Author Topic: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya  (Read 64845 times)

davidgarcia899

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #100 on: February 22, 2015, 08:27:44 PM »
I haven't read the whole thread so sorry if I'm repeating stuff that's been discuss.

I've become really interested in dragon fruit relatives. So far I've gotten a H. ocampisis & and a ocampisis crossed with a dragon fruit. There's a lot of rare hylocereus that I'm curious to collect and try. Those are probably our best ber for Florida Adam....if you want to help me hunt for them
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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #101 on: February 22, 2015, 09:03:51 PM »
I have never heard of ocampisis.

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #102 on: February 22, 2015, 11:27:37 PM »
I think David means H. ocamponis.

David, let me know what you are looking for. I am also very interested in the rarer species plants and might have some that you are interested in.  One caveat is that some of the plants that I have purchased are incorrectly labeled and I am currently trying to ID them.  Most of what I have is correctly ID'd however.

Richard

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #103 on: February 23, 2015, 12:50:59 AM »
I think David means H. ocamponis.
David, let me know what you are looking for. I am also very interested in the rarer species plants and might have some that you are interested in.  One caveat is that some of the plants that I have purchased are incorrectly labeled and I am currently trying to ID them.  Most of what I have is correctly ID'd however.
Richard

I get confused now with costaricensis vs. ocamponis.

starling1

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #104 on: February 23, 2015, 04:38:16 AM »
I think David means H. ocamponis.
David, let me know what you are looking for. I am also very interested in the rarer species plants and might have some that you are interested in.  One caveat is that some of the plants that I have purchased are incorrectly labeled and I am currently trying to ID them.  Most of what I have is correctly ID'd however.
Richard

I get confused now with costaricensis vs. ocamponis.


The Costa Rican is red fleshed, h ocamponis is purple fleshed.

Ocamponis is a lower tier fruit and Is often used as a grafting rootstock.

stuartdaly88

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #105 on: February 23, 2015, 06:36:12 AM »
Not really practical for cultivation as it takes an incredibly long time to fruit but has anyone ever tried saguaro cactus fruit?
It's very beautiful and apparently has a good taste
http://www.desertusa.com/lil/Saguaro-Fruit-lil.html
« Last Edit: February 23, 2015, 06:42:11 AM by stuartdaly88 »
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
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starling1

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #106 on: February 23, 2015, 06:51:27 AM »
Not really practical for cultivation as it takes an incredibly long time to fruit but has anyone ever tried saguaro cactus fruit?
It's very beautiful and apparently has a good taste
http://www.desertusa.com/lil/Saguaro-Fruit-lil.html

Stenocereus gummosus is a good alternative.

Unless you get a massive cutting, chances are you will be dust before you get a saguaro fruit. Some of the cholla cacti have good fruits also.

stuartdaly88

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #107 on: February 23, 2015, 07:51:34 AM »
Not really practical for cultivation as it takes an incredibly long time to fruit but has anyone ever tried saguaro cactus fruit?
It's very beautiful and apparently has a good taste
http://www.desertusa.com/lil/Saguaro-Fruit-lil.html

Stenocereus gummosus is a good alternative.

Unless you get a massive cutting, chances are you will be dust before you get a saguaro fruit. Some of the cholla cacti have good fruits also.
Thanks for the info on an alternative :)
Yes I've read 50 years to fruit in the wild and best case scenario 25 years in cultivation for Saguaro . I think it needs to start branching which it only does when rather tall like 10ft! Would still want to have one just for collecting purposes. I killed some 1year old seedlings awhile back and never got over it! I can dream of finding an old already fruiting specimen one day.

I Googled Stenocereus gummosus and the fruit also has that incredibly deep beautiful red almost like gore, Iwould love to try it, new one to the list!
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

nullzero

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #108 on: February 23, 2015, 10:40:37 AM »
You may be able to get the saguaro to fruit earlier grafting to a faster cereus rootstock, and experimenting with plant hormones to manipulate flowering and branching.
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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #109 on: February 23, 2015, 10:46:05 AM »
zands. maybe you should look into a stopsaw to protect your digits.
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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #110 on: February 23, 2015, 12:33:04 PM »
I think David means H. ocamponis.
David, let me know what you are looking for. I am also very interested in the rarer species plants and might have some that you are interested in.  One caveat is that some of the plants that I have purchased are incorrectly labeled and I am currently trying to ID them.  Most of what I have is correctly ID'd however.
Richard

I get confused now with costaricensis vs. ocamponis.


The Costa Rican is red fleshed, h ocamponis is purple fleshed.

Ocamponis is a lower tier fruit and Is often used as a grafting rootstock.

Colors are correct, but I have to disagree with ocamponis being a lower tier fruit.  They can be just as good as any undatus or polyrhizus but their main drawback is the nasty spines they can have. 

Interesting that you mention ocamponis as rootstock,  I have never sen it used for the little ornamental cacti they sell here, that is always undatus.  What do they use it as rootstock for?

Richard

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #111 on: February 23, 2015, 01:31:18 PM »

Colors are correct, but I have to disagree with ocamponis being a lower tier fruit.  They can be just as good as any undatus or polyrhizus but their main drawback is the nasty spines they can have. 

Interesting that you mention ocamponis as rootstock,  I have never sen it used for the little ornamental cacti they sell here, that is always undatus.  What do they use it as rootstock for?

Richard

Valdivia Roja and El Grullo are Hylocereus ocamponis from Mexico.  I have tasted both. Some people like the taste and some prefer the taste of other DF.

stuartdaly88

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #112 on: February 23, 2015, 01:43:34 PM »
You may be able to get the saguaro to fruit earlier grafting to a faster cereus rootstock, and experimenting with plant hormones to manipulate flowering and branching.
Do toy think Benzylaminopurrine would work it's incredible with other columular cactuses. Iv got many trichocerus macrogonus? What's a vigorous rootstock?
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

nullzero

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #113 on: February 23, 2015, 02:31:17 PM »
You may be able to get the saguaro to fruit earlier grafting to a faster cereus rootstock, and experimenting with plant hormones to manipulate flowering and branching.
Do toy think Benzylaminopurrine would work it's incredible with other columular cactuses. Iv got many trichocerus macrogonus? What's a vigorous rootstock?

Yeah I was going to recommend Benzlaminopurrine to try, I know it causes lots of branching. Trichocereus (Echinopsis) should work well, anything that is a fast grower. Any of the fast growing San Pedro type cactus should work well for a rootstock. Its worth a experiment for sure, I was going to say Stenocereus gummosus is not the fastest grower as well (it does not need large mass to flower and fruit though).

Also note that I have read when cacti are grafted with different species it can create different growth habits, early flowering, and other abnormal changes (all worth the effort if you are trying to coax the cacti into early flowering and fruiting). Most likely due to the different growth hormones and amount of hormones received from the rootstock to the grafted portion of the plant.

If your lucky you may be able to cut the fruiting down to 5 to 10 years. I could see the potential of a good matching fast growing rootstock and some benzlaminopurrine to increase mass and perhaps induce early flowering.
« Last Edit: February 23, 2015, 02:34:35 PM by nullzero »
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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #114 on: February 23, 2015, 04:07:41 PM »
Stuart, I was also going to add that if you're in the market for some hardy cacti which produce very good quality fruit ( better than virtually any columnar type) you might want to look around for some epiphyllums. I have two good ones now, one being red skinned with blushing pink flesh and my most recent acquisition which was bred by a friend of mine in NSW which has red skin and purple flesh. He also sent me seeds of this so I have  them to trade.

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #115 on: February 23, 2015, 06:47:22 PM »

Colors are correct, but I have to disagree with ocamponis being a lower tier fruit.  They can be just as good as any undatus or polyrhizus but their main drawback is the nasty spines they can have. 

Interesting that you mention ocamponis as rootstock,  I have never sen it used for the little ornamental cacti they sell here, that is always undatus.  What do they use it as rootstock for?

Richard

Dr. Douhan did some great work on the genetic characterization of the DF cultivars at SCREC but I think he accidentally lumped El Grullo and Valdivia Rosa as H. ocamponis.   If you go back to the original descriptions published in Britton and Rose (or to Bakeberg)  El Grullo does fit the description of ocamponis, but Valdivia Roja is a closer fit to H. purpusii.

Richard

Valdivia Roja and El Grullo are Hylocereus ocamponis from Mexico.  I have tasted both. Some people like the taste and some prefer the taste of other DF.

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #116 on: February 24, 2015, 08:39:15 AM »
Stuart, I was also going to add that if you're in the market for some hardy cacti which produce very good quality fruit ( better than virtually any columnar type) you might want to look around for some epiphyllums. I have two good ones now, one being red skinned with blushing pink flesh and my most recent acquisition which was bred by a friend of mine in NSW which has red skin and purple flesh. He also sent me seeds of this so I have  them to trade.
Thanks Starling
Sounds awesome Iv never seen purple flesh actually. it must be beautiful! Do you have a picture of it?
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #117 on: February 24, 2015, 12:50:27 PM »
Dr. Douhan did some great work on the genetic characterization of the DF cultivars at SCREC but I think he accidentally lumped El Grullo and Valdivia Rosa as H. ocamponis.   If you go back to the original descriptions published in Britton and Rose (or to Bakeberg)  El Grullo does fit the description of ocamponis, but Valdivia Roja is a closer fit to H. purpusii.

Richard

Thanks for the input.  I have never heard of purpusii.

http://youtu.be/DsAEhGdLv9Q

UPDATE:  See http://cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Hylocereus&species=purpusii
« Last Edit: February 24, 2015, 01:11:01 PM by ricshaw »

stuartdaly88

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #118 on: February 24, 2015, 01:56:28 PM »
You may be able to get the saguaro to fruit earlier grafting to a faster cereus rootstock, and experimenting with plant hormones to manipulate flowering and branching.
Do toy think Benzylaminopurrine would work it's incredible with other columular cactuses. Iv got many trichocerus macrogonus? What's a vigorous rootstock?

Yeah I was going to recommend Benzlaminopurrine to try, I know it causes lots of branching. Trichocereus (Echinopsis) should work well, anything that is a fast grower. Any of the fast growing San Pedro type cactus should work well for a rootstock. Its worth a experiment for sure, I was going to say Stenocereus gummosus is not the fastest grower as well (it does not need large mass to flower and fruit though).

Also note that I have read when cacti are grafted with different species it can create different growth habits, early flowering, and other abnormal changes (all worth the effort if you are trying to coax the cacti into early flowering and fruiting). Most likely due to the different growth hormones and amount of hormones received from the rootstock to the grafted portion of the plant.

If your lucky you may be able to cut the fruiting down to 5 to 10 years. I could see the potential of a good matching fast growing rootstock and some benzlaminopurrine to increase mass and perhaps induce early flowering.
Thanks for the input I'm pretty familiar with using Benzylaminopurrine but grafting cactus will be a learning kerb!
These guys really are amazing even if.it never fruited I would be proud to have a largish one:)

Wild ones take forever it seems to gain any size at all if this is accurate







« Last Edit: February 24, 2015, 03:18:23 PM by stuartdaly88 »
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

nullzero

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #119 on: February 24, 2015, 02:30:38 PM »
Stuart,

Graft it and experiment nothing to lose and lots of potential time to gain!
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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #120 on: February 24, 2015, 05:07:13 PM »
Stuart, I was also going to add that if you're in the market for some hardy cacti which produce very good quality fruit ( better than virtually any columnar type) you might want to look around for some epiphyllums. I have two good ones now, one being red skinned with blushing pink flesh and my most recent acquisition which was bred by a friend of mine in NSW which has red skin and purple flesh. He also sent me seeds of this so I have  them to trade.
Thanks Starling
Sounds awesome Iv never seen purple flesh actually. it must be beautiful! Do you have a picture of it?

No pictures yet, but soon. It's been fruiting for years as he did the cross along time ago. It came up one day in a conversation. I was like ' you know I got this good epi ' and then he told me about how he crossed some epi with a  dragon and the fruit turned out to be electric purple and that is was better than any dragon fruit he's tried .I was like ' why the hell haven't you mentioned this sooner!? and he said that he didn't think anything of it or that anyone would care, and didn't even bother taking photos of it ( phil if you're reading this you're awesome but goddamn you). So anyway, I  now have cuttings of this and some seed which he saved.

The cuttings themselves are thin and flat and look exactly like an ornamental epi-- very different than the pink fruited kind I posted a thread about a few months back. Here they both are; the on the left is the pink fleshed, the right is the purple.

http://postimg.cc/image/vca3k5h6r/
« Last Edit: February 24, 2015, 05:15:03 PM by starling1 »

davidgarcia899

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #121 on: February 26, 2015, 12:57:43 PM »
H. purpusii, ive never heard of that one.
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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #122 on: February 26, 2015, 01:54:52 PM »
H. purpusii, ive never heard of that one.

David,

Btw, I still have you listed as wanting Opuntia ficus indica 'Torrance PCH#1'. I have not forgotten about you wanting a pad of it, I will be able to update availability in the next month.
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davidgarcia899

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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #123 on: February 26, 2015, 02:49:52 PM »
Hey Null, I actually don't know if I want any of those pads anymore, Ive experiment with some other opuntias and they all seem to rot on me
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Re: Cactus fruits that taste good (sweet), other than Dragon Fruit/Pitaya
« Reply #124 on: February 26, 2015, 03:04:50 PM »
Hey Null, I actually don't know if I want any of those pads anymore, Ive experiment with some other opuntias and they all seem to rot on me

In ground or container? I had Torrance PCH#1 fruit in the ground in PSL, sugar sand type soil. It did get flooded a few times (I was not pleased with its progress, because it was getting heavy competition from st augustine grass and weeds. I moved it into a container, which I would suggest as the optimal method to grow for fruit (unless you have a gravel/rock garden area where the plant does not have competition with weeds.

The time that the pad is most susceptible to rot is when there is an open wound or the pad was recently disconnected. I use powdered sulfur on the wound to dry it out and prevent rot issues once the pad is disconnected. The pads native habitat is sandy soil on the side of a ridge very close to the coast, cool coastal marine layer days and higher humidity are common in this area. I don't see it having many issues with humidity as long as its in full sun with good drainage.

For inground planting, I recommend grafting it to native Opuntia sp. rootstock or any of the Opuntia sp. native to hot humid climates. This should show better inground performance with waterlogged conditions and nematode resistance. Not all Opuntia sp. are created equal when it comes to tolerance of humidity and water, Opuntia sp. PARL 342 is more adapted to desert conditions it seems and has horrible rot resistance. I have other PARLs in Florida that seem to be doing good though.

« Last Edit: February 26, 2015, 03:08:17 PM by nullzero »
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