Author Topic: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit  (Read 6848 times)

Jose Spain

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 375
    • Marbella, Spain. Zone 10b
    • View Profile
Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« on: August 04, 2017, 07:06:24 AM »
Hi everyone,

I'm trying to find in the forum pictures of grafting pitaya, so far I found this topic with very useful info and pics:

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=18663.msg232844;topicseen#msg232844

I'm looking now for pictures showing how to wrap the grafts and also recent grafts before wrapping to understand how exactly you work in the union between rootstock and scion. Anybody has some?

Thank you,
« Last Edit: August 04, 2017, 07:32:54 AM by Jose Spain »

joaave

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 398
    • jujuy-argentina
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2017, 09:57:41 AM »
Hi frind ive got a dragonfuit ...I grafted it at last year ...its growing very well . I show you pictures...the scions about rootstok holding pasted with a tape during 10 days , yes,,,only need 10 days to know if you graft is succesfull.




This method works!! see the video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIjTG6EN760

Mr. Clean

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1186
  • FLMangos.com
    • US, FL, West Palm Beach, Zone 10a
    • View Profile
    • Florida's Finest Mangos
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2017, 12:02:52 PM »
Most people I know grow dragon fruit from cuttings, rather than grafting.
www.FLMangos.com

110+ fruit trees/plants; 60+ mango trees; 9 jackfruit; 6 avocado; 3 persimmon; longan; and a dog that keeps raccoons and squirrels away.

ricshaw

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1599
    • USA, Southern California, Zone 10b
    • View Profile
    • ricshaw805 YouTube Channel
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2017, 01:02:21 PM »
Hi everyone,
I'm trying to find in the forum pictures of grafting pitaya, so far I found this topic with very useful info and pics:
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=18663.msg232844;topicseen#msg232844
I'm looking now for pictures showing how to wrap the grafts and also recent grafts before wrapping to understand how exactly you work in the union between rootstock and scion. Anybody has some?
Thank you,

FYI: Some epiphyllum hybridizers graft epiphyllum cuttings onto Opuntia cactus to speed up the time to flowering.
The people I know who graft Dragon Fruit cuttings to established Dragon Fruit plants and Dragon Fruit cuttings to Opuntia cactus are familiar with how-to posts and/or YouTube videos on epiphyllum grafting.

echinopora

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 231
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2017, 04:57:15 PM »
Just stick them together and tape them. As long as you have vascular contact they will take. Just give it a go, it will work.

Same plant from that other post this morning



A grafted giant yellow megalanthus seedling just starting into a spring flush of growth, so should get to see how giant this type of megalanthus really is this year.



Jose Spain

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 375
    • Marbella, Spain. Zone 10b
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2017, 07:51:14 AM »
Thank you all for the useful info, pics and video! I have some seedlings and small cuttings and I want them to grow faster. An old big pitaya brought from Tenerife in 1977 will be the rootstock. I'll post some pics of the process if my grafts take. Thanks a lot!  ;)



fyliu

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
    • Burbank/Covina, CA 10a
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #6 on: August 08, 2017, 02:23:00 PM »
Paco Frausto on FB posted photos showing how to graft DF seedlings to mature DF stems. It works pretty much like grafting moon cactus except with a DF seedling on top, cut immediately below the pair of seed leaves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZHev-oALq4

This one of grafting to the side of the DF is interesting too. It makes the seedling easier to tie down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QKqQtRYX4c

simon_grow

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6729
  • USA, San Diego, CA, Zone 10a
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #7 on: August 08, 2017, 06:35:46 PM »
Here's an older thread on grafting cactus.
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=18773.msg242375#msg242375

Simon

Jose Spain

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 375
    • Marbella, Spain. Zone 10b
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2017, 01:45:10 PM »
Thank you both for the links. Great videos, only complicate thing about grafting pitayas is how to tie the scions if you cut the rootstock in the top (specially with the shape of red pitayas stems, yellow ones offer more grip points to tie the scion), I made two first attempts yesterday using black tape and I donīt know exactly how I'm going to remove it in 10 days   ::)

A pity that I didn't find your topic with your questions about cactus grafting, Simon (I only searched for DF). I could have made mine there so all the info would be together. How ended your experiments? Any conclusions already?

echinopora

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 231
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #9 on: August 09, 2017, 02:25:42 PM »
After some time in the sun the tape will start to weaken. Long term tapes like duct tape or electric tape are made to last a long time, but tge clear medical tape is really good at sticking to tissue and degrades pretty quickly in the sun.

Jose Spain

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 375
    • Marbella, Spain. Zone 10b
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #10 on: August 09, 2017, 02:32:15 PM »
Thank you for the tip, I should check if I have some at home for the next ones. This is the one that you use perhaps?

https://www.amazon.com/3M-Transpore-Clear-Plastic-Yards/dp/B010OUP208?th=1

Ethan

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1644
    • Central California Z9/9
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #11 on: August 09, 2017, 05:48:35 PM »
Great info guys! A cocktail DF would be really awesome,  esp for limited space people. First thing I thought of was putting selenicereus megalathus, which is a slow grower for me, onto a more aggressive selenicereus sp.

fyliu

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3216
    • Burbank/Covina, CA 10a
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #12 on: August 09, 2017, 06:33:51 PM »
Graft it onto Hylocereus or even to hardy Opuntia like others have done.

simon_grow

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6729
  • USA, San Diego, CA, Zone 10a
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #13 on: August 09, 2017, 06:36:16 PM »
I never started those experiments because I got really sick around that time. Like Ethan, I was mostly interested in grafting my yellow DF S/H Megalanthus onto regular Undatus or hybrid rootstock in hopes of accelerating growth. I grew seeds of a giant Megalanthus variety and they are still small but I would love to graft one onto my American Beauty to accelerate growth and potentially get faster fruiting so I can verify that the fruit size is truly larger than the regular Megalanthus.

Simon

Jose Spain

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 375
    • Marbella, Spain. Zone 10b
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #14 on: January 07, 2018, 01:17:27 PM »
Since the topic came out in the main thread of DF, I update the post to show the success with the grafting of cv Queen on my old 1977 DF. I made kind of a veneer grafting, by placing the scion on the side of the rootstock instead of the top, this way was much easier to tape it. Two others that I tried in the top failed due to the very slippery surface and the difficulty to tape the scions. I used a very tiny piece as a scion, equivalent in size to a cut from the top of a seedling. Here a couple of pictures 2 months later.

 






beicadad

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 328
    • San Diego
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #15 on: January 08, 2018, 02:33:42 PM »
Thanks Jose. Very interesting. Could you share a little details on how veneer grafting was done? Did you align the vascular layers?

Jose Spain

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 375
    • Marbella, Spain. Zone 10b
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #16 on: January 13, 2018, 04:45:16 AM »
Thanks Jose. Very interesting. Could you share a little details on how veneer grafting was done? Did you align the vascular layers?

I didn't align anything but the pieces as a whole. Both the rootstock and the scion were growing by the time, they were soft. I just cut the top and the side of the rootstock, then I cut the scion diagonally and taped it tight to the side of the rootstock. I should have done some pics. In a few days started to push, those pics I posted were done 2 months after grafting. The rootstock developed the central pith or vascular cylinder. It can be seen in the photo close up as it has cracked the skin in the new joint area. This spring I'll do a few more and I'll try to take pictures of the process.

Kada

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 111
    • Taiwan
    • View Profile
    • Kada's Garden
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #17 on: January 14, 2018, 08:43:38 AM »
Here are a couple very old articles on grafting.  It mostly still holds true.  Note to focus of these is more about grafting slow, collectible cactus onto fast rootstocks.

If you are wanting to proliferate your dragon fruit, you should be looking at grafting onto pereskiopsis and learning areole grafting.  The vascular tissue is a bit different in cactus compared to most woody stems.

Grafting with hylocereus ksame info holds true for selenicereus, acanthocereus etc)
http://kadasgardens.com/grafting5.html

Grafting onto pereskiopsis
http://kadasgardens.com/grafting1.html

Areole grafting
http://kadasgardens.com/grafting4.html

General cactus grafting
http://kadasgardens.com/grafting2.html

funlul

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 443
    • SoCal zone 10a SGV
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #18 on: February 23, 2018, 12:45:57 PM »
Dear TFF folks, I have a few mature (2-3 yr) df plants that I'd like to "top work" and change into S8 -- never have enough of them. Questions:

1. Can I graft onto semi-hardened rootstock? The vascular cambium (spine?) seems much larger and harder than the scion I have.
2. If I cut scion into 2-3 pieces, should I let the open wound on top heal first before grafting? Is it a good idea to tape or parafilm the top?
3. For securing the grafting union, would you recommend tie or tape? Will tape increase the risk of mold?

Thank you very much!!!
Looking for scionwoods: loquat, cherimoya, jujube, chocolate perssimon

pineislander

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2199
    • Bokeelia, FL
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #19 on: March 11, 2018, 12:17:59 AM »
These videos show a fellow in Brazil successfully grafting what I believe is yellow dragonfruit onto ordinary dragonfruit. My Portuguese isn't very good but believe he says he is doing it to accelerate growth. f anyone has a good translation that would be nice but he shows technique pretty well and seems to be having success.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljf6wyUmJ9k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvjjV1GXOmI

Jose Spain

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 375
    • Marbella, Spain. Zone 10b
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #20 on: March 11, 2018, 06:35:35 AM »
Very well explained, this method is known as "injerto de enchufe" in Spanish (plug graft) and I heard of it few months ago but never saw it in video. What the guy explains in the first one is that yellow pitaya produces less and slower than white one, so he grafts the yellow to make it produce faster. At the end of the video he shows how the scion has produced a new section of 45 cm just 60 days after grafting, which is a good rate for yellow pitaya I think. I gonna try this method with two yellow pitayas I was going to plant in soil. Instead of that I'll graft them on rootstocks and plant the combination by the side of a not grafted yellow pitaya. Let's check how it goes. Thanks for sharing. 
« Last Edit: March 11, 2018, 06:38:12 AM by Jose Spain »

simon_grow

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6729
  • USA, San Diego, CA, Zone 10a
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #21 on: March 11, 2018, 10:16:06 AM »
Thanks for sharing the video. The technique looks very simple.

Simon

Jose Spain

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 375
    • Marbella, Spain. Zone 10b
    • View Profile
Re: Grafting pitaya / dragonfruit
« Reply #22 on: June 17, 2018, 04:02:16 PM »
"Cosmic Charlie" growing happily on "1977" rootstock following the plug grafting method. Just the first tiny segment with the CC mark upside down was grafted, all the rest is new growth. Now, what I think is interesting is that the union happened just in the central pith or vascular cylinder, the parenchymas around didn't match, but pitayas seem to don't care about it. I have two yellow pitayas successfully grafted on 1977 too, one of them already pushing. This week I grafted a very small piece of Condor and another yellow clone on 1977. Let's see how they go, I'll keep updating and uploading pics.



« Last Edit: June 17, 2018, 04:07:54 PM by Jose Spain »