Passionfruit vines flourish

Typical of many newcomers to the passionfruit industry, Don and Lyn Green have planted passionfruit and tamarillos on their 4-ha property near Pukekohe with the object of retiring from the city work scene. They have a family connection with Ralph and Beryl Madsen who grow passionfruit on the Coromandel coast at Whiritoa and obtained fruit for seed and lots of good advice from them. In a low cost operation, with help from family members, they grew 1000 of their own plants and built A-frame structures using materials mostly recycled from a kiwifruit orchard.

They planted 860 plants at a 1.5m spacing, deliberately further apart than recommended. They were disappointed that they had to replant 120 that were destroyed by rabbits. Additionally, for their own interest, they planted two each of giant, yellow, and red banana passionfruit. They also planted 430 tamarillos.

They both worked at Albany, on the opposite side of Auckland, till January when Lyn came home to look after the orchard. Planting the orchard part-time has been hard work but the wet spring and summer has been a bonus for them. With minimal watering their vines and trees have made good growth since they were planted five months ago. When visited by "The Orchardist" in February, they were planning to begin installing their irrigation system the next weekend, ready for a dry spell if it came.

Article by Rosalie Smith
Reprinted from "The Orchardist" March 2002