Author Topic: Dragon Fruit thread.  (Read 939970 times)

fyliu

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #600 on: June 15, 2014, 01:50:47 PM »
Wow, the stigma tip is green! I don't think I've seen that before. They're all doer of yellow.

ricshaw

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #601 on: June 15, 2014, 08:18:15 PM »
Haley's (Halley's) Comet is one of my favorite from taste test at Pitahaya Festivals.

I hope to get flowers this year.


simon_grow

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #602 on: June 15, 2014, 08:34:54 PM »
Nice Halley's Comet.  Is that a flower but I see near the tip of that really long branch at about 2 o clock in the picture, its about the level of the white flowers?

Simon

ricshaw

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #603 on: June 15, 2014, 08:42:26 PM »
Nice Halley's Comet.  Is that a flower but I see near the tip of that really long branch at about 2 o clock in the picture, its about the level of the white flowers?
Simon

No, I wish!

emegar

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #604 on: June 15, 2014, 11:11:05 PM »
My first bloom, from a couple of nights ago. It's American Beauty, which I understand to be self fertile, so I tried hand pollinating it. It hasn't aborted yet, so I'm hopeful.

James

jc

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread. When to pick?
« Reply #605 on: June 23, 2014, 06:59:48 PM »
I have five dragon fruit beginning to color up. I have no idea what variety it is. It's supposed to be red/purple flesh variety. When should they be picked?

JC

Juanita

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #606 on: June 23, 2014, 08:43:23 PM »
I am curious about using a tree stump.  I have an almond tree and a coconut tree that were cut off at 5-6 feet tall.  The plan is to run the DF vines up the stumps, but I am concerned that the tree stumps, especially the coconut will rot away and just when the vines get growing, and are heavy.  Should I abandon this notion, and cut down the stumps and just use PT lumber?

I am faced with the same dilemma here re' planting DF against a cut palm.  I have been waiting for the answers to this question.  I am leaning toward just taking a chainsaw to the 6' palm stump that I had reserved for the exact same concerns you raised.  I don't want to take the risk that the Palm carcass will suddenly give way in 4 years leaving me with a pile of broken DF cuttings instead of a vibrant fruiting Beauty. 

If anyone has used dead palm trunks for DF trellis, please chime in.  I am still on the fence but leaning more and more towards the chainsaw and yet another Hugelkultur.

I decided to plant a couple of DF against the Palo Brea stump.  We left it about 6' tall for this purpose.  Although Palo Brea wood is about as soft as pine wood, at least the girth of the trunk should allow us many years of DF support... I hope...

Your almond wood should be more dense than Palo Brea wood.  Did you decide to use it?

ricshaw

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #607 on: June 23, 2014, 09:58:12 PM »
I think it is better if the tree stump is alive.

starling1

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #608 on: June 23, 2014, 10:06:45 PM »
I am curious about using a tree stump.  I have an almond tree and a coconut tree that were cut off at 5-6 feet tall.  The plan is to run the DF vines up the stumps, but I am concerned that the tree stumps, especially the coconut will rot away and just when the vines get growing, and are heavy.  Should I abandon this notion, and cut down the stumps and just use PT lumber?

I am faced with the same dilemma here re' planting DF against a cut palm.  I have been waiting for the answers to this question.  I am leaning toward just taking a chainsaw to the 6' palm stump that I had reserved for the exact same concerns you raised.  I don't want to take the risk that the Palm carcass will suddenly give way in 4 years leaving me with a pile of broken DF cuttings instead of a vibrant fruiting Beauty. 

If anyone has used dead palm trunks for DF trellis, please chime in.  I am still on the fence but leaning more and more towards the chainsaw and yet another Hugelkultur.

I decided to plant a couple of DF against the Palo Brea stump.  We left it about 6' tall for this purpose.  Although Palo Brea wood is about as soft as pine wood, at least the girth of the trunk should allow us many years of DF support... I hope...

Your almond wood should be more dense than Palo Brea wood.  Did you decide to use it?

Unless the tree is hardwood, this is probably not a good idea (or as ricshaw says, if the stump is still alive).


You could get a length of large diameter pipe, fill this with concrete and set this in the ground. If you set the post at a depth of 4 feet with a concrete footing, it isn't going to fall over. Especially if you use the top mounted piece I came up with :D

s

MassSpectrum

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #609 on: June 24, 2014, 05:04:20 AM »
Adding to the confusion....Is voodoo child the same as American beauty and is home depot red DFvoodoo child?

La Verne Nursery's "Red" (Home Depot and Lowe's) was one of the first Dragon Fruit I bought.

This year I already have 14 flower buds on my 4 year old plant and 6 flowers have opened in the last couple of days.



La Verne "Red" is Not self-fertile.

IMO, the plant and fruit resemble the named Dragon Fruit variety "Armando".

At the last Pitahaya Festival, there was talk that the Voodoo Child is close to S-8 "Sugar Dragon", but not the exact same plant.

[I thought I had already posted this, but now that I'm seeing this post on the topic I also have more to add...]

Here in Central Florida, "Smart Planet" is lasered into the green colored pots, and even though the stick-in tag says "Red Pitaya DF" the tassle tag (often missing) says Halley's Comet.

That photo there is clearly pure Red species genes (cactus itself looks like hard to distinguish from the Bloody Mary I also have), while Central Florida Home Depot "Red" cactus runs looks more white gene than anything.
« Last Edit: June 24, 2014, 05:10:20 AM by MassSpectrum »

MassSpectrum

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #610 on: June 24, 2014, 05:29:28 AM »
I'm hoping to help amass a quazi-official Dragon Fruit Cultivar Master List. Below is what I've gathered so far. I hope to see modifications showing which cultivars are the same thing, etc. Probably deserves a followup list of yet improperly ID'ed types as discussed just above. I've added a couple Selenicereus types; could probably use (SpeciesxParentages) data also.

Alice
American Beauty
Arizona Purple
Armando
Asunta
Asian Giant
Bien Hoa (red)
Bien Hoa (white)
Bruni
Capistrano Valley
Cebra Dragon
Columbian Giant
Condor
Connie Mayer
Cosmic Charlie
Costa Rican Sunset
Country Roads
Dark Star
David Bowie
Delight
Desert King
DKU (series)
Edgar
Florida Red Sweet
Frankies Red
G 1 (Guatemala)
G 2 (Guatemala)
Giant
Giant Vietnamese
Golden (Israel)
Golden Dragon
Guyute
Halley's Comet
Harpua
Hylocereus Bronxensis
Jala
Kathie Van Arum
L.A. Woman
Lake Atitlan
Makisupa
Mexicana
Natural Mystic
Neitzel
Neon
Nicaraguan Red
Oblong
Orejona
Paul Thomsons 5 S
Paul Thomsons Number 7
Pepino Dulce
Phoenix Red
Physical Graffiti
Pineapple Cactus (Selenicereus setaceus)
Pink Panther
Purple Haze
Rixford
Rosa
San Ignacio
Seoul Kitchen
Simons Purple
Sin Espinas
Sugar Dragon
Thai Dragon
Thompson
Valdivia Rojas
Venus
Vietnamese Jaina (red)
Vietnamese Jaina (white)
Vietnamese Red
Vietnamese White
Voodoo Child
White Sapphire
Yellow (Hylocereus megalanthus)
Zamorano
« Last Edit: June 24, 2014, 05:38:48 AM by MassSpectrum »

starling1

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #611 on: June 24, 2014, 05:51:25 AM »

If you can get me desert king, I can trade you the only variety of opuntia ever developed by Luther Burbanks for fruit quality. Every other variety was developed as cattle fodder.

Luisport

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #612 on: June 24, 2014, 05:57:43 AM »
Hi everyone! What a huge list! From all of them what's the best flavour ones? Thank's!  ;D

ricshaw

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #613 on: June 24, 2014, 01:53:25 PM »
Hi everyone! What a huge list! From all of them what's the best flavour ones? Thank's!  ;D

The ones YOU think taste the best.

I have tasted dozens of Dragon Fruit and what taste good to me might not be your favorites.

Most people like Paul Thomson's 8-S AKA "Sugar Dragon".

Luisport

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #614 on: June 24, 2014, 01:56:37 PM »
Hi everyone! What a huge list! From all of them what's the best flavour ones? Thank's!  ;D

The ones YOU think taste the best.

I have tasted dozens of Dragon Fruit and what taste good to me might not be your favorites.

Most people like Paul Thomson's 8-S AKA "Sugar Dragon".
Yes it's true, but some times there are varieties with more fame than others...  ;)

ricshaw

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #615 on: June 24, 2014, 02:00:40 PM »
I'm hoping to help amass a quazi-official Dragon Fruit Cultivar Master List. Below is what I've gathered so far. I hope to see modifications showing which cultivars are the same thing, etc. Probably deserves a followup list of yet improperly ID'ed types as discussed just above. I've added a couple Selenicereus types; could probably use (SpeciesxParentages) data also.

I did not see "Lisa" and "El Grullo", two varieties grown at the UCCE research field in Irvine, CA.

Josh-Los-Angeles

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #616 on: June 24, 2014, 02:14:26 PM »
Is dragon fruit quality consistent between California and Florida? Meaning, a top tasting variety in FL will perform just as well in CA? Or is weather a factor for some varieties?

ricshaw

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #617 on: June 24, 2014, 02:43:13 PM »
Is dragon fruit quality consistent between California and Florida? Meaning, a top tasting variety in FL will perform just as well in CA? Or is weather a factor for some varieties?

My guess is maybe not.  I also think Dragon Fruit quality, like any other fruit, depends on when it was picked.  Fruit grown in Florida, picked green, and sold in California, might not taste as good as in Florida.

fyliu

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #618 on: June 24, 2014, 05:50:26 PM »
I'm hoping to help amass a quazi-official Dragon Fruit Cultivar Master List. Below is what I've gathered so far. I hope to see modifications showing which cultivars are the same thing, etc. Probably deserves a followup list of yet improperly ID'ed types as discussed just above. I've added a couple Selenicereus types; could probably use (SpeciesxParentages) data also.

I did not see "Lisa" and "El Grullo", two varieties grown at the UCCE research field in Irvine, CA.
Is the list from Mattslandscape website? If not, you can add those. I think you listed most if not all the ones from Matt's site. Some dragonfruit "cultivars" are more like variations. They're not distinct enough to tell apart from another cultivar. It's why I kind of stopped going after more cultivars after 20 or so.

Cultivars to me are the winners out of the bunch. Most current DF cultivars are just so-so and not even self fertile. Not many people (myself included) are willing to put in the hard work of stabilizing good characteristics and breeding in self-fertility. Gray Martin is one that does the hard work.

MassSpectrum

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #619 on: June 24, 2014, 11:30:39 PM »
I did all the ones at Matt's, and FLorida Hill, and then scoured around thru the forums etc around the time I joined.

Variations can still be cultivars. Even i was surprised when I realized there are dozens of cultivars of the Jalapeno pepper cultivar (perhaps 'Jalapeno' should be considered now a 'coretivar', its own species, etc?). But the same goes with bell peppers (which to me is bizarre in numerous botanical ways prompting me to still doubt it should be referenced as Capsicum annuum).

If anything I'd call those varieties.

This is all why I have a sort of pet peeve in regards to the word "variety" in this vein (its not a clip its a mag!), especially as often people refer to different species themselves as different "varieties".

This all from a total maniac of having all variants. :D
« Last Edit: June 24, 2014, 11:34:50 PM by MassSpectrum »

LEOOEL

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #620 on: June 25, 2014, 01:57:39 AM »
Hi everyone! How much time a cutting nead to fruit?

I got my first bunch (7 total) of cuttings in Aug 2011, the all looked pretty much like this in February 2012.

A month later in August 2013, Dark Star looked like this.


I got fruit from all 7 this year. So from cuttings in Aug 2011 to fruit harvesting 2 years later in Aug 2013.
And not all had as much growth as the Dark Star, here is my Vietnamese Jaina with flowers from Sept this year.

 
DM

OK, great, now I realized where I went wrong. I should have picked a squared width pole for my dragonfruit and not a circular width pole. So, back to square one, I may have to figure out a new 'crown' configuration for the top of my round-width 'David Bowie' Dragon Fruit pole. And, I've got no time to waste, the 'Dragon' has climbed the pole and surpassed it by two feet already.

Please Help!

What is the length of each piece of wood of the 'wood-crown' at the top of the wooden post?

I have already bought all the material, wood and parts to finally build my 'wood-crown' at the top of my round-peg wood post. But, before I cut the pieces of wood in the appropriate lengths, I need to know what is the appropriate length of each piece of wood. After researching all 25 pages of this Thread, I can't believe that I've never asked about the length of each of the 2" X 4" (inches) pieces of wood. All suggestions & help is greatly appreciated.
« Last Edit: June 25, 2014, 02:00:29 AM by LEOOEL »
'Virtue' should be taught, learned and propagated, in order to save others and oneself.

starling1

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #621 on: June 25, 2014, 02:06:30 AM »
Hi everyone! How much time a cutting nead to fruit?

I got my first bunch (7 total) of cuttings in Aug 2011, the all looked pretty much like this in February 2012.

A month later in August 2013, Dark Star looked like this.


I got fruit from all 7 this year. So from cuttings in Aug 2011 to fruit harvesting 2 years later in Aug 2013.
And not all had as much growth as the Dark Star, here is my Vietnamese Jaina with flowers from Sept this year.

 
DM

OK, great, now I realized where I went wrong. I should have picked a squared width pole for my dragonfruit and not a circular width pole. So, back to square one, I may have to figure out a new 'crown' configuration for the top of my round-width 'David Bowie' Dragon Fruit pole. And, I've got no time to waste, the 'Dragon' has climbed the pole and surpassed it by two feet already.

Please Help!

What is the length of each piece of wood of the 'wood-crown' at the top of the wooden post?

I have already bought all the material, wood and parts to finally build my 'wood-crown' at the top of my round-peg wood post. But, before I cut the pieces of wood in the appropriate lengths, I need to know what is the appropriate length of each piece of wood. After researching all 25 pages of this Thread, I can't believe that I've never asked about the length of each of the 2" X 4" (inches) pieces of wood. All suggestions & help is greatly appreciated.

Leo, it doesn't matter so long as they are all equal lengths. Build it as large or as small as you want. That's for the outside part.

I's a square, Leooel....

For the inside supports, measure how much distance you want between the post and square box, and cut according to that.

I've made this type before, but owing to the heat, rain and humidity we get in QLD found it not really up to scratch. In drier climates it would be ok I guess, but pine, rain and large gauge screws won't get you a trellis that lasts very long.

« Last Edit: June 25, 2014, 02:11:45 AM by starling1 »

xshen

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #622 on: June 25, 2014, 02:29:17 AM »
Very nice comprehensive list of DF cultivars.  What's the history behind the G2?  I got some cuttings from the OC scion exchange but I cannot find any information on it.  What's the flesh color, brix level, and frost tolerance?

I'm hoping to help amass a quazi-official Dragon Fruit Cultivar Master List. Below is what I've gathered so far. I hope to see modifications showing which cultivars are the same thing, etc. Probably deserves a followup list of yet improperly ID'ed types as discussed just above. I've added a couple Selenicereus types; could probably use (SpeciesxParentages) data also.

Alice
American Beauty
Arizona Purple
Armando
Asunta
Asian Giant
Bien Hoa (red)
Bien Hoa (white)
Bruni
Capistrano Valley
Cebra Dragon
Columbian Giant
Condor
Connie Mayer
Cosmic Charlie
Costa Rican Sunset
Country Roads
Dark Star
David Bowie
Delight
Desert King
DKU (series)
Edgar
Florida Red Sweet
Frankies Red
G 1 (Guatemala)
G 2 (Guatemala)
Giant
Giant Vietnamese
Golden (Israel)
Golden Dragon
Guyute
Halley's Comet
Harpua
Hylocereus Bronxensis
Jala
Kathie Van Arum
L.A. Woman
Lake Atitlan
Makisupa
Mexicana
Natural Mystic
Neitzel
Neon
Nicaraguan Red
Oblong
Orejona
Paul Thomsons 5 S
Paul Thomsons Number 7
Pepino Dulce
Phoenix Red
Physical Graffiti
Pineapple Cactus (Selenicereus setaceus)
Pink Panther
Purple Haze
Rixford
Rosa
San Ignacio
Seoul Kitchen
Simons Purple
Sin Espinas
Sugar Dragon
Thai Dragon
Thompson
Valdivia Rojas
Venus
Vietnamese Jaina (red)
Vietnamese Jaina (white)
Vietnamese Red
Vietnamese White
Voodoo Child
White Sapphire
Yellow (Hylocereus megalanthus)
Zamorano

MassSpectrum

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #623 on: June 25, 2014, 03:15:39 PM »
Here's some details I just got asking about the DF at www.DevonsAustralianCattleDogs.com 

"Our S-8 and Sugar Dragon are the same.  So you actually would be getting 6 different cuttings. Incidentally, our S-8, (now called Sugar Dragon) which we got directly from Paul Thomson, is not quite the same as the S-8 sold as VooDoo Child by Pine Island.  Ramiro Lobo of the UC Irving Research station as well as many others, have confirmed this.  Hence the name change to Sugar Dragon to stop the confusion.  Our Sugar Dragon blooms earlier, is sweeter, has no thorns on the fruit and most people agree, tastes better than VooDoo Child.  "

ricshaw

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #624 on: June 25, 2014, 04:44:26 PM »
Very nice comprehensive list of DF cultivars.  What's the history behind the G2?  I got some cuttings from the OC scion exchange but I cannot find any information on it.  What's the flesh color, brix level, and frost tolerance?

Good luck.  I got a potted cutting from Irvine Pitahaya Festival labeled "D-47".  Don't know anything about it except it came from the UCCE Irvine Pitahaya Research Center.