Author Topic: Dragon Fruit thread.  (Read 940311 times)

SandyL

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2075 on: July 13, 2017, 02:40:59 PM »
looks like a stem from the base of it.

Only thing you can do is don't apply any nitrogen fertilizer if you fertilize.


I did apply chicken manure and some bone meal at the end of June. I wonder if that was the cause. What is a good fertilizer you would recommend ?
« Last Edit: July 13, 2017, 02:43:23 PM by SandyL »

ricshaw

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2076 on: July 13, 2017, 11:27:58 PM »
looks like a stem from the base of it.

Only thing you can do is don't apply any nitrogen fertilizer if you fertilize.


I did apply chicken manure and some bone meal at the end of June. I wonder if that was the cause. What is a good fertilizer you would recommend ?

When it comes to fertilizer and Dragon Fruit...  IMO less is more.

SandyL

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2077 on: July 13, 2017, 11:42:22 PM »
looks like a stem from the base of it.

Only thing you can do is don't apply any nitrogen fertilizer if you fertilize.


I did apply chicken manure and some bone meal at the end of June. I wonder if that was the cause. What is a good fertilizer you would recommend ?

When it comes to fertilizer and Dragon Fruit...  IMO less is more.

Thank you. Can I ask if you apply any and what kind , how often?

RobPatterson

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2078 on: July 14, 2017, 04:47:18 PM »
Reminder: Self-fertile and self-pollinating mean two different things.
Self-fertile = The plants own pollen is capable of germinating fruit, but might possibly require manual assistance to make that happen; in other words, you might have to move the pollen from the stamen to the stigma yourself in order to get successful pollination if you don't get regular help from the forces of nature, like bees or moths.
Self-pollinating = The plants structure is such that not only will the plants own pollen successfully result in germination, but it also does so with little or no outside help. Usually this is in species where the stigma is actually shorter than the stamen, and cant avoid coming in contact with the pollen.
Personally, I try to hand pollinate every flower I can get at, and if at all possible, cross-pollinate plants to encourage stronger fruit. Sometimes, though, timing of flower bloom or the weather simply doesn't allow for that level of involvement, so the plants are left to fend for themselves.

roblack

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2079 on: July 14, 2017, 06:23:01 PM »
Yellow Dragon Fruit flower (selenicereus megalanthus) Anyone know if this needs hand pollination, and if so, does anyone have some spare pollen?

Cookie0208

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2080 on: July 16, 2017, 06:41:35 PM »
Guys, I'm new to dragon fruit and I just bought this small tree at the nursery, but I would like to put it in the ground and make a new trellis for it, will disturbing its roots cause it to die? What do I need to do first? Please help



RobPatterson

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2081 on: July 16, 2017, 08:38:45 PM »
Welcome to the fold  :)
First off, you should try and keep the plant potted, not in ground, if your landscape allows. This gives you more control over watering and soil conditions, and protects you from things like gophers. A 15 gallon pot is more than enough for a dragon fruits entire life span. Secondly, how you grow it is going to depend on where you plan on putting it, and what sort of area that is. Up against a fence? Middle of the yard? Stuff like that. The traditional route is to grow these up a post of some sort, up and through an elevated ring or support, which takes the load of the plants eventual weight, and grow them in an umbrella-like canopy. 1-3 main stems are trained up the post, using gardeners tape or burlap rope, with the remaining side growth trimmed away, and as the stems get to the required height, they are topped, or cut, to prevent further growth on those stems. This forces the plant to start producing side branches again, but at the top of the plant (hopefully). These are trained up though and over the support on top, and then allowed to hang back down. Hanging branches produce more fruit, with it having something to do with the necessary hormones being pushed further down the branches and collecting there.
There are dozens of good ideas on how to support your fruit, and a quick google or YouTube search (growing dragon fruit) should hopefully yield something you can use in your particular situation. At the end of the day, though, the main idea is to end up with long hanging branches.
As a side note, though, I would suggest that, if you have the space, you consider starting a second plant. Without knowing what variety you have there, you would be best off having a second, clearly different species, for both pollination and general fruit production. Some will produce fruit without a second plant, but unless you know for sure what type you bought, I wouldn't risk it. Waiting a year or two to find out can be a disappointment.
Oh, and as for the roots, these plants tend to grow roots on the surface, not deep, so the best way to go about transplanting would be, if you can, use a box cutter type knife to slit the old pot enough to wedge it open a little, then try and take the entire root ball + soil out in one piece. Make sure the soil is nice and dry, to prevent it from crumbling. Not watering the cactus wont hurt it for even weeks at a time, so you don't have to worry about that. Just make sure when you transplant, wherever it goes, try to keep the top of the old soil even with the new location. Don't try and bury it deep; these plants aren't fond of that.
« Last Edit: July 16, 2017, 08:43:15 PM by RobPatterson »

Cookie0208

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2082 on: July 16, 2017, 09:09:27 PM »
Thanks for the explanation Rob. The pot I bought is very small, so I would like to buy a 25-gallon pot and make 4x4' trellis in the middle like some posters on this thread.. can you tip me on what to do to not kill my plant? Can I just cut the current pot I have and then just put the entire plant onto the new pot with more potting soil?


Sayan128

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2083 on: July 16, 2017, 10:09:41 PM »
I had a quick question on mine...it's been growing really well but one of them started turning yellow on the bottom cutting. Any concern with that? I try not to water more than 1-2x per week right now but it's been so hot and my worry was that they are growing so quickly that they have got to get their water from somewhere...the bottom cutting felt a little deflated.


RobPatterson

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2084 on: July 16, 2017, 11:26:42 PM »
Cookie: If youre going to use a 25 gallon pot, you will have enough room for roots to plant several separate dragon fruit cuttings/plants. I suggest having more than one, if you can, especially in the same pot, so the plants (and flowers) intermingle to make cross-pollination by natural forces easier. easiest thing to do would be set your 4x4 post first, but coat the entire area that's going to be underground/in the pot with some sort of waterproofer, like roof sealant, that's not going to deteriorate or leech into the soil. Even treated lumber wont last forever so this is a good thing to do to extend post life. Then, make a hole in your pot and slide it over the post. Build or attach your upper assembly (some people just drill holes in posts and run heavy pipe or Rebar through to make the upper.



This is the ideal shape, if you can imagine this on the top of a post. It allows the branches to grow up and out, and supports weight. Just make sure however you make it, its sturdy enough to support 100-200 pounds for a healthy mature plant if it does well. After this, I highly recommend wrapping both the post and supports in burlap (potato sack material). Most hardware stores sell it in the garden areas. It retains moisture when you water and gives the air roots something additional to grasp onto and weave into. I always water my plants and then give my posts a quick spritz before I'm done.

Sayan: Is that yellow area soft or just yellow? The entire cutting looks like it might have received too much sun for a time. A light dusting of Epsom Salts can help counter that yellow, and green a plant back up, but only if its healthy. Is it already rooted or did you plant it as a cutting recently? Yellowing like that is a bleaching of the chlorophyll in the plant, and is reversible. But if its soft, and starting to turn a honey brown color, its dead flesh, either from dead roots or bacteria. Keep track of it and let us know how things progress. In the meantime, maybe add a little Miracle Grow when you water to give the plant some extra nutrition.

Sayan128

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2085 on: July 17, 2017, 12:13:03 AM »
It's just yellow and feels normal otherwise. I'll try some seaweed and epsom salt and a touch of miracle grow and see wht happens. It was rooted already and I planted it about 4-6 weeks ago. Most recently I feel like they've really been taking off and grew almost 6 inches in that short time. How often should I be watering it while it's growing so actively? Do they always grow so vigorously?

RobPatterson

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2086 on: July 17, 2017, 06:46:07 PM »
Summer growth is rapid. Some people claim to have seen an inch a day growth on plants. Ideally, for 3 seasons out of the year (spring, summer and fall) you should be watering enough to keep the soil other than completely dry. Once a week is usually enough. Don't fertilize that often, though (every 2 weeks at most)

JoeP450

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2087 on: July 17, 2017, 07:23:54 PM »
Hey Forum,

Have a few zamorano DF's and every time they flower the flower swivels up and falls off. I am assuming the issue is that they are not being pollinated naturally? If this is the case how can I hand pollinate to get fruit set? Seems the flowers bloom once at night and then done.

-Joep450

ricshaw

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2088 on: July 17, 2017, 07:50:57 PM »
Hey Forum,

Have a few zamorano DF's and every time they flower the flower swivels up and falls off. I am assuming the issue is that they are not being pollinated naturally? If this is the case how can I hand pollinate to get fruit set? Seems the flowers bloom once at night and then done.

-Joep450

See Reply #2078 above.

Hand pollination is easy.
You touch the flower stigma with pollen gotten from another flower's anthers.
Best time is before midnight after the flower has opened.

SoCal

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2089 on: July 17, 2017, 10:25:29 PM »
Here's what my set up looks like. I have a total of 15 varieties varying in age from rooted cuttings this year to fruit bearing ones that's a couple of years old.






JoeP450

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2090 on: July 17, 2017, 11:26:07 PM »
Hey SoCal,

Is that a 4x4 for center post, and Haworth do you have the center post anchored in the pot?

-joep450

SoCal

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2091 on: July 18, 2017, 12:35:20 AM »
Hey SoCal,

Is that a 4x4 for center post, and Haworth do you have the center post anchored in the pot?

-joep450
Yes, it's a 4x4 and I used a cement post similar to the picture below. There 2 sizes commercially available that I know of. I got the smaller one at Dixieline.

-Allan


Seanny

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2092 on: July 18, 2017, 01:30:31 AM »
That cement block is not designed for free standing post.

We got tired of rotted posts so now we encase perforated galvanized square steel tubing with concrete. The tubing is the same one being used for street signs. We bolt 1x wood to 2 sides. Then screw 1x to the bolted 1x.

I recommend tubular fence post. It's cheaper than the square tubing we used.
« Last Edit: July 18, 2017, 01:35:58 AM by Seanny »

Delvi83

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2093 on: July 18, 2017, 02:51:57 AM »
Sorry, may be you already said this, but i did not read all the pages...

How long does Dragon Fruit (red) take before flowering (from Seeds) ? Which is the periodo of flowering (in not tropical area) ?

Thanks for the info :)

clannewton

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2094 on: July 18, 2017, 02:51:25 PM »
Hi, I have a dragon fruit of unknown variety that has flowered in past years but never fruited. It is flowering nicely again this year as photos below indicate.  I have no experience with this fruit and am wondering if there is something I should be doing to promote fruiting?  I was unsuccessful using search option trying to find info relating to my problem.  Thanks ahead for any info or help relating to this.












simon_grow

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2095 on: July 18, 2017, 04:51:59 PM »
Clannewton, it probably needs cross pollination. Try planting S8 also known as Sugar Dragon next to it. In the meantime, maybe you can find a neighbor with dragonfruit and collect pollen from their flowers to cross pollinate with yours.

Simon

simon_grow

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2096 on: July 18, 2017, 04:56:22 PM »
First American Beauty of the year, I don't have my refractometer on me but the flavor is good. These early fruit are not too sweet yet but they have a good balance of flavor. First fruit to ripen were my Sugar Dragons and they are really small. This year, I have a very light crop on all my vines, probably because they are getting old and I haven't been pruning and renewing the limbs like I should be doing.


Simon

simon_grow

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2097 on: July 18, 2017, 11:19:54 PM »
Here's a couple American Beauty on the vine and one I cut off due to a crack. These early fruit are a bit smaller at just over 13 Oz.



Simon

SoCal

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2098 on: July 19, 2017, 01:34:44 PM »
Here's what's blooming/fruiting so far - Sugar dragon (first blooms) and an unknown red variety I got from sister with blooms and fruits almost ready. Most of my vines are only 1-2 years old, so I'll probably will not get fruits from most of them until next year.

-Allan






clannewton

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #2099 on: July 19, 2017, 04:11:31 PM »
First American Beauty of the year, I don't have my refractometer on me but the flavor is good. These early fruit are not too sweet yet but they have a good balance of flavor. First fruit to ripen were my Sugar Dragons and they are really small. This year, I have a very light crop on all my vines, probably because they are getting old and I haven't been pruning and renewing the limbs like I should be doing.


Simon

Thanks Simon, I do have another variety right next to the dragon fruit that is flowering, unfortunately that other variety has not flowered yet :'(