The pitaya is a fruit of the so-called cacti of vibrant colors..... Stenocereus

[Tao2]

this bit is a translation.............................In the months of May and June is carried out an activity that fills with color to the Square of the nine corners in Guadalajara, Jalisco. There they settle down variety 'positions' to display and sell food facts with pitaya fruit as well as the single. The pitaya is a fruit of the so-called cacti of vibrant colors and appearance of Espinosa, but thanks to the people who distribute you only given to the task of consent to your senses, you can also give you the luxury to see trucks with a horn shouting that sold in Amacueca pitayas, southern region of the state of Jalisco.

In the nine corners you can find the bread of pitaya, delicious and is unmistakable for its aroma and to cut a slice you see the seeds of this fruit. Sold the jam and also punch. But of course that solitas we can serve and enjoy its flavor.















So there are many in the family of Stenocereus ...................found mainly in Mexico...................they have been cultivated...........and cuttings (clones) shared for 1000's of years by the gardeners..................so apparently (feel free to correct any errors I make) there are many 1000's of unique cultivators.................following are the main families that these cultivators derive from
Stenocereus fricii  Pitayo de Aguas
Stenocereus griseus Pitayo de Mayo
Stenocereus gummosus Pitaya Agria
Stenocereus queretaroensis Lemaireocereus queretaroensis , (Pitahaya de Queretaro) from Galician Cactus Santiago de Querétaro, QRO, Mexico
Stenocereus pruinosus  Pitayo de Octubre

Note the months of fruiting indicated in the name Mayo to Octubre........providing a succession of ripe fruit
.............an interesting point is they are night pollinated by migrating bats................who also consume the ripe fruit on their return leg....................and so distributing the seeds (via air born poop) along their migration routes...................A lot of research is being done by the Mexican government to further develop and promote this wonderful fruit..................which has filled the market places for 1000's of years........................If you have any seed pm.....................please add any info or experience of this fruit you may have.......................

[Luisport]

WOW!!! 

[nullzero]

I am growing;

Stenocereus griseus
Stenocereus gummosus
Stenocereus stellatus

The only one now I really want is Stenocereus queretaroensis!

[Luisport]

Tao you sent me any one of this?

[GROWITFROMSEED]

Beautiful. So tell me, is the flavor of pitaya realy good or what?

[Tao2]

Tao you sent me any one of this?

I Wish!

If I had seeds from these babies I'd be sending them everywhere.................
I have grown Stenocereus thurberi from seeds, but they are only 1cm high so far.................and its more of the crab-apple of the stenocereus family............a bit on the wild side..................no nurseries in my country stock any of them ...............here they are rare if not non existent.............most cacti here are grown as ornamentals....little things for the window sill.......and other recreation uses 

[Tao2]

Beautiful. So tell me, is the flavor of pitaya realy good or what?

I have read its one of the best..................hopefully someone out there..........has some experience....and will comment.......I'm' curious for some 1st hand knowledge........

[msk0072]

Very nice pictures. The colours of the fruits are amazing. How do they taste all these different coloured fruits? Are from the same taste?
Where can I get seeds or cuttings?

[Tao2]

Very nice pictures. The colours of the fruits are amazing. How do they taste all these different coloured fruits? Are from the same taste?
Where can I get seeds or cuttings?

They'd grow well in Greece, Crete  and Portugal

[Sanddollarmoon]

Wow! Nice fruit, are different colors produced by different plants of the same species/variety, or are they different species/varieties? What would be spectacular is if they were the same plant, do you know? How are the thorns on the fruit?

[Tao2]

Wow! Nice fruit, are different colors produced by different plants of the same species/variety, or are they different species/varieties? What would be spectacular is if they were the same plant, do you know? How are the thorns on the fruit?

Hi Patrick
I have an interest in cactus fruit.....they seem really underutilised...............apparently all cactus fruit are edible...........but of course there are 1000's of species and subspecies................over the last couple of years I have collected a list of cacti fruit species sold in the markets throughout the America's....its huge............their advantage is they can grow on marginal land.......dry........but can also be grown in pots and still fruit very well .....so good for temperate and wet zones.........as they can be given shelter when the climate gets wet or cold....................I live in New Zealand.....and like most of the west..............they tend to be very rare here................Most of the stenocereus I would have to grow from seed..............some seed house's stock some..but mostly I prefer to exchange................
So I have not tried stenocereus fruit...............I was hoping someone out there may have and could give some feed back..................................So I think the coloured fruit may be from one plant or from different cultivators of the same plant.................Cactus are great, they have many qualities ....one is they tend to graft very easily.....so you could put different coloured fruiting arms on the same plant............I think the fruit is prickly............they burn them off before they are sold in the market.....(singe on gas stove).....dragoon fruit  and Cereus (I have seeds for trade) have no prickles..................

[Sven]

I found this site: http://www.sanpedrocactus.com/stenocereus/ offering Stenocereus Queretaroensis seeds but when I tried to order it says they can't ship to my location for some reason.

[Tao2]

I found this site: http://www.sanpedrocactus.com/stenocereus/ offering Stenocereus Queretaroensis seeds but when I tried to order it says they can't ship to my location for some reason.

neat site......wide collection.....cheap............its in Ca ...your Ca.................maybe email them to explain?...I'd be interested to know.................

[Sven]

Thanks.  I just did.  There was no way to e-mail from the site so I had to make an account and then respond to the welcome e-mail.  I'll let you know what they say. 

[plantlover13]

Hmm, they're not on the watchdog.

[Tao2]

Hmm, they're not on the watchdog.

whats the watchdog?

[Tao2]

Thanks.  I just did.  There was no way to e-mail from the site so I had to make an account and then respond to the welcome e-mail.  I'll let you know what they say.

They do have the largest selection I have seen....................
Here's some others that have some stenocereus

http://www.mesagarden.com/c2013.html

I have never used mesa...........but had good strike with Suceed seed

http://www.succseed.com/seeds-cacti/

Joel at

http://www.cactus-aventures.com/pageweb_ENG.html

is friendly and list's the date seeds come in..........

Personally I prefer individual exchanges...................its more friendly....you don't have high handling and minimum order cost.................and fresh seed is so important................its just a waste of time and effort dealing with old seed........................saying that I have found it very difficult to find stenocerus........even on Mexican forums...............which is odd for a fruit so readily sold in local markets.........even yellow dragon fruit seeds are hard to source via exchange.............which I would have thought would be common in Oz...................

[plantlover13]

Hmm, they're not on the watchdog.

whats the watchdog?

Oh, it's a review sort of thing, an a website called dave's garden. It has reviews for nurseries, seed companies, etc. It's a good resource when you want to judge the reliability of a company.

[cgps]

this bit is a translation.............................In the months of May and June is carried out an activity that fills with color to the Square of the nine corners in Guadalajara, Jalisco. There they settle down variety 'positions' to display and sell food facts with pitaya fruit as well as the single. The pitaya is a fruit of the so-called cacti of vibrant colors and appearance of Espinosa, but thanks to the people who distribute you only given to the task of consent to your senses, you can also give you the luxury to see trucks with a horn shouting that sold in Amacueca pitayas, southern region of the state of Jalisco.

In the nine corners you can find the bread of pitaya, delicious and is unmistakable for its aroma and to cut a slice you see the seeds of this fruit. Sold the jam and also punch. But of course that solitas we can serve and enjoy its flavor.















So there are many in the family of Stenocereus ...................found mainly in Mexico...................they have been cultivated...........and cuttings (clones) shared for 1000's of years by the gardeners..................so apparently (feel free to correct any errors I make) there are many 1000's of unique cultivators.................following are the main families that these cultivators derive from
Stenocereus fricii  Pitayo de Aguas
Stenocereus griseus Pitayo de Mayo
Stenocereus gummosus Pitaya Agria
Stenocereus queretaroensis Lemaireocereus queretaroensis , (Pitahaya de Queretaro) from Galician Cactus Santiago de Querétaro, QRO, Mexico
Stenocereus pruinosus  Pitayo de Octubre

Note the months of fruiting indicated in the name Mayo to Octubre........providing a succession of ripe fruit
.............an interesting point is they are night pollinated by migrating bats................who also consume the ripe fruit on their return leg....................and so distributing the seeds (via air born poop) along their migration routes...................A lot of research is being done by the Mexican government to further develop and promote this wonderful fruit..................which has filled the market places for 1000's of years........................If you have any seed pm.....................please add any info or experience of this fruit you may have.......................

hey, here is a wild plant, but nothing think that this fruit are comestible...

about pitayas, this grows here

[Tao2]

hey, here is a wild plant, but nothing think that this fruit are comestible...

about pitayas, this grows here


[/quote]

Hi  cgps
I know there are yellow pitaya that look similar but are from different types of cactus.
Do you know the name of this cactus?
Is that yellow  pitaya growing in your garden?
Would you like to trade some seeds?   
When it is fully ripe..................

[cgps]

hi,are selenicerus spp, megalanthus exactly, his plant grow here  but the photo is of a village of here, to 800 msnm, is heat but soft nigth,of seed can not for what is a genetic resource protected, and send to other countries until permission is prohibited and judicializable.

but you can buy a yellow pitaya and grow  seeds, are not trouble.

camile

[Tao2]

Hi
camile
[/quote]

No seeds can be sent from Colombia?













Looking at all these images, there seems to be a lot of genetic variation in this species. Some have spines on the skin whereas others are spineless, (possibly due to hybridisation with Hylocereus undatus or other Hylocereus species ??). The advantage of this is that it allows a lot of breeding potential. Some of the wild type fruit may be of poor quality when compared to the hybridised fruit.
Personally I would like to collect as many genetic variants as possible, because they are easy to cross (hybridise), which I feel makes it a very interesting fruit. As a home breeder you have the opportunity to create unique cultivators. A good example of the shear variation in hybridising cactus's can be seen in epiphyllum hybrids, (though the fruit is edible, these hybrids are created for flowers only) see pic's at   http://www.southpacificepiphyllums.com/        Hybridising of cacti for fruit is still in its infancy and I feel  the potential is great.

[Sven]

Hi Tao2,

The first and the last picture are yellow skinned Hylocereus sp., not S. megalanthus.  They are grown in parts of Mexico and I believe in Israel.  I’m not sure if the color is from hybridization or just chance seedlings of Hylocereus but definitely a different species than the other pictures. 

Sven

[Sven]

By the way, what site is that first picture from?  I might have to order some seeds.  Thanks.

[simon_grow]

Do the fruit from Stenocereus species have hard seeds or soft seeds like Hocereus? Thanks in advance! Simon