Training young passion fruit. Do I remove flowers?

[Aussie-Garden]

G'day everyone.

Is it worth removing flowers from a young passion fruit (pictured below), so it can put energy into growing the rest of the plant instead. 

Reason for asking, is that I have seen it recommended for young orange trees for instance. Something I tried for the first time this year, with a new orange tree. Wondered if the same kind of thing could apply to a passion fruit.

Background info on the passion fruit if it helps...

It's a grafted Nelly Kelly in full sun in Northern Victoria.

It was in a smaller pot beside the house and looking sad for almost a year.

About a month ago, I moved it to a huge pot  as I don't want it in the ground as it has a high chance of sending out suckers in my sandy soil apparently. I'll have it on a fence dividing the chooks and dogs sides of the yard.

I gave it some slow release citrus fertiliser when potting it and a drink of seaweed solution last week and it has suddenly taken off with lots of fresh, green growth and flower buds.

Yes I will be removing that very lower right shoot.

Hope that helps with the question  and thanks in advance.

[Jason]

Hi @Noelle,

Hope all is well.

Would you please be able to make a recommendation to @Aussie-Garden to help the passionfruit thrive in coming years?  

Many thanks,

Jason

[Noelle]

Hi @Aussie-Garden 

The suckers you mention would come from the rootstock or understock onto which the Nellie Kelly variety is grafted. The stock is usually a banana or seedling passionfruit of high vigour.  Yes, they can sucker quite badly so it's not a bad idea to grow grafted passionfruit vines in large pots or wine barrels. Two things to keep in mind with this method:  You will need to water regularly especially over summer when it's warm and/or windy because the pot may dry out quickly; and secondly, feed it every three months with a controlled release fertiliser and top this up over the spring and summer months (August to March) with fortnightly applications of a liquid or soluble fertiliser for fruiting plants. Passionfruit are gross feeders.

Re the flower buds that have appeared since you repotted it - no, you don't have to remove them but you might have to hand pollinate to ensure they set fruit. A plant of this size is capable of bearing fruit. Building up strength and vigour is more related to feeding than to the removal of flowers, as you did to the young citrus. Passionfruit vines are also deciduous, dropping most of their leaves over winter which, in turn conserves energy.

Good luck with the plant and may it fruit well for you in coming years.

[Aussie-Garden]

Top stuff!

Thanks very much for the reply @Noelle.

Really looking forward to seeing how this one goes in this situation and I'm also keen for it to disguise the wire fence in the yard.

Cheers!