Dragon Fruit

[_Keith]

I planted this Dragon Fruit mid summer and am hoping for a flower before winter sets in. I originally got it when I found a small trimming in the compost pile at The Kampong a couple of years ago. That little nub right at ground level was the piece I found. It overwintered in a pot last year in a decent microclimate and recovered from 27 degrees with minor complaints. Super easy to propagate, so I have more started from this one if it doesn't make it. I'll get an earlier start next year.

[anthrome]

I have found that when the dragonfruit reaches a high point on its trellis the growing tips begin to reach outward, eventually hanging down, it begins to flower and set fruit.

[Big Tex]

I planted this Dragon Fruit mid summer and am hoping for a flower before winter sets in. I originally got it when I found a small trimming in the compost pile at The Kampong a couple of years ago. That little nub right at ground level was the piece I found. It overwintered in a pot last year in a decent microclimate and recovered from 27 degrees with minor complaints. Super easy to propagate, so I have more started from this one if it doesn't make it. I'll get an earlier start next year.

I think ours flowered about a year after we planted it. However, its been almost 4 years now before it set fruit. We finally got one but it is far from mature.

Edited October 24, 2009 by Big Tex

[greysrigging]

Resurrecting an old thread title...

10 years....10 bloody years and not a single Dragonfruit.

So finally I get one and its 5m  ( 15' ) up the trunk of a Carpy !

Stupid thing !....haha
 

[Xenon]

Yellow dragonfruit is the only one worth eating imo. The red skinned white fleshed one looks pretty but tastes so bland, guaranteed to be a disappointment haha 

[Alan_Tampa]

It has to hang, that is part of the plant has to more or less drooping from the parts which are growing against whatever support it is being grown upon to make flowers with any regularity. I have variety "Magenta" with, you guessed, magenta colored flesh.  It is sweet.  

 

 

[greysrigging]

On 12/1/2020 at 9:57 AM, greysrigging said:

Resurrecting an old thread title...

10 years....10 bloody years and not a single Dragonfruit.

So finally I get one and its 5m  ( 15' ) up the trunk of a Carpy !

Stupid thing !....haha
 

Picked and ready to eat for dessert tonight 

[Will]

On 12/1/2020 at 1:27 AM, greysrigging said:

Resurrecting an old thread title...

10 years....10 bloody years and not a single Dragonfruit.

So finally I get one and its 5m  ( 15' ) up the trunk of a Carpy !

Stupid thing !....haha
 

I think trimming it early would have induced fruiting 😐

[rprimbs]

6 hours ago, Will said:

I think trimming it early would have induced fruiting 😐

"Tipping" the stuff that hangs down is supposed to increase fruiting.  

[rprimbs]

The first dragon fruit I grew were the "Viet White".  They were only mildly sweet, and not terribly flavorful.  Then I got fruit from my "Thai Red" and they were surprisingly sweet, and flavorful.  Then I tried a yellow, I saw at the store, and it was really sweet!

Now I am growing an "orange" -- a red crossed with a yellow.  It is a challenge because it needs to be cross pollinated with another variety, but I have one fruit now!  I need to get out there at night and pollinate.  Hand pollination seems to make the fruit sweeter and flavorful.  Even Viet White tastes good when hand pollinated.

I am starting to get ahold of some of the rarer varieties, like Equadorian 'Palora'.  I want to get "Black Afrakanis', 'Desert King", and "Giant Orange".

I brought some of my orange to the last North County Rare Fruit Growers meeting for the raffle.  I am going to bring some of my rarer stuff to the next meeting and see if I can get other people to bring some of their rare stuff and get some trading going.

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

I'm really surprised to not see a whole lot of PTers get into dragon fruit. This is my first attempt at a plant I got from Maas nursery. I split it up and built a trellis in a large decorative Costco pot = ) The variety I got is called Edgar's Baby which unfortunately is not a self pollinator. So now I have to grow a different variety to get fruit. This is in a way is how alot of us catch the palm bug haha. Biggest difference is if your successful you get to try different tasting fruit. Picture shows a standard diy looking trellis behind some various potted palms = ) 

T J 

[Fusca]

I've got one that I started from a cutting I was given my last trip out to SoCal.  Kept it in a pot until this year and finally got around to putting it in the ground.  

On 11/30/2020 at 6:27 PM, greysrigging said:

Resurrecting an old thread title...

10 years....10 bloody years and not a single Dragonfruit.

So finally I get one and its 5m  ( 15' ) up the trunk of a Carpy !

Stupid thing !....haha

So Carpentaria aren't all bad!  😆

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

46 minutes ago, Fusca said:

I've got one that I started from a cutting

Do you know what variety ? I'll be surprised if I ever get any fruit haha

T J 

[Fusca]

16 hours ago, OC2Texaspalmlvr said:

Do you know what variety ? I'll be surprised if I ever get any fruit haha

T J 

No idea about the variety but after reading this thread I hope it's the yellow fruit.  I'll be surprised if I can get it to fruit too - I have to remember to water it more often.  I'm having a hard time keeping all my palms happy in this hot streak!  Even my Sabal uresana is looking a bit sad.  My sister in Houston has had a dragon fruit in a container since the early 2000's and it's been flowering for several years but no fruits yet.

[Silas_Sancona]

3 minutes ago, Fusca said:

No idea about the variety but after reading this thread I hope it's the yellow fruit.  I'll be surprised if I can get it to fruit too - I have to remember to water it more often.  I'm having a hard time keeping all my palms happy in this hot streak!  Even my Sabal uresana is looking a bit sad.  My sister in Houston has had a dragon fruit in a container since the early 2000's and it's been flowering for several years but no fruits yet.

Does she have more than just one? ..sometimes you need to have two different varieties..  She could also hand pollinate the flowers too..

One of many great reads regarding pollination:

https://dragonfruitobsession.github.io/how-to-grow/pollination-and-harvest/pollination-and-harvest.html
 

[OC2Texaspalmlvr]

3 hours ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Does she have more than just one? ..sometimes you need to have two different varieties..  She could also hand pollinate the flowers too..

One of many great reads regarding pollination:

https://dragonfruitobsession.github.io/how-to-grow/pollination-and-harvest/pollination-and-harvest.html
 

Thanks Silas great read , I was gonna ask the same questions for Jon !

Also grafting dragons on YouTube has great tutorials for dragon fruit care. 

T J 

[Fusca]

She just has the one.  I'll pass along that info to her - thanks guys.

[dalmatiansoap]

Flowering second time. Unfortunately I can't come to hand pollinate flowers.

[aztropic]

My dragon fruit plants got roasted for the first time ever with this years extreme, prolonged, heat. They will regrow from lower trunks again,I'm sure...

 

aztropic

Mesa, Arizona