Author Topic: Dragon Fruit thread.  (Read 935524 times)

FlMikey

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3325 on: December 02, 2021, 09:47:26 AM »
Got it.  Thank you for the input everyone and now I'm off to find an American Beauty cutting :)

nullzero

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3326 on: December 02, 2021, 10:58:19 AM »
American Beauty is reported to be one of the first to flower each year. Early season fruiting variety.
Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

K-Rimes

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3327 on: December 03, 2021, 11:06:40 AM »





Had some fun up potting from 25g to 45g last night

MorroBay

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3328 on: December 05, 2021, 04:42:55 PM »
Can a dragon fruit cutting be all used up?  What I mean is I have a fairly mature cutting that looks like it’s had growth out of every single spine at one time or another that’s not sprouting any new growth.  It’s well rooted and healthy.  It initially put out two branches but they broke off due to dog but now it just looks super dormant for almost the whole growing season. 




Julianna

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3329 on: December 23, 2021, 06:48:51 PM »
Hello,

I have found a few yellow fruited yellow skinned dragon fruit at my local grocery store that were delicious, but it has been hard to identify the variety or where to find them.  Does anyone have any experience with them?

DFfarmer

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3330 on: December 23, 2021, 08:58:40 PM »
Question - is Purple Haze Self Fertile or Self Sterile?  I'm reading conflicting information and if it's Self Sterile, I'd like to understand what other dragonfruit variety would complement it to pollinate it?  I most likely wouldn't hand pollinate so would need something that flowers at that same time.  Hopefully this is all a moot point and it's Self Fertile.
   
I don't think "Purple Haze" is self fertile. I've seen it advertised as such in several places but they might just be copying each other. Richard Le posted it as "self sterile" after testing it and I've talked to a few other people who say it is not self fertile after testing so I believe them. I have a few here and I always put all of the pollen together to pollinate all of the flowers, but those flowers have not set fruit here without that help. G2 on the other hand has set fruit without any other dragon fruit flowering near it which kind of surprised me. Just make sure you have something not closely related to pollinate, a white flesh or other variety not in the group created by Paul Thomson would work. You just have to match up flowering times.  That is why it might help to know your varieties.

vall

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3331 on: April 11, 2022, 06:55:00 PM »
Today I ate a very ripe Colombian yellow dragon fruit (the small ones) and it tasted strongly of lychee instead of the usual sweet but nondescript flavor. Normally these start to turn yellow in November and I pick in January, but they are so small I hadn't bothered. I finally picked it today because it was getting sunburned. I suppose I should let them hang longer in the future, the critters don't touch them since they are covered in thorns.
- Val

RobPatterson

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That time of year again...
« Reply #3332 on: June 07, 2022, 12:49:09 PM »
Well, its that time of year again. The sun is out, birds are singing, flowers are blooming and dragon fruits are.....fruiting...? How is everyone doing with their gardens this year? THe site has been pretty dormant of the last six months so Im kinda curious how things are going for the other growers and enthusiasts out there. Its been a reasonably mild start to the six month long summer we have out here in California, and as such, Ive had an above average rate of flower bud survival, which Im hoping will translate to a reasonable early harvest. I tend to get flowers May-November, with the summer 100+ temperatures wiping out my buds in the dog day months of July through September. Plant growth has been good over the winter and spring, with a mild dry winter, and I even managed to get my heirloom Costaricensis variety to full recover from the single cutting I was able to salvage, back into a full fledged plant. I'm well into my first flush, with the S-8's and a few American Beauty already blooming, and the rest of my plants showing their first solid buds. I havnt seen much in the way of bees or other flying pollinators, so Im trying to manually pollinate flowers when ever i get free time in the mornings.
Anyways, I just wanted to check in with the crowd, and put a post up to bump our discussion back onto the main page. I hope everyone's well, and I wish you the best of luck this coming season.



Rannman

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3333 on: June 08, 2022, 05:14:16 AM »
I know it’s not our season over here in Oz, but it’s been a while since I scrolled through all the posts. Had a solid season here in South east Queensland with great weather and plenty of rain. Unfortunately the rain kept coming and we’ve had nearly 2 years worth of rain since Christmas.
Plenty of fruit as a result but the parrots have acquired a taste for them and as a result, we lost probably 95% of our crop, with the birds eating most fruits before they ripened.
We did have a couple of wins though with some very impressive hybrids.



























« Last Edit: June 08, 2022, 05:46:38 AM by Rannman »

Plantinyum

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3334 on: June 08, 2022, 01:11:59 PM »
I know it’s not our season over here in Oz, but it’s been a while since I scrolled through all the posts. Had a solid season here in South east Queensland with great weather and plenty of rain. Unfortunately the rain kept coming and we’ve had nearly 2 years worth of rain since Christmas.
Plenty of fruit as a result but the parrots have acquired a taste for them and as a result, we lost probably 95% of our crop, with the birds eating most fruits before they ripened.
We did have a couple of wins though with some very impressive hybrids.




























Those really look supperior! I really like the vivid colours some/most dragon fruits have ...

K-Rimes

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3335 on: June 08, 2022, 09:15:37 PM »
I know it’s not our season over here in Oz, but it’s been a while since I scrolled through all the posts. Had a solid season here in South east Queensland with great weather and plenty of rain. Unfortunately the rain kept coming and we’ve had nearly 2 years worth of rain since Christmas.
Plenty of fruit as a result but the parrots have acquired a taste for them and as a result, we lost probably 95% of our crop, with the birds eating most fruits before they ripened.
We did have a couple of wins though with some very impressive hybrids.

Beautiful fruits! Really like that pink ring look. I have been obliterated by birds this year and have been bagging basically any and every fruit if I want even a slim chance of eating it. Have you tried the silver jewelry bags? I think they not only prevent the beak from entering, but take away the bright colors that birds seem to recognize. They have left everything alone that is bagged here.


kapps

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3336 on: June 08, 2022, 09:39:52 PM »
My Purple Haze flowered for the first time last week. As this is my only flowering dragon fruit (and only flower on the plant), I brought out a paint brush and went to town. I’m not expecting anything but I still have a glimmer of hope that it is self fertile.





Jaboticaba45

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3337 on: June 08, 2022, 10:31:01 PM »
Can someone please recommend me a self pollinating dragon that tastes good? I’ve had some beautiful purple flesh ones that taste like nothing.

Can these be grown in a 25 gallon pot with a trellis?
Thanks so much!!!

Nick C

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3338 on: June 08, 2022, 10:51:56 PM »
First bloom of the season




K-Rimes

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3339 on: June 09, 2022, 12:55:26 PM »
Can someone please recommend me a self pollinating dragon that tastes good? I’ve had some beautiful purple flesh ones that taste like nothing.

Can these be grown in a 25 gallon pot with a trellis?
Thanks so much!!!

S8 is probably the best overall cultivar, in my opinion. It is self fertile and in my case often self pollinating (maybe the bees do it I don't know). It seems very resistant to disease and overall is the lowest effort for me.

For the best flavor, wait til it's getting really loose and wiggly on the arm and then give it 5-7 days no water. It'll really sweeten up.

Others that have been really good for me:

Purple Haze
Natural Mystic

kalan

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3340 on: June 09, 2022, 01:53:02 PM »
Agree with S8 recommendation - at least in Florida. Small, but sweet, low maintenance, super productive, self-fertile and a universal pollinator!

RobPatterson

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3341 on: June 09, 2022, 01:53:12 PM »
S8 and American Beauty make a great combo. Both are reasonably common these days, good producers and grow well in most climates, without being too fussy. You can plant one cutting of each in a 25gallon bucket without worrying too much about them having room to grow solid root systems, but I do recommend using a watering spike in the pot, what they use for drip irrigation, so you can get the water to go deeper into the soil, and encourage the roots to follow. DF plants tend to root shallow, as thats where the water is, but if you water deeper, they will root deeper, and that builds a stronger root network in finite growing areas, like containers.
As far as a trellis, some sort of support structure is strongly advised, as these are natively climbing vine type plants, but you have to be aware that whatever you grow them in, or against, is going to become a permanent fixture in your garden eventually, as these plants get very large, weighty, and topheavy very quickly once they reach a mature state. People over the years have come up with clever mobile growing solutions for locations where the plants need to be either moved around or taken in for winter months, but its not a simple thing to do. If youre looking for trellis or support ideas, scroll back over the pages here and there are plenty of pictures and discussions about the traditional and more creative ways people grow their plants.
And as always, questions are encouraged here, and there are plenty of knowledgeable and experienced people here that always seem to be more than happy to help.

spaugh

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3342 on: June 09, 2022, 02:42:13 PM »
I ripped out most of my dragonfruit plants and just kept S8 and american beauty.  I like dark star and a couple others but they dont self pollinate.  S8 and american beauty take zero effort.
Brad Spaugh

bradflorida

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Palora
« Reply #3343 on: June 09, 2022, 03:09:40 PM »
Has anyone had luck growing the Palora variety in Florida?  I see a lot of ebay sellers from California selling Palora cuttings, and it makes me wonder if this variety is more challenging to grow in Florida.

Brad
Brad

rmt05

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3344 on: June 09, 2022, 07:41:37 PM »




« Last Edit: June 09, 2022, 07:44:11 PM by rmt05 »

Tommyng

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Re: Palora
« Reply #3345 on: June 09, 2022, 10:23:42 PM »
Has anyone had luck growing the Palora variety in Florida?  I see a lot of ebay sellers from California selling Palora cuttings, and it makes me wonder if this variety is more challenging to grow in Florida.

Brad

I grow them. I don’t fertilize or water them, it’s the Second year with fruit, and they are getting bigger the more established they get. I’ve tried lots of dragonfruit, and these taste the best in my opinion. They self pollinate and right now the trellis have 5 more fruit and flowers.



Don’t rush, take time and enjoy life and food.

bradflorida

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3346 on: June 09, 2022, 10:48:28 PM »
That's good to hear!  What part of FL are you in?  Do you have any cuttings I could purchase?   

Thanks
Brad
Brad

RobPatterson

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3347 on: June 09, 2022, 10:54:23 PM »


I can confirm that the H. Costaricensis on this list is self-sterile, but if you can get it, its worth the effort. Its a very agressive looking variety, kind of like if the the yellow Megalanthus variety had a bitter divorce and the H. Costa was it's 14 year old daughter going through a goth phase. But the fruit is very strongly flavored, with a hint of sugar beet, and has incredibly deep red, solid flesh, that you can use as a natural food coloring if you wanted to go organic for a red velvet cake, or something of the like. Makes staining your clothing with a pomegranate seem like a light water mark. It's not super high brix score, not sweet like a strawberry, more the sugar content of a good apple.
And yes, i know this is a bit of a tangent, but I saw the H. Costa on that list and i dont often see it mentioned.

Tommyng

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3348 on: June 10, 2022, 08:05:40 AM »
That's good to hear!  What part of FL are you in?  Do you have any cuttings I could purchase?   

Thanks
Brad

South east Florida in west palm. They are flowering now but  If you are ever this way let me know, we can trade stuff.
Don’t rush, take time and enjoy life and food.

ricshaw

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3349 on: June 11, 2022, 03:13:13 PM »
Can someone please recommend me a self pollinating dragon that tastes good? I’ve had some beautiful purple flesh ones that taste like nothing.

Can these be grown in a 25 gallon pot with a trellis?
Thanks so much!!!

S8 is probably the best overall cultivar, in my opinion. It is self fertile and in my case often self pollinating (maybe the bees do it I don't know). It seems very resistant to disease and overall is the lowest effort for me.

For the best flavor, wait til it's getting really loose and wiggly on the arm and then give it 5-7 days no water. It'll really sweeten up.


I totally agree and S-8 goes by another name "Sugar Dragon".

It is a must have and the flavor has a floral taste.