Dragon Fruit thread.

[CTMIAMI]

It is 12:00 pm here and I just finished the pollination process but did not see as much pollen as I have seen in videos. Very little but enough I think

[Seanny]

I have 2 variety here in yard. The early one with red flesh had poor fruit set. The later one with white flesh had 100% fruit set. I did not hand pollinate.

[simon_grow]

I highly recommend Sugar Dragon(S-8) for anyone growing DF. It has small fruit with excellent flavor that is dense. Aside from its excellent eating quality, it produces a ton of fruit and has 2-3 times more flowers than my other varieties. Some branches can have 5 or more fruit on it and flowers at the same time. The in reader number of flowers means that more flowers are their to potentially cross pollinate all your other DF varieties.





Simon

[funlul]

Hello friends, the greedy part of me wants to grow more DF and been looking for room.

I have a small raised bed right next to the base of house, approx 10 ft long x 1 foot wide x 1 foot deep. Been rooting some cuttings in there with plans to transplant later, but now I wonder if I could safely grow DF in there without causing foundation problems later.

How aggressive is the root system of DF? Do you think I could safely let DF grow there up to mature size? Or is it safer to grow them in pots (then placed in raised bed) for peace of mind? Either way I'll build support for sure. Many thanks!!

[ricshaw]

Hello friends, the greedy part of me wants to grow more DF and been looking for room.

I have a small raised bed right next to the base of house, approx 10 ft long x 1 foot wide x 1 foot deep. Been rooting some cuttings in there with plans to transplant later, but now I wonder if I could safely grow DF in there without causing foundation problems later.

How aggressive is the root system of DF? Do you think I could safely let DF grow there up to mature size? Or is it safer to grow them in pots (then placed in raised bed) for peace of mind? Either way I'll build support for sure. Many thanks!!

I would be more concerned on which direction the side of the house is facing.

[funlul]

I would be more concerned on which direction the side of the house is facing.

Thanks! It faces west.

[ricshaw]

I would be more concerned on which direction the side of the house is facing.

Thanks! It faces west.

Another thing that I would be much more concerned with is it getting away from you the next time you need to paint your house. 

[funlul]

LOL thanks! I don't intend to let it climb on the wall (mom will get paranoid). Will sort of guide it to grow more in the sun.

Any thoughts about DF root system hurting the foundation of the house?

[ricshaw]

LOL thanks! I don't intend to let it climb on the wall (mom will get paranoid). Will sort of guide it to grow more in the sun.

Any thoughts about DF root system hurting the foundation of the house?

IMO Not a threat.

[fyliu]

I've seen "old" dragonfruit vine on residential walls in rainy southern China. All the vines on the side of the walls had rotted away to the canes, but the portions on top of the wall were growing normally. The wall seemed fine.

[Mag]

Bump.. anybody? Thanks!

Would appreciate feedback from you experienced growers on what strategy you use for pruning your DF? When do you do it, and how aggressive do you prune it? I am not talking about training a young plant, but rather once you have a mature plant trained and setup umbrella style and have had a alot of flowering and fruits. I want to insure I do this properly so I continue to have successful flowering and fruiting in the coming seasons. Thanks

[ricshaw]

Bump.. anybody? Thanks!

Would appreciate feedback from you experienced growers on what strategy you use for pruning your DF? When do you do it, and how aggressive do you prune it? I am not talking about training a young plant, but rather once you have a mature plant trained and setup umbrella style and have had a alot of flowering and fruits. I want to insure I do this properly so I continue to have successful flowering and fruiting in the coming seasons. Thanks

Have you watched this UC YouTube video?

https://youtu.be/kwD8vhzIUm0

[ricshaw]

On the other hand... if your DF is healthy...

[fyliu]

Just try to not have too many overlapping layers on the plant since the bottom layers wouldn't be fruiting much with no light.

[spaugh]

Anyone using coco coir sheets on their DF supports?  Saw a guy on youtube showing his off.  Seems better than burlap.  Costs more...  That guy may be a member here.  Forgot his youtube handle, hes an older guy who wheres tie dye and looks like hes in Florida probably.

[Mag]

Thanks, I did watch his videos. That is about the only thing I could find about it so I was curious to see what others do. My worry is I cut too much and then the younger growth doesn't flower the following spring. My plants go dormant in winter so they won't grow. I have vigorous flowering now on a trained but unpruned plant that I bought when it was pretty large last spring. So I haven't had to prune until now. Thanks

Bump.. anybody? Thanks!

Would appreciate feedback from you experienced growers on what strategy you use for pruning your DF? When do you do it, and how aggressive do you prune it? I am not talking about training a young plant, but rather once you have a mature plant trained and setup umbrella style and have had a alot of flowering and fruits. I want to insure I do this properly so I continue to have successful flowering and fruiting in the coming seasons. Thanks

Have you watched this UC YouTube video?

https://youtu.be/kwD8vhzIUm0

[fyliu]

I don't have a personal successful pruning story myself. They're just wild on the support.

What I remember is an arm is most fruitful in the 2nd and 3rd year. So prune away really old ones. Also try to clear back as close to the center as you can to reduce the weight and mess.

If an arm is already long and it tries to grow a new arm close to the tip, I would cut that off. I would have to cut the entire arm off in a couple years anyway so why let it grow out more.

[SandyL]

Anyone has tasted or grown Maria Rosa vareity? I can't find much info on it besides it being a somewhat pink flesh variety with slight lemon flavor and refreshing taste.

[ricshaw]

Anyone has tasted or grown Maria Rosa vareity? I can't find much info on it besides it being a somewhat pink flesh variety with slight lemon flavor and refreshing taste.

Never heard of it until I Googled it.

Was Spicy Exotics your source?
http://www.spicyexotics.com/product/maria-rosa/

They say; "This plant is also self-sterile making it a great choice for beginner gardeners or commercial growing." 

[Mag]

Hi,

I know Rob posted about how he freezes pollen. I employed his method and have some pollen in storage now. Thanks for the tips! Question on thawing the pollen (for Rob or anyone else that has done this successfully). Do you find you can remove pollen from freezer, use some, and then put the previously collected pollen back in the freezer again? I read some pollen can't live through multiple freeze cycles. So I'm wondering if I should freeze in small batches and use whatever I take out fully. Also, do you actually let it thaw at room temperature, or do you take it straight out of the freezer and hand pollinate? I have only stored pollen in the fridge, I didn't dry at all, and had success if using it 1-2 days later. Thanks!

[wayne23]

Hi,

I know Rob posted about how he freezes pollen. I employed his method and have some pollen in storage now. Thanks for the tips! Question on thawing the pollen (for Rob or anyone else that has done this successfully). Do you find you can remove pollen from freezer, use some, and then put the previously collected pollen back in the freezer again? I read some pollen can't live through multiple freeze cycles. So I'm wondering if I should freeze in small batches and use whatever I take out fully. Also, do you actually let it thaw at room temperature, or do you take it straight out of the freezer and hand pollinate? I have only stored pollen in the fridge, I didn't dry at all, and had success if using it 1-2 days later. Thanks!

I am experimenting with freeze pollens.  I suspect it wont work well once it's thawed.  I froze them in small batches. I've not use it yet.  my first opportunity will be in 2 weeks when i get some flowers from a self-sterile variety.

[SandyL]

Anyone has tasted or grown Maria Rosa vareity? I can't find much info on it besides it being a somewhat pink flesh variety with slight lemon flavor and refreshing taste.

Never heard of it until I Googled it.

Was Spicy Exotics your source?
http://www.spicyexotics.com/product/maria-rosa/

They say; "This plant is also self-sterile making it a great choice for beginner gardeners or commercial growing." 

Yup, that's the source. I'm just wondering if it's worth growing compared to s8 when one is limited in space.
Hmmm... I think I'll have to sleep on this one.

[fyliu]

Anyone has tasted or grown Maria Rosa vareity? I can't find much info on it besides it being a somewhat pink flesh variety with slight lemon flavor and refreshing taste.

Never heard of it until I Googled it.

Was Spicy Exotics your source?
http://www.spicyexotics.com/product/maria-rosa/

They say; "This plant is also self-sterile making it a great choice for beginner gardeners or commercial growing." 

STERILE??? That doesn't sound like a great choice.

[SandyL]

On another note... I think I might be getting a second flush of buds after the first flush turned back to stems. Probably too early to be sure but I'm hoping...

[ricshaw]

Anyone has tasted or grown Maria Rosa vareity? I can't find much info on it besides it being a somewhat pink flesh variety with slight lemon flavor and refreshing taste.

Never heard of it until I Googled it.

Was Spicy Exotics your source?
http://www.spicyexotics.com/product/maria-rosa/

They say; "This plant is also self-sterile making it a great choice for beginner gardeners or commercial growing." 

Yup, that's the source. I'm just wondering if it's worth growing compared to s8 when one is limited in space.
Hmmm... I think I'll have to sleep on this one.

If you are limited in space...  I bet most people would recommend S-8.