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Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« on: September 30, 2019, 11:46:06 PM »
Has anyone heard of the variety Godzilla? Is it sweet , tart, brix score? Thanks!
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I'm stumped about one of my plant. It's currently 5 ft tall and have 3 buds growing. But I noticed the stems went from plump to skinny. It's the S8. I have another S8 that is about 4 ft tall with 2 buds. But the stems on that on is still plump. Is there a reason why it goes from being plump to skinny. Am I not watering enough? I water them max 2 times a week , sometimes one.Skinny stems, ones that look more like actual branches and less like 3 sided 'finned' dragon fruit stems are usually caused be a lack of sunlight in my garden. My particular growing scheme means I have a lot of undergrowth if I don't keep things trimmed as much as I should and the new growth that is under eves or the plants canopy, meaning its shaded all day, will grow just as rapidly in length, but they don't have the plumpness to the branch as would be typical. Having said that, the internal woody core of the plant, its main circulatory '"artery" will still be of normal size and growth capacity. Think of it as a skinny kid with normal bones; the plant looks weaker but everything's still working. Now, if you have a main stem or runner that has this going on, as soon as it does manage to get back into a sunny area, it will resume growth normally, so you can allow these types of stems to remain if you want to use them for main runners or to shape your plants. As soon as normal conditions resume, normal growth should follow.
Of course, this is how it works here. It is possible that you might have a situation that, if sunlight isn't the issue, you might be lacking in a particular nutrient that the plant needs for proper development, but that would be on a case by case basis, and you would have to see what works for you. Or just go with an all in one type fertilizer and weed out the problems that way.
I don't recall if I've ever asked this question but if I did, I'm sorry. I forgot the responseDaly City should be a very good location to grow DF, as it eliminates (mostly) the 2 conditions that inhibit healthy plants....too much heat (103+) and too much cold (34 and below). Costal cities tend to do well with dragon fruit, especially once they are established, as the aerial rooting system lends itself to the foggy mornings. As long as there is no issue with a lack of pollinators in the area (bees, etc.) then the plants should do well once they are past the cutting stage. To get them established, or to root cuttings, a warmer, and sunnier, spot would be preferable, such as against a western facing wall, so the plants can soak up additional heat radiation that the backing surface absorbs. Even a few hours a day on a cheap heating mat will help speed up maturity for newly rooted cuttings. Just make sure the soil has plenty of drainage, Nor Cal winters can be quite wet. Above ground containers/pots are probably preferable.
Well a relative of mine wants to grow some DF in his backyard. The issue is , he lives in Daly Ciry, CA. Just wondering has anyone had any luck growing them over in that area or know if it'll grow there. I think there zone is 10b.
Thank you so much Rob!! I'll pass the info over to my relative! 😊
I just started growing some in pots in Redwood City (~15 miles away) earlier this year... weather is a bit less temperate than Daly City but mine have been very happily growing several inches a week this summer.
On a related note, they will probably be 5-6 feet tall by September/October, when it'll start getting cooler and less sunny up here. I've got a single stem going up - will it start branching out on its own eventually, or should I cut the tip to encourage more lateral growth? If so, is it better to do that at a certain time of year, or does it not matter?
I don't recall if I've ever asked this question but if I did, I'm sorry. I forgot the responseDaly City should be a very good location to grow DF, as it eliminates (mostly) the 2 conditions that inhibit healthy plants....too much heat (103+) and too much cold (34 and below). Costal cities tend to do well with dragon fruit, especially once they are established, as the aerial rooting system lends itself to the foggy mornings. As long as there is no issue with a lack of pollinators in the area (bees, etc.) then the plants should do well once they are past the cutting stage. To get them established, or to root cuttings, a warmer, and sunnier, spot would be preferable, such as against a western facing wall, so the plants can soak up additional heat radiation that the backing surface absorbs. Even a few hours a day on a cheap heating mat will help speed up maturity for newly rooted cuttings. Just make sure the soil has plenty of drainage, Nor Cal winters can be quite wet. Above ground containers/pots are probably preferable.
Well a relative of mine wants to grow some DF in his backyard. The issue is , he lives in Daly Ciry, CA. Just wondering has anyone had any luck growing them over in that area or know if it'll grow there. I think there zone is 10b.
I don't know much about the Haughton variety, other than I think its one of the 2 parent varieties of the S-8 plant, but I do know that the S-8 Sugar Dragon variety, which your plant looks quite similar to, is self fertile, and a very good pollinator for all other varieties Ive heard of. Does this plant have a single thorn in most points, thick and woody, like a rose's thorn, not spiny like a traditional cactus? Darker green skin, but leaning a bit more towards a greyer green as opposed to more of a leafy, emerald green? Its kinda hard to get a scope of the overall plant from the closeup.
That's what I heard too!
I'm not sure about the thorn. I tried looking for the thorns but there's none left. But the plant itself is like what you described, green but leans toward the grey side.
I've got about 75% self pollination and self fertilization on my Houghton this year. If you pollinate with it's own pollen you will get nearly 100%. Good luck. You can save the pollen for a while in the fridge also.
I don't know much about the Haughton variety, other than I think its one of the 2 parent varieties of the S-8 plant, but I do know that the S-8 Sugar Dragon variety, which your plant looks quite similar to, is self fertile, and a very good pollinator for all other varieties Ive heard of. Does this plant have a single thorn in most points, thick and woody, like a rose's thorn, not spiny like a traditional cactus? Darker green skin, but leaning a bit more towards a greyer green as opposed to more of a leafy, emerald green? Its kinda hard to get a scope of the overall plant from the closeup.
Its a flower bud. Its very young so it might not STAY a flower bud, especially if its your first one. You can tell if you look at it closely as the new growth looks like overlapping scales. A new branch will typically be a bit more triangular, and less rounded as what you're seeing. Again, it might revert back to stem growth, but if it hangs on for the first 2 weeks or so, it should remain a flower.
Here's what you'll see if you lose the flower due to not enough flowering hormones.
And here's what that will become if it's allowed to mature. Basically the flowers seem to be 6-sided stems, rather than 3, and if they revert back, they keep that hexagonal structure until either they decide its enough or the fruiting hormone bottoms out. I dont know if anyone has done any direct recearch on this phenomenon, but its pretty cool, and btw, harmless for the plant, if you decide to allow the six sided branch to continue.
Hi Sandy, they still grow ok in the shade? When are they old enough to go full sun?
I did try it. Was slightly underwhelming but given the plant is quite small and it has been struggling due to the very dry weather, it was ok. Hopefully next season will be more productive. The fruit was only the size of a chickens egg but I was just pleased that it was a pink fleshed Megalanthus variety!
Finally got a fruit to set on my Megalanthus x unknown variety, (Yellow x 68, Matt’s Landscape)! Only a very small fruit, possibly due to lack of cross pollination 🤔🤔🤔🤔, not sure if it is self fertile or not.
Was happy to see it had hot pink flesh(not obvious in photo), but flavour was ordinary.
Hopefully next season will be better. Knowing it’s a megalanthus with pink flesh will probably encourage me to spoil the plant a bit!
Here you go, I’m not sure if this is the same seller from years past but he has seeds available.
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=26031.0
Simon
I know Edgar is the expert but I believe he is wrong. I state this because a forum member here has grown the giant variety here in California and fruited it to large size. He posted pictures on this forum but I forget under what thread title.
We should know in a few years because many people ordered seeds from Dragon.
Simon
Correction, I just looked at the date , he posted it on nov 21 of this year
Here’s the link to the video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wPiwQfK5cz0
Wow, seven months from flowering to ripe fruit!