Dragon Fruit thread.

[Tropheus76]

To prevent sunburn, should I plant the DF on the north or south facing part of the 4x4 pole I plan on using?

[merce3]

To prevent sunburn, should I plant the DF on the north or south facing part of the 4x4 pole I plan on using?

i planted on all 4 sides and they are all growing fine.

[HMHausman]

You really think I haven't seen such a sight before?  Well you're right, I haven't.  Quite impressive.

[ricshaw]

I took this picture on Maui last January.

[starling1]

You really think I haven't seen such a sight before?  Well you're right, I haven't.  Quite impressive.

Yeah, pretty scary.

Guy up the road from me has one growing up a huge Bunya nut tree. He must have a deathwish.

[HMHausman]

Starling.....looks like Ricshaw one upped you.  I have a an over grown dragon fruit planting in one of the original trees on my property.  We call the tree a Silk Oak.  Now that I look it up, its Grevillea robusta and surprisingly, its an Australian native.  See, I learned something new again today.  Anyway, its an interesting tree as a host for dragon fruit.  I'll post some pics later.  Otherwise, the tree makes some nice blooms but also makes a mess and produces nothing edible.

[starling1]

Starling.....looks like Ricshaw one upped you.  I have a an over grown dragon fruit planting in one of the original trees on my property.  We call the tree a Silk Oak.  Now that I look it up, its Grevillea robusta and surprisingly, its an Australian native.  See, I learned something new again today.  Anyway, its an interesting tree as a host for dragon fruit.  I'll post some pics later.  Otherwise, the tree makes some nice blooms but also makes a mess and produces nothing edible.

Ah yes, silky oak. Messy tree, sheds a lot of foliage.

Very beautiful, strong and lightweight timber. Has a satin-ish sheen when polished that catches the light.

[TheWaterbug]

I took this picture on Maui last January.

Wow! It's like kudzu, except tastier.

[Tropheus76]

Got two arriving tomorrow from PIN. Just removed an oak tree which was located right where I wanted my DFs to go, about 75% sun/ 25% shade, found out as I dug it up and chopped the roots off, it was actually planted by the previous owner. I know this because all he apparently did was take the oak tree home from wherever you buy oak trees from, dig a hole and plopped it in the ground, still in its black cloth bag. Good news was no tap root, it was a flat bottom.

Plans now are to put in 2 treated 4x4s about 5 foot apart. Tie-wrap burlap on around the poles. On the ground I picked up top soil so I will remove the first couple inches of gray sand(that's what my ground consists of here) in a 2 foot circle around the poles replace it with topsoil with a small rim around the outside, and cover it with mulch. Ill plant the DFs on the east side of the tree so they will get hit with the morning til 1ish sun and be protected from the worst of the day's sun. Should get plenty enough light that way and if not they can grow around the pole to get it without much effort. I will tie in an existing irrigation system and have a mushroom bubbler in each circle. Sprinkler runs every Thursday and sunday nights at 3am for 20 minutes.

[Vernmented]

I have had a lot of flowers but no fruit set so far. There are a bunch of different cultivars growing together. It has been raining quite a bit so I was thinking that might be part of the problem. I have also seen small white worms in the spent flowers. I got 2 fruit last year when the vines were quite young and that was without hand pollination. The ones in pollinated with a paintbrush never set. Has anyone seen small white worms in their spent flowers? What is your watering regiment while flowering? There are also diaprepes root weevils around that I smash every day but I don't think they would hinder fruiting. My fingers are crossed here for some fruit with all these flowers everywhere.

[TheWaterbug]

I think my purchased-from-Lowes-from-LaVerne dragonfruit is about ready for trellising, so I built this:



The bottom of the top crossbar (or the top of the bottom crossbar) is 6' off the ground. Don't look too closely at the diagonal braces; I did a _horrible_, ugly job with those. Should I wrap the main post with burlap to give the aerial roots something to attach to?

Is that pot big enough? It's nominally 19" wide by 16" tall. If use an interior top radius of 8.5", an interior bottom radius of 6.5", and an interior height of 15" I calculate 2,666 cu inches, or about 11 gallons.

There are two plants in the soil; the 6' one is doing fine, but the other one is growing out sideways. If I can successfully bend the existing growth upright it'll be about half the height (from the ground). If it breaks off it'll be much shorter

Also, I need to decide on a permanent location for this. How does one move a 6', spindly plant that has sharp spines?

[starling1]

I think my purchased-from-Lowes-from-LaVerne dragonfruit is about ready for trellising, so I built this:



The bottom of the top crossbar (or the top of the bottom crossbar) is 6' off the ground. Don't look too closely at the diagonal braces; I did a _horrible_, ugly job with those. Should I wrap the main post with burlap to give the aerial roots something to attach to?

Is that pot big enough? It's nominally 19" wide by 16" tall. If use an interior top radius of 8.5", an interior bottom radius of 6.5", and an interior height of 15" I calculate 2,666 cu inches, or about 11 gallons.

There are two plants in the soil; the 6' one is doing fine, but the other one is growing out sideways. If I can successfully bend the existing growth upright it'll be about half the height (from the ground). If it breaks off it'll be much shorter

Also, I need to decide on a permanent location for this. How does one move a 6', spindly plant that has sharp spines?

You can bend them a little bit, but yeah--they're not like a passionfruit vine or something and will snap if forced too much. The side growth should be pruned off if it isn't pointing directly upwards.

That pot is definitely big enough to allow the plant to produce fruit, but you will need to find a way to anchor it at the base, because it will blow over otherwise--definitely. The roots form in such a way that they spread out to quite a shallow depth at first, then they start moving down towards the bottom of the pot.

[merce3]

pollinated these bad boys last night... excuse the poor quality photos. i took them on my tablet.

[starling1]

pollinated these bad boys last night... excuse the poor quality photos. i took them on my tablet.

Beautiful, healthy plants merce. And perfectly pruned.

[Rannman]

Breakfast of kings. Pawpaw and Purple Haze. This was my largest Purple Haze of the season, 983gms. Very nice!

[starling1]

Breakfast of kings. Pawpaw and Purple Haze. This was my largest Purple Haze of the season, 983gms. Very nice!

What kind of papaya is that Anthony? Looks too broad to be a solo but is about the same size. Waimalo?

That's a whopper of a P haze, never had one that big. Almost a Kilogram, that's incredible.

[Mike T]

It looks a bit like the highly valued skybury red which often has a neck and thicker flesh but not always.

[Rannman]

 It looks a bit like the highly valued skybury red which often has a neck and thicker flesh but not always.

Not sure of the exact variety. Picked it up at the local nursery labeled as a Bisexual Red. Great flavour and never a lot of seeds. Makes a great Green Papaya Salad too. As for the Purple Haze, it's probably twice the size of any of the others from the same plant but it was the last for the seasons, so it had the plant to itself.

[Mike T]

It looks like a beauty.My last dragonfruit of the season is in the fridge and it is the reliable colombian red.The best I ate this season was condor, although a few others came close and bigger yellows were at least as good as condor for flavor alone.Hang on I forgot about the H.ocamponis which really good also.

[starling1]

It looks like a beauty.My last dragonfruit of the season is in the fridge and it is the reliable colombian red.The best I ate this season was condor, although a few others came close and bigger yellows were at least as good as condor for flavor alone.Hang on I forgot about the H.ocamponis which really good also.

Recently scored a new variety (Edgar's baby) which has a Brix rating of 18. Supposed to be Mr Valdivia's greatest creation. Red type.

Colombian red is underrated. If they haven't seen too much rain while in the fruit development stage they can be incredible with a really pronounced rose flavor.

[starling1]

 It looks a bit like the highly valued skybury red which often has a neck and thicker flesh but not always.

Not sure of the exact variety. Picked it up at the local nursery labeled as a Bisexual Red. Great flavour and never a lot of seeds. Makes a great Green Papaya Salad too. As for the Purple Haze, it's probably twice the size of any of the others from the same plant but it was the last for the seasons, so it had the plant to itself.

Definitely not the common red bisex, shape is wrong. Looks like a good one whatever it is.

[Rannman]

The best I've eaten this year came from a cutting that was apparently Thomson S-8. It was a bonus in a package I received but I'm pretty sure it's not an S-8. Super tasty, great colour.

[starling1]

The best I've eaten this year came from a cutting that was apparently Thomson S-8. It was a bonus in a package I received but I'm pretty sure it's not an S-8. Super tasty, great colour.

Yeah, that's not S-8--unless  yours is S-8 and mine is something else. Mine hasn't fruited bu the growth looks different to yours from what I can see in the picture. Mine has skinnier tendrils that do not have that kind of exaggerated serration, almost like natural mystic.

[Mike T]

That maroon on the alleged S8 makes it look like a condor.Colombian red is one of the best I have tried and seems to be the favourite of many people here with good sized collections.I would also describe the taste as having rose quality with rich classic dragonfruit flavors rather than melon,kiwi or grape.They are really productive and self fertile also so have great commercial potential.

[Rannman]

Colombian Supreme is certainly up there with the best. As for the alleged S-8, I was always under the impression that its growth was more like Voodoo Child/Arizona Purple. Not sure what it is but its damn good. Super fast grower and produced that fruit in under 18 months from cutting, in a pot. I'm pretty happy with it.