If there is anyone in the Southern California area who would be interested in a potted and growing Thompson S-8 "Sugar Dragon" start, I have a few to give away. These are potted plants, rooted and growing, about 2ft tall. I don't have any raw cuttings at this time and I will not ship plants (got in trouble before with CA regulations). But if you would like a plant or two, please contact me via Personal Message on this board and maybe we can work out a time. I'm usually available on weekends.

That looks like a traditional 'Vietnamese' white variety. You can usually tell white plants, even when they aren't fruiting, by the brown 'corking' of the skin along the edges of the branch tips. How is the flavor of the fruit? Is it sweet with not much secondary characteristics, what I call a 'rock candy' type of fruit (all sugar, no substance) or does it have a bit of a floral taste to it, like someone close to you wearing to much perfume? Some of the heirloom white plants have a milky, semi-translucent flesh (not solid paper white) and they tend to be low in sugar and retain more of the parent flower's characteristic taste. BUt there are a few whites out there that have been produced that are showing a nice mix of flavor and sweetness.
As a serving tip on whites, try cubing up some fruit and adding a dash of lime juice on top before eating. This can really bring out the flavor in some varieties.

Also, weather conditions can factor into what you use for posts. The UC photos shown are of very heavily pruned plants. If those get fuller, weight is going to be an issue, unless theyre keeping them thin full time, since theyre research plants, not crop producing. But in California, you also have to factor in wind. Heavy Santa Ana winds would bend those posts if the plants became more widespread and fuller, so that's something to consider. My 'post' of choice is still pressure treated lumber, coated with tar or sealant for the underground sections, and then wrapped in burlap. The 4x4 allows you to nail cross posts or wire to the sides, is thick enough to drill out holes through the wood without compromising the strength, and since its wood, you can more easily attach angle posts if necessary. Its not 'THE' way to go, but I find that it works best for my needs. A lot of this is more based on where you are, what space you have and the conditions youre planting in.

Actually, until it roots, keep it mostly dry, in sandy or loose Unfertilized soil. Pure sand works well, and if you can someplace where theres concrete and sun, put about 2 inches of sand max in a pot, place that on the concrete (or asphalt) and add some water maybe once a week. The concrete 'bed' will help warm the sand and promote growth. Heat, or more specifically, warmth, is a huge help in getting these plants to start rooting. But, if youre starting over, cut off the yellowed portion of the plant, add some rooting hormone, if you have any, and let the fresh cut 'harden' or dry for at least one week. Then, wet the end again, add rooting hormone to the cut, and place in your pot. You want fully draining, sterile soil until you get your roots. Remember, youre not trying to get a plant to grow, youre trying to get a severed piece of plant to realize it's no longer part of the host organism, and that it needs to develop its own rooting system to survive.

Ive personally stopped growing Megalanthus. Its too fickle a plant, the ripening times are too long and the fruit is way to unimpressive for the work involved in producing it. I had some to try experimental cross pollination, but I'm not really doing that either, to that particular species has been moved to my "nope" list.
BTW, I know some people are impressed by how sweet the megalanthus is, but to me, that's all it is. Theres no underlying flavor, just sugary flesh, like eating unflavored but sweetened Jello, with crunchy bits in it. For me, its all about flavor. Sweet is a bonus.

My first actual harvest of the year. Had a few sporatic ripeners now and then but this is the first time Ive been able to collect a bunch at one time.







The ones on the left are a mixed bag of various pink varieties, with a couple white ones mixed in. On the left is my precious, the S8. Made some dragonfruit jam this year (pro tip: if you try this at home, be VERY careful about the amount of sugar you add. Used the strawberry jam recipe, and cut the sugar in half, still came out WAY too sweet). Friends and family are eagerly awaiting the next harvest.

If those are Cebra, and its your first time with them, be aware that they are amongst the deepest red of the dragonfruit varieties. The color is so strong that it can sometimes pass through your digestive tract and bladder intact, if you eat a large enough quantity of it,  and might lead to a bit of a colorful surprise the next morning in the bathroom. Its not harmful, but it is can be a bit of a shock if you're unaware. My goddaughter called me up the morning after eating 2 whole fruit from my house thinking she was having some sort of allergic reaction. Was a lot funnier to me than it was to her.
I just wanted to point this out, in the event you didn't know. Also, as a side note, Cebra does make a very nice natural food coloring for things like cookies or cakes, and could even possibly be distilled into a purer form for log term storage for that use. It's SUPER red

Quote from: TheWaterbug on August 07, 2016, 11:14:58 AM

I had one flower left, and it bloomed the night I came home, so I pollinated it with the last of my collected pollen. So this is it for this batch of flowers.

And apparently I have another batch coming!

I have a 15 buds scattered around the plant. If the same pattern holds about half of them will bloom.

Curiously, my Lomita White appears to have buds as well, which is surprising given the size of the plant:



That's 2 cuttings planted less than a year ago. Neither looks nearly the critical mass that's been suggested as minimum size for fruiting. But the cuttings were thick and mature-looking, so they've got some years on them. These do look like flower buds, don't they?







If I'm really lucky they'll all bloom at the same time so I can cross pollinate everyone.

I might be wrong, but if I had to make an educated guess, that Df in the first picture is a white variety as well. Almost all whites (and a very few pinks) have that brown stripe on the edges of the branch "blades". Its uncommon in most other varieties. Do you know what type of pollen you used on your first attempt, where none of the flowers set fruit? What is that one supposed to be?
As for the other plant showing flower buds, that is common in cuttings. It just means it was a good strong section of the plant, fully mature, and would have set fruit if it were still attached to its mother plant. If you have a solid root system on that one, you should be able to bring them to maturity, weather and other factors permitting.

Just don't remove them before they have completely dried out at least once. The area behind the flower, if cut too early, can expose the center of the fruit to mold and bacteria. In fact, often when you remove the flower from mature fruit theres a puff of black spores in that cavity. Its not harmful on its own, but you should shake or blow that out so you don't create a mess where you store or prepare your fruit.

A friend, an agronomist, familiar with DF made this statement;
"Every fruit tree to achieve maximum production needs to have a certain mass of roots.(so far I agree, he added)  I'm not sure the DF has it when they are planted in the field in pats, not in the soil."
Implying that more production can be achieved when planted in the ground.
I wonder if anyone has any experience on this.

To be perfectly honest, I don't know if anyone has the experience yet with these plants to discuss what 'maximum production' would be. I do know that I have plants in both containers and in the ground, but with so many other variables like species, amount of sun a water provided, soil conditions from one side of the yard to the other, its hard to make what you could call scientific observations. Besides, maximum production is also a loaded description. Are we talking number of fruit, size of fruit, etc. Do we care about the health of the plant itself, or just the end result of the production. Soil is, of course, the natural habitat for these plants, and left to themselves, they produce very spread out root networks, very close to the surface, because they root to where the water is provided. In pots, the roots dip down further because the water soaks down further.
For now, I think having the ability to better manage soil conditions in containers outweighs letting plants roam au natural, especially if you can provide them with large enough pots to start out with. Oh, and gophers......

Does anyone know where these brown decaying spots come from? I get them on a certain percentage of my fruit and it makes them look really ugly. I personally don't care if the fruit looks perfect if I were going to eat them myself but I usually give the premium fruit to friends and family and I don't want to give these fruit with a rotting hole in them.

I assume it's from fungal damage but it can also be stink bug damage, I'm just guessing at this point. I thought it could be damage from the dried up flowers absorbing moisture creating a good moist environment for fungus so I started removing all the dried up blooms and I still get them. Thanks for any help.

Simon

To be honest that looks like one of the fins, or scales, on the fruit withered down to hit the main body. The other scales have some withering also, but not as progressed. Its either bacterial/ fungal or heat damage, or a combination of the two. The same mechanic that allows dead stem flesh to progress down (or up) a branch, consuming the stem as it goes might be at work there. I have a lot of fruit that look like they've been grazed with a torch here, with shriveled tips on the fins, but the damage hasn't progressed down onto the actual fruit. I do use the occasional anti-fungal here, from time to time, so that might be what's keeping further damage from happening.

I have been watching this thread and have seen that a lot of member have gained a lot of experience in the last 4-5 years, Now I need some advise.
I'm exploring dragon fruit as a plan B for my avocado grove may be only partially.  2-3 acres out of the 20.

I want to star experimenting in the cultivation of dragon fruit.  I'm removing some citrus I have with a length of 100' and will have at least 15" on each side.
What kind of set up would you do, how high and what materials to use.
What varieties would be better for Homestead.
Planted on the ground or in containers?

Also I have two concrete container in the corners of my patio at home. They get a lot of sun. Seem like a 20 gal capacity, they weight a ton. Pictures attached.
What type of support would you use on these pots? What varieties would you plant?  Soil to use?
Any help would be appreciated, including rooted cuttings I can buy.

IMO, containers are always the best way to go. 15 gallon minimum, 20-25 if you can get them cheap. You don't want to fill them more than 75% capacity, and you want tp make sure they have proper drainage. Larger containers will allow for multiple plant starts per: 15 gal for one, 25 for 2, more for more, etc. Soil should be loose, sandy or gravely, and have something mixed in to help retain moisture without getting soggy. You don't want wet soil, but you don't really want extended periods of totally dry soil either. I try and use 1 part garden soil, 1 part coarse sand, one part bark nuggets (as small as you can find) and whatever else you can afford to toss in after that (peat moss, perlite, moisture control crystals, etc)., depending on your budget.
As for what type to recommend, lets start with why you are growing them. Are they for you or do you plan on distributing them? Some look better than they taste, and some taste better than they look. If you're going to fruit stand them, Id suggest something flashy like a bright white Vietnamese Giant or a fuchsia American Beauty (or both). If they are for you, then you should plant to taste and not worry so much about glamorous looking fruit. Either way, youre going to want to make sure youre growing more then one type to help with pollination.
Structure-wise, the standard post and cap is the simple solution. My version of that is to take a 4x4 post of (non-toxic) treated lumber, wrap it in a couple layers of burlap (potato sack material), tack the wrap in place and then bury the post 2ft to 3 ft in the ground. To make it double water resistant, you can paint a layer of roofing tar over the area that's going to be in the ground before you plant it. Once your post is in place, you need to add supports to carry the weight of the branches. Ric has one example of a solid support setup in his pics. Another is to just attach heavy steel mesh, the type they use in concrete slabs, onto the top of the post. You can also drill a few holes through the center of the post and run rebar through so it sticks out 3ft on each side (cover the rebar in plastic pipe pieces if you do it that way). Or you can do a combination of any of this. ive seen people attach bicycle rims on top of posts. Some people don't use posts at all, and go with trellises or full rows. There are a lot of ways of growing the actual plant. I would suggest going on YouTube and look up Dragon Fruit and Pitahaya, and see how other orchards are doing theirs, and get inspiration that way.
Hope this gives you someplace to start.