From envy to harvest: growing tasty Panama gold passionfruit

The yellow Panama gold fruit are sweeter than other varieties. They are less acidic than purple varieties and have a beautiful aroma too.

Hinterland Homesteading with Racheal Pascoe

I love passionfruit, in particular the Panama gold ones. My Mum has an old vine on the fence at her place and for years she has been giving us bags of delicious fruit. Is passionfruit envy a thing? I think I have suffered from it. Ha! 

Each year Mum says she might pull out her scraggly looking vine and replace it. But every year it produces flowers again and Mum doesn’t have the heart to pull it out if it is still making an effort. Mum’s vine would be over 10 years old now. They typically only last around 7 years. What a trooper of a vine … years of producing and still going strong. 

I had wondered if I could get a vine growing well enough to produce fruit?

 Gardening goal 

Not even two years ago, I planted a Panama gold passionfruit vine in our garden. It is in the full sun and on an arch way we made for it. The plant seemed slow to get going, but then suddenly it has exploded with growth, covered the arch and is now venturing up into the jacaranda tree. The brilliant part is that it is covered with flowers and fruit. Big, healthy fruit. I picked a couple yesterday, popped them in the fridge to chill. 

The yellow Panama gold fruit are sweeter than other varieties. They are less acidic than purple varieties and have a beautiful aroma too.

With excitement I cut the fruit open, hoping it would be full of fruit and juicy, but passionfruit lovers know it isn’t just what it looks like that counts. It’s the flavour. It was beautifully sweet and full of pulp. Ahhh, the joy! I had set myself a goal and achieved it. Maybe I should set myself a goal this year of growing a zucchini successfully? I have tried year after year, without luck. I laugh to myself sometimes that I might be ejected from being the President of the Nambour Community Garden if anyone knew I couldn’t even grow a zucchini (Don’t tell anyone!). 

Sweeter than the others

The yellow Panama gold fruit are sweeter than other varieties. They are less acidic than purple varieties and have a beautiful aroma too. The fruit is large and the pulp has less seeds. In my opinion it has so much going for it. An easy to grow sub tropical plant which rewards you with sweet fruit for years. What a fabulous addition to any garden.  

Panama Gold at your place 

Choose a healthy looking vine from a local nursery. They are not expensive, maybe around $8-$10 each. If you are going to grow a Panama Gold passionfruit at your place, firstly look for a sunny position with well draining soil. Take the time to choose a great location for the plant, to give it the best chance to succeed. Water it well, but don’t keep it wet. The golden variety are self-pollinating and they will need a good prune after fruiting to keep them under control. They benefit from a good fertiliser. I use aged horse poop and it seems to have loved it. Knowing they only last for a few years, it would be a good idea to succession plant. Maybe in a couple of years I will plant another one, so in the years to come as one plant finishes up, we have another one still producing well. 

When passionfruit are $1 each in the store, you can enjoy your own locally grown, spray free fruit at almost no cost. And the flavour? Well, that is the main reason we grow our own foods isn’t it? The authentic, bold flavour you can remember from years gone by. 

Happy homesteading everyone!