Dragon Fruit

Hi All

Does anybody know anything about the Thai dragon fruit & how to grow it please? I have already got about 100 seedlings but the ones I have potted on do not seem to grow very fast. They look healthy though. Also, what is it's proper name?

Mike

 

The large, red dragon fruit would be Hylocereus undatus. There are yellow ones that look like small pineapples that are sometimes called dragon fruit; they're Selenicereus megalanthus.

 

Dragon fruit is a kind of cactus. You need to grow on bare ground. Like all cacti, it should never be over watered. That's all I know.

By the way, most dragon fruits sold on market really really REALLY suck because they were picked unripen. It is a good thing to have. It has good medicinal properties and health benefits.

 

Heres some types of dragon fruit:

http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/dragon/index.htm

I have a plant myself but this is onley its 4th month its ben in pot.

 

Pitaya fruit is easy to grow espcially in thailand if thats where your grown it, once u get a parent plant growing (or a cutting from a friend to start u off) you break off the extending stems and plant straight in a pot or the ground, u will need a stalk or a trellis as they tend to be strangly.
growing from cutting is much faster then from seed
what ever you do not look after them!!they will look after themselves! just basic water is all they require

 

Hi
Many thanks for the info. I am following your advice & now they seem to get a bit bigger.

Mike

 

I wonder how well they would grow in zone five, and if they propagate well from seed...

: )

 

Thanks Wolf !!

Thanks Blake for the very imformative link. We have these fruits in our supermarket. I looked at them (red ones) for weeks then passed them by but last week I decided to buy one.

Then forgot about it, by that time it had rotted lolol

I cut it open..wow seeds by the several dozen which a few I dried out to experiment.

 

I have seeds too, and wonder if anyone knows if they in fact do grow true from seed, or if cuttings would be preferable?


: )

 

HBL,
Cuttings are the best way to go, seeds uasually arnt true to type unless hand polinated.

 

I thought as much ~ thanks for the confirmation, Blake. I can get cuttings from a friend.


: )

 

To demonstrate how easy Dragon Fruit are to grow, I have several varieties all growing in 5 gallon containers in the greenhouse. However, one of the yellow Dragon Fruit plants never got transplanted, therefore it has been stuck in the initial one gallon container and just setting on top of a 55-gallon barrel in the greenhouse all this time. Just this afternoon while working in that area I noticed that the plant has put out a fruit that is now about 1-1/2 inches long and an inch wide. Any one, even if you have a black thumb, can grow this plant. - Millet (1,166-)

 

- Millet (1,166-) ??

Well done Millet!

 

Would love to see a picture of how these look grown in containers - if you get a chance, Millet...


: )