,

Daniel