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Hylocereus undatus - Dragon Fruit or Pitahaya


Hylocereus undatus - Dragon Fruit or Pitahaya (Hylocereus undatus - Dragon Fruit or Pitahaya)

This is a pic of a few of the dozens of new dragon fruit cuttings I'm starting along the cyclone fence in the back yard. I recently cut my large dragon fruit vine back on the front wall. It was huge. Photo taken April 11, 2018.



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Oh Goood! That's wonderful. Do they respond quickly when pruned? How long does it take the cuttings to set?
My limited experience with cacti is the epis. I thought I'd lost the cuttings I was given because I forgot them in my purse and I thought they'd dried out and died. Turned out that the calus needed to form roots requires the cuttings to be dry for a while before planting in moist soil! Luck of drunks and babies, aye? I knew nothing... but I did it right. lol..

12 Apr, 2018

 

You ll be having a feast with all these great you ve got so many cuttings on the go shall have to watch out for their progress.

12 Apr, 2018

 

Lori,

I don't have a lot of experience with dragon fruit. My original cutting (which is now the plant on my wall) I won back in 2001 at a Plumeria Society meeting. It took many years to produce a fruit. It was very neglected, though. I've read it can take a year if it's taken care of well.

Yes, all cacti, even tropical rain forest ones like Epiphyllum and Hylocereus need to callus before they are planted. These cuttings were sitting for about two or three weeks.

13 Apr, 2018

 

One can never have enough dragon fruit. :>))

13 Apr, 2018

 

13 Apr, 2018

 

These may take a couple of years before they flower. Hopefully, it will sometime this year, though.

Most dragonfruit vines flower 7 to 9 times a year. My large plant has flowered 8 times within one year in the past

14 Apr, 2018

 

At least you ll have enough then to feed your appetite for them . A lot of flowering then.

14 Apr, 2018

 

Last year it only flowered 4 times, though...not sure why.

If the fruits set. Sometimes I've pollinated and the fruits don't develop. I'm reading more about dragonfruit hand-pollination.

14 Apr, 2018

 

Could be the weather Andy . Yes good idea to read up on the hand pollination if they dont develop.

Not sure if you can pick up any tips from this.

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=2862.0

14 Apr, 2018

 

Actually, the weather here is perfect for dragonfruit vines. Practically everyone has them in their front or back yards. I see dozens on my way to work. They're all the craze, it appears here.

I think my dragonfruit vine was getting no fertilizer and virtually not water. I believe this is the problems. Dragonfruit is a tropical rain forest cactus vine.

16 Apr, 2018

 

You had plenty of moisture last year, right? I'm not sure if I could, but I was thinking of buying a dragonfruit at the grocery store and letting it ripen for seeds? Do you think that's possible? ...or would it make more sense to buy a plant?

16 Apr, 2018

 

Yes, we had a lot of rain in the 2016/2017 rainy season. We had 13 inches (330 mm) of rain. This still doesn't make of for 6 years of extreme drought, though. This rainy season was HORRIBLE! We've only had officially 3.18 inches (80 mm) of rain. The rainy season here is very short, it ends in March.

I've seen YouTube videos of people growing dragonfruit vines from seed. I guess it takes about 4 or 5 years to flower and fruit. I think if you can get a grown plant or cutting would be the best way to get a particular variety. It would flower and fruit much faster, maybe within months (especially if given good care).

17 Apr, 2018

 

So you ve started a craze Andy☺ at least yor weather is doing good for your dragon fruit great.

Yes if its not getting enough water and feed that would explain it.

17 Apr, 2018

 

Penny,

Dragonfruit has been a big craze here for years. It's so popular because the fruit is a fortune in grocery stores. It most likely taste horrible, also. lol! Dragonfruit is so popular because of all its health benefits. It is a really high anti-oxidant fruit. It also taste really good and sweet. :>))

17 Apr, 2018

 

I can't say I blame people growing their own if they are so expensive in the shops perhaps you all should get together and sell them of what's left over on a market if you have markets over there which will undercut these greedy giant stores.

Thats great to know they have health benefits and better tasting than whats sold in shops. Per usual these middle men make big proffits at peoples health then like here they moan at the costs of our NHS when the only people that proffit are the pharmicuticle companys which years down the line find a lot of their tablets cause death or other diseases.

17 Apr, 2018



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