Author Topic: Dragon Fruit thread.  (Read 939865 times)

Rannman

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3250 on: July 23, 2021, 05:19:44 AM »





Cut DF
Expose 1/2” of center wood.
Soak in 1” of water.
Roots in 18 days.
No need to dry the cuts.
I tried the rooting in water method last summer. Worked great, and rooted cuttings survive for weeks in water.

Acetogenin

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3251 on: July 23, 2021, 08:20:04 AM »
Newb at DF, I have purple haze, dark star, and American beauty.  Should I get a variety that is a prolific pollinator to help pollinate the others? Or not necessary

John B

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3252 on: July 23, 2021, 11:51:45 AM »
Newb at DF, I have purple haze, dark star, and American beauty.  Should I get a variety that is a prolific pollinator to help pollinate the others? Or not necessary

No, you can cross pollinate with what you have. AB is self fertile.

BonsaiBeast

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3253 on: July 23, 2021, 01:56:44 PM »
Newb at DF, I have purple haze, dark star, and American beauty.  Should I get a variety that is a prolific pollinator to help pollinate the others? Or not necessary

Get sugar dragon

swincher

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3254 on: July 23, 2021, 06:21:40 PM »
What size container is needed for a mature DF? Specifically yellow type/palora in case that makes a difference.

I've got a few seedlings I'm planning to overwinter in my greenhouse and trying to decide how much space they will need to have reserved, and thus how many of them I'll end up being able to keep vs give away:



And yes, I know they are slow growing and this is a more long term project, but I'm already realizing that despite what seemed like a ton of greenhouse space I'm going to start running out of space when all my little plants get all grown'd up.

vall

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3255 on: July 23, 2021, 08:02:18 PM »
I have two mature, fruiting dragonfruit in 15 gallon pots, but I imagine you can get by with a 5 or 7 gal.
- Val

swincher

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3256 on: July 23, 2021, 08:41:59 PM »
I have two mature, fruiting dragonfruit in 15 gallon pots, but I imagine you can get by with a 5 or 7 gal.

Thanks! I'll probably aim for 7 then and can always reassess further down the road.

Seanny

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3257 on: July 24, 2021, 12:33:41 AM »
I have AB in 15G short.
AB doesn’t need cross pollination.
Ate 10 fruits this season.

If your DF needs cross pollination you need to find a variety that flower at the same time, in your climate.
You can’t plant random varieties.
Not easy.

swincher

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3258 on: July 24, 2021, 02:35:29 AM »
If your DF needs cross pollination you need to find a variety that flower at the same time, in your climate.
You can’t plant random varieties.
Not easy.

These are all genetically unique seedlings from the same fruit, so they should flower around the same time and be cross-compatible, right? I figured I'll start with the 4 most vigorous and then later maybe cut it down to 2 once they start fruiting and I have an idea of which ones seem to produce best. Like... 4 years from now?

EDIT: I went down a bit of an internet rabbit hole, but it looks like H. megalanthus may actually be self-fertile. I'll probably keep at least 2 of them anyhow, unless my greenhouse gets truly overcrowded.
« Last Edit: July 24, 2021, 03:10:41 AM by swincher »

MorroBay

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3259 on: July 24, 2021, 08:19:19 PM »
Any know of any DF that do well with less sun?  I’m planting out a section of my yard with the least sun.  Either I find something that will thrive or I’ll just stick some of my rarer stuff there and use it for cuttings, not expecting it to fruit.  Thanks.

SHV

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3260 on: July 25, 2021, 01:27:38 PM »





Pretty awesome when DFs go full bloom explosion. This is a generic pink flesh dragon fruit going nuts on an old Hass avo tree. The tree doesn’t produce much but acts as a great scaffold for the DF to climb.

Julianna

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3261 on: July 30, 2021, 08:50:50 PM »
Hello All,

I am looking for some suggested Good cross pollinators for my unnamed dragon fruit.  I am planning to build 2 trellises of known varieties and am hoping they will also pollinate my unknown variety (it is not self fertile).  I have heard good reviews about the sugar dragon S8, but what other 2-3 types are tasty and might bloom in a similar range. I was thinking to have maybe one reddish flesh, a yellow flesh, a white flesh and maybe a purple.

The unknown type




Rannman

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3262 on: July 30, 2021, 10:16:57 PM »
Hello All,

I am looking for some suggested Good cross pollinators for my unnamed dragon fruit.  I am planning to build 2 trellises of known varieties and am hoping they will also pollinate my unknown variety (it is not self fertile).  I have heard good reviews about the sugar dragon S8, but what other 2-3 types are tasty and might bloom in a similar range. I was thinking to have maybe one reddish flesh, a yellow flesh, a white flesh and maybe a purple.

The unknown type



Any variety that is not the same as yours will be a good pollinator for your dragonfruit, although pink flowering varieties don’t seem to produce a lot of pollen in my experience. Sugar Dragon is generally a good one to have as it usually starts flowering early, produces plenty of flowers and plenty of pollen and generally flowers later than most other varieties, so you can collect and store the pollen until you need to use it. The hard part is getting different varieties to flower at the same time, so storing pollen is a pretty good idea.
Sugar Dragon is pretty tasty too, so that’s an added bonus 👍
« Last Edit: July 30, 2021, 10:19:00 PM by Rannman »

Seanny

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3263 on: July 31, 2021, 01:35:49 AM »



Saw this at a supermarket in Folsom, CA today.
Buy a fruit, get a free cutting.

swincher

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3264 on: July 31, 2021, 01:58:31 AM »



Saw this at a supermarket in Folsom, CA today.
Buy a fruit, get a free cutting.

Nice, megalanthus... wish I could find those in a market around here!

pinkturtle

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3265 on: July 31, 2021, 02:00:09 AM »



Saw this at a supermarket in Folsom, CA today.
Buy a fruit, get a free cutting.

Yes, great found.  I am able to root couple of cuttings last year like that and they are doing great.

MorroBay

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3266 on: August 01, 2021, 05:36:45 PM »
Got my own Dragon Fruit alley started!  2” pvc on rebar into 100 gallon stock tanks.  It’s a little tight but it’s what I got to work with.  Added a little bench to hold my 3 gallon pots.  It’s definitely a few more bucks but I like the external trellis design as no wood is inside the dirt.  I didn’t want to go traditional concrete posts as I have small children that hang on everything and I didn’t want one toppling over.  This planter is all self fertile.  I got one post each of Palora, Frankie’s red, sugar dragon, natural mystic, Condor and American beauty.



« Last Edit: August 01, 2021, 05:50:08 PM by MorroBay »

Seanny

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3267 on: August 01, 2021, 05:50:03 PM »
So fancy!

OATIKO

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3268 on: August 03, 2021, 01:57:06 AM »
Got my own Dragon Fruit alley started!  2” pvc on rebar into 100 gallon stock tanks.  It’s a little tight but it’s what I got to work with.  Added a little bench to hold my 3 gallon pots.  It’s definitely a few more bucks but I like the external trellis design as no wood is inside the dirt.  I didn’t want to go traditional concrete posts as I have small children that hang on everything and I didn’t want one toppling over.  This planter is all self fertile.  I got one post each of Palora, Frankie’s red, sugar dragon, natural mystic, Condor and American beauty.




Great work! However, the side where the fence is maybe a little tight for when they canopy over the trellis.

MorroBay

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3269 on: August 03, 2021, 03:14:15 AM »
That’s why I planted self fertile, lol.  Some is definitely going to hang into the neighbors yard.  They can help themselves.

All my self sterile stuff is in easier to reach locations.  I was just filling in some dead space.

Farmerchris

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3270 on: August 06, 2021, 02:16:43 PM »
With self fertile, it only means that the plant can use it's own pollen.  But if the stigma is too long, too far away from the pollen, you'll have to depend on your insects to pollinate.  So because of the time that the flower opens, typically at night, the insects are not as useful.  In the morning, the pollen will absorb the moist night air and likely be not as useful for even insects to pollinate.

But if you have self POLLINATING varieties, that's better ... but general recommendation is that you hand pollinate regardless.  Usually more pollen = bigger fruits.

Seanny

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3271 on: August 06, 2021, 03:09:08 PM »
Could we tie the flower closed so the stigma bend into the pollen for self pollination?

RobPatterson

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3272 on: August 08, 2021, 03:26:10 PM »
Tying a flower closed might damage the flowers reproductive parts. The best way to make a self-fertile flower into a self-pollinating one is to just give it a good shake, if theres still pollen there. Im mean, ideally you'd want to take something like a makeup brush and swish around the pollen manually, but if you dont have the time or inclination to do that, just shaking some pollen loose and around the inside of the flower often does the trick.

FV Fruit Freak

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3273 on: August 09, 2021, 11:35:56 AM »
Looking for some good pruners to cut the fruit off the vine with, I used regular single blade pruners last year but they really damaged the vine.

Does anyone have any good suggestions on pruners? Or how to get the fruit off without damaging the vine too bad?

These look good but they’re around $80 with shipping, was hoping to spend less $$ https://www.sfequip.com/vesco-professional-double-cut-pruning-shear/?gclid=CjwKCAjwpMOIBhBAEiwAy5M6YDhT5JB97g1u2hQhrfoJ-AZxt2g25zDJ9byQbgXaCg_S_OAEukoSyhoCJXEQAvD_BwE

Thanks
Nate

K-Rimes

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3274 on: August 09, 2021, 01:20:49 PM »
Looking for some good pruners to cut the fruit off the vine with, I used regular single blade pruners last year but they really damaged the vine.

Does anyone have any good suggestions on pruners? Or how to get the fruit off without damaging the vine too bad?

These look good but they’re around $80 with shipping, was hoping to spend less $$ https://www.sfequip.com/vesco-professional-double-cut-pruning-shear/?gclid=CjwKCAjwpMOIBhBAEiwAy5M6YDhT5JB97g1u2hQhrfoJ-AZxt2g25zDJ9byQbgXaCg_S_OAEukoSyhoCJXEQAvD_BwE

Thanks

Lately I've waited till the very last possible time and the fruit is like a loose tooth and then I lever it off gently and use a knife around the base. On several DF forums I've seen people get more than one flower from each node and it totally changed how I thought about DF plants. I used to carve a notch of branch off thinking that they only flower once from each node.

If you want to keep notching, just get a really sharp knife. I like Opinel stainless knives. They hold an edge really well and are kind of petite for this type of work. I like the #4 size. For grafting I use #3 but generally opt for the carbon ones since they are toothier after sharpening and have some feedback.