For your environment, if temperatures don’t fall below 13 degrees Celsius at night, both the yellow and purple fruit types are feasible. However, I would recommend that you get grafted seedlings of the purple on yellow rootstocks.
Where can I get certified seedlings and at what price?
Three new passion fruit varieties; Kenya Passion Fruit 4 (KPF 4), KPF 11 and KPF 12 have been developed by KALRO. You should contact the horticulture institute in Thika for more information and planting materials. A vegetatively propagated seedling of the new varieties costs Sh30 but farmers could also request for a gram of seeds at Sh60.
For grafted passion fruit seedlings, contact 0724559286 or 0790509684
Type of soil that passion fruit plants require.
The purple passion fruit is most suited to upper midland and highlands (1,100 to 2,500m above sea level). It has superior fruits of 4 to 5cm in diameter with an aromatic flavour.
Yellow passion is most suited to the coastal lowlands. It is more vigorous and has a larger fruit of 5 to 7cm. It is more acidic and used for juice extraction.
Yellow passion fruit is resistant to Fusarium wilt, tolerant to Phytophthora blight, nematodes and brown spot. It is used as rootstock to purple passion fruit.
Passion fruits grow on many soil types but do best in light to heavy sandy loams with a pH of 6.0 to 6.5. Excellent drainage is necessary. Also, the soil should be rich in organic matter and low in salts. If the soil is too acid, lime must be applied. Since the vines are shallow-rooted, they need a thick layer of organic mulch.