Author Topic: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya  (Read 64846 times)

starling1

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #150 on: April 20, 2015, 05:08:01 AM »
Richard and Greenman,

Nice columnar Cereus sp., update with the fruit pics :). Cereus sp. going to become more popular with Californians since the drought restrictions and cost of water going up.

The world needs a seedless, thornless Opuntia fruit--the high quality, red fleshed kind. The sooner something like this gets created, the more people will move to this hardy, eco friendly and sustainable crop.

Rtreid

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #151 on: April 20, 2015, 06:33:46 PM »
Richard and Greenman,

Nice columnar Cereus sp., update with the fruit pics :). Cereus sp. going to become more popular with Californians since the drought restrictions and cost of water going up.

The world needs a seedless, thornless Opuntia fruit--the high quality, red fleshed kind. The sooner something like this gets created, the more people will move to this hardy, eco friendly and sustainable crop.

I agree with you on this, but I am even more in tune with your belief about epi's really needing some development for fruit quality.  The potential is there, but most of the epic growers I know did not know or care that the fruit was edible. They are only grown for their flowers. 

But an attractive plant with showy flowers that can be kept small and not a water hog. What more can you ask for in a fruiting plant!

I am anxiously awaiting your update.

Cheers,
Richard

starling1

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #152 on: April 29, 2015, 05:45:19 AM »
 Picked up a decent sized cutting of this cereus today. Check out the vibrant purple fruit--quite large.

http://www.kew.org/science/tropamerica/imagedatabase/large1/cat_single1-813.htm

Rtreid

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #153 on: April 29, 2015, 12:57:18 PM »
Nice addition Starling1. Do you have any information on what the fruit is like?

Richard

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #154 on: May 01, 2015, 12:25:55 AM »
I took a picture of my three N. cochenillifera cactus.



The guy who gave me the cuttings calls the one in the front N. cochenillifera 'flat tip'.

He called the one on the Left in the back N. cochenillifera 'round tip'.

The one on the Right is N. cochenillifera 'variegated'.

ricshaw

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #155 on: September 16, 2015, 12:47:13 PM »
I have planted 11 different thornless Opuntia ficus indica on the hill behind my house. The idea is to have a mini Opuntia fruit trial.

Maybe someday there will be a thornless cactus patch with different fruit.




The eleven collected varieties on the hill.


nullzero

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #156 on: September 16, 2015, 01:24:02 PM »
Looking really good, and I like the selection you have. I just recently went and sampled some fruit from some new selections.

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=4698.50

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ricshaw

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #157 on: September 16, 2015, 01:48:11 PM »
Looking really good, and I like the selection you have. I just recently went and sampled some fruit from some new selections.

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=4698.50

I saw that.  The last two look interesting.  PARL 254 is at the top of my wish list.   ;)

ricshaw

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #158 on: October 25, 2015, 08:57:27 PM »
I found this Opuntia today in Pacific Beach, California.



The owner is my sister. My brother-in-law offered to pick me some fruit.



The cacti is thornless and the fruit was red.





I chilled one of the tunas and cut it open.



To be honest...  the fruit was not very sweet and bland tasting. The seed count was lower than some other tunas I have tasted.
Maybe it was picked too late.

nullzero

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #159 on: October 25, 2015, 10:26:45 PM »
I don't think it was picked to late. The sweetness should still be apparent if its a good prickly pear. It may also be an off year for that selection, it looks similar to Torrance PCH#1. I harvested Torrance PCH#1 in January after it was sitting on the plant for about 3 months after coloring up. Keep watch out for other good selections, I think with Torrance PCH#1 I got lucky with the great fruit qualities it has.

Btw, a good amount of fruit from the Redondo Beach orange prickly pear still looks good after about 2 months :). I am going to cut it up this week and see if its still good.
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gnappi

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #160 on: October 25, 2015, 11:17:08 PM »
I'm going to follow this thread as I've just recently acquired a taste for "tuna" and have found that samples from "wild" cactus to not be as good as those I've bought in a flea market or grocery store.

I've also noticed on wild cactus some are not fruiting and others that are very small are. To that end I have a couple of cuttings from a really small sample that was fruiting profusely with no care. I'll see what happens with it.

Regards,

   Gary

nullzero

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #161 on: October 26, 2015, 01:00:41 PM »
The Florida wild prickly pear is most likely no Opuntia ficus-indica. The other Opuntia sp. usually are not as good for quality of fruit, but have other good traits such as pest resistance.
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Rannman

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #162 on: May 03, 2018, 04:26:46 AM »





Was thinking of tearing out my Cereus peruvianus plants but they finally put out some fruit. Good size, but ordinary flavour at room temperature. Put some in the fridge to get cold and what a difference a few degrees make! Good watermelon flavour,with a shaved ice texture! I will keep growing these!

KarenRei

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #163 on: May 03, 2018, 08:48:00 AM »
This thread is great (I've been working recently on cactus fruits for my database; if I remember to, I'll sum up the info I've gathered so far in this thread). BTW, has anyone actually tried Burbank's Opuntia fruit - are the tunas actually tasty?  BTW, from what I've read, the reversion to glochid bearing often comes in response to water stress; apparently opuntias become thornier the more water-starved they get.
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Ulfr

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #164 on: May 06, 2018, 06:43:06 AM »
Planted some koubo/Peruvian apple cactus today :)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?t=11s&v=rc4geRz_SDU

dmwong93

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #165 on: May 06, 2018, 07:35:00 PM »
Null, have you heard of this cactus before?

Eulychnia acida - Cactaceae - Copao - Fruta de um cactus, com sabor ácido, da região semi-desértica do Chile - Vicuña - IV Region - Coquimbo - Chile - 23.01.2009 - Foto de Anestor Mezzomo





https://picasaweb.google.com/101936771881917391876/Frutas24Chile#5298552265208915522
Can thing type of cactus be propagated by cuttings like peruvian torch?

nullzero

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #166 on: May 06, 2018, 09:22:50 PM »
Yes it should root with properly calloused cuttings.
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stuartdaly88

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #167 on: June 26, 2018, 03:43:21 PM »
Any new news on the tastiest of cactus?

I just got seeds of:

Stenocereus martinezii
Stenocereus pruinosus
Stenocereus thurberi
I have some nice stenocereus queretaroensis already (thanks to Nullzero ;D )

Myrtillocactus geometrizans
Carnegiea gigantea
Polaskia chichipe

Heard the polaskia may be pretty good:)
Also wondering if hybrids of the different Stenocereus would fruit? Surely there must be amazing fruits stenocereus hybrids out there already? But I couldn't find any info.

One last thing I'm wondering is about micro grafting cactus. I've seen on cactus groups pics of people grafting tiny month old seedlings and cutting the pain of slow seedling growth time down big time. Any One tried this? Any hints and tips?
I'm keen but also don't want to waste and kill new baby cactus out of impatience!
 
« Last Edit: June 26, 2018, 03:45:07 PM by stuartdaly88 »
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So_Cal_Mike

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #168 on: December 21, 2018, 03:27:01 PM »
First time tasting this cactus fruit. Tasted sour/lemony not unpleasantly so.
I’m not sure what type of cactus it is.







« Last Edit: December 21, 2018, 05:28:22 PM by So_Cal_Mike »
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IndigoEmu

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #169 on: December 21, 2018, 06:51:42 PM »
Anyone in Florida have access to cuttings from quality Peruvian apple cactus? I’ve had fruit from one plant a couple years back that could rival any top tier dragon fruit. Haven’t tasted any like it since. A friend’s 13 foot plant has fairly bland fruit, which is a shame since it’s fruited twice this year and produced over 130 fruit! I’ve seen plenty of plants shrug off freezes here without an issue.
« Last Edit: December 21, 2018, 06:54:02 PM by IndigoEmu »

Recher

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #170 on: February 27, 2019, 05:06:52 PM »
By far the best cactus fruit I have eaten, and the only one I score above 90 was a Mammalaria species. The fruit was about 2/3 small pea size. The flavour intense concentrated sweet alpine strawberry.
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