Sunday, February 16, 2020

Passion Fruit Pollination

My Passion Fruit vines are growing so well and flowering, but the fruit are not developing. It is cool in Okinawa and there are a few bees, but I suspect they are more attracted to the roses. The bees visiting my second floor balcony are doing a fine job, because I now have Bitter Melon (Goya) flowering and growing. Anyway, I decided to start pollinating them myself. 
Each flower has five Anther, three Stigma and an Ovary (fruit). To pollinate a Passion Fruit pull off an Anther and rub it on the bottom of each Stigma. You can see the pollen easily, so if it is not enough, just pull off another Anther to ensure all the Stigma are well pollinated. Passion Fruit flowers open for a day or two and you will be able to tell if the pollination process was successful in a few days. If the flower is still on the vines three or four days later, you were most likely successful; otherwise it will fall off when you touch it.

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