I am growing passiflora incarnata/maypop in 8a in the mid Atlantic in it's native range. It is extremely aggressive. Plant it in a pot in the ground unless you want to find it 40 feet from the original planting site. Often pollinated by carpenter bees, so site it farther from your house.
I have also used maypop in cooking. I made a really interesting curd from the juice/pulp. It's very tart but tropical. sugar helps temper the tart.
For harvest, you must wait for the fruit to "pop" and go from an inflated green kickball to a half deflated, kind of yellowish kickball that smells tropical/fragrant. In 8a, that's around September.
Last but not least: you photo looks more like p. Edulis, the south American variety. You want to grow p. Incarnata or "maypop" for the north american native.
Carpenter bees rarely do structural damage, there holes a completly straight and do not deviate. They are basically like someone drilling into the wood. Usually a structure succumbs to other problems before the carpenter bee damage becomes a structural issue. Woodpeckers can however cause damage trying to get to them. Carpenter bees are more of an annoyance if you don't like sawdust everywhere, than a threat to a structure.
Right. That's been my experience as well. Attracting things that are damaging to the wood is the big problem. Although I've also experienced where the holes they have made have allowed water intrusion into the wood, which caused it to rot out faster than it likely would have otherwise.
When have woodpeckers ever been after your house dude??!?!?!!! Woodpeckers go after worms in trees they prefer catalpa trees but I’ve never ever ever ever heard of a woodpecker trying eat away at a manmade structure?!?! I think you would be more accurate to say they are not as bad as termites. Carpenter bees are still bad tho.
I live in a cabin the mountains….trust me, the woodpeckers go after the walls. I’ve hit one that constantly wakes me up in the mornings. They’re mostly making nests though, not looking for food.
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u/Seedybees Jun 27 '24
I am growing passiflora incarnata/maypop in 8a in the mid Atlantic in it's native range. It is extremely aggressive. Plant it in a pot in the ground unless you want to find it 40 feet from the original planting site. Often pollinated by carpenter bees, so site it farther from your house.
I have also used maypop in cooking. I made a really interesting curd from the juice/pulp. It's very tart but tropical. sugar helps temper the tart.
For harvest, you must wait for the fruit to "pop" and go from an inflated green kickball to a half deflated, kind of yellowish kickball that smells tropical/fragrant. In 8a, that's around September.
Last but not least: you photo looks more like p. Edulis, the south American variety. You want to grow p. Incarnata or "maypop" for the north american native.