Author Topic: Dragon Fruit thread.  (Read 935624 times)

RobPatterson

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3300 on: August 22, 2021, 12:28:15 PM »
Hi all. I am a newbie to DF. I got a cutting 3 years ago of unknown variety and finally I got a first flower last night. I have to say  it is just gorgeous !  I think that unfortunately it is self-sterile. What do you think?
 

Your plant looks like a white variety, possibly a light pink, based on the plant's thorn structure and the lack of any coloring in the flower. If you could add pictures of some of the older branches it might help narrow down the identification, although like other said, a specific named ID might not be possible without fruit.


JirkaH

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3301 on: September 03, 2021, 11:08:30 AM »
Hi guys, I tried to plant dragon fruit and on the start I even didnt know if it will survive or not (living in Netherlands so keeping that on window most of the time).
In one moment it increase process of growing and from 5 small flowers get already full pot. But now I am facing with 5 problems (questions):
1. It seems that it "body" of flower drow very very fast and thin, previous body was thick. Not sure if its because low amount of sun or too much sun.
2. On some body parts I notice that they have regular shape, and in one point it seems very very thin and after that it is thick again, it seems like that it almost break how its thin. Not sure if its normal or its because of some issue.
3. I got some "body" skin issues, looks like some "dots"
4. I got some another "body" skin issue, looks like some white cover on skin or missing green pigment.
5. Is there something what can I do to improve life of my DragonFruit children?













Rannman

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3302 on: September 04, 2021, 06:37:56 AM »
Hi JirkaH. The thin growth is due to lack of sunlight. You mentioned flowers, but your plant is far too young to produce flowers. I’m not sure what the weather/season is like in the Netherlands, but sunlight is a dragonfruits best friend. Without enough sunlight, plant growth will be lacking and flowers won’t ever develop. Did you grow your plant from seed?
Skin issues are a standard problem with dragonfruit. They all get it occasionally, but lack of sunlight doesn’t help with those problems unfortunately.
Sunlight and heat are the best things for healthy dragonfruit growth

JirkaH

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3303 on: September 05, 2021, 02:23:48 PM »
Hi JirkaH. The thin growth is due to lack of sunlight. You mentioned flowers, but your plant is far too young to produce flowers. I’m not sure what the weather/season is like in the Netherlands, but sunlight is a dragonfruits best friend. Without enough sunlight, plant growth will be lacking and flowers won’t ever develop. Did you grow your plant from seed?
Skin issues are a standard problem with dragonfruit. They all get it occasionally, but lack of sunlight doesn’t help with those problems unfortunately.
Sunlight and heat are the best things for healthy dragonfruit growth

Hi, thank you so much for your reply.
I grew this from seeds. Is this a reason why there are no flowers yet, or is it because its still young (approx 1year).
I noticed the dry part started appearing when the plant was exposed to too much sunlight. Which is why I remove it from direct sun for some time.
After your comment I put it back immediately.
How often do you recommend to water it? Its an indoor plant.
Do you also have any other recommendations regarding taking care (fertilizing, vitamins, antipests,...)

Thanks a lot.

RobPatterson

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3304 on: September 05, 2021, 05:07:21 PM »
A few pointers:
1. If youre going to keep the plant indoors forever, you need to think about upsizing the pot soon. To be reasonably successful, dragon fruit needs to have long drooping branches, to allow the plants natural chemistry build up in the downward hanging stalks. Youre probably going to need a solid platform to place the pot on, because to grow tall enough to have hanging branches you need to either have a post for the main stem(s) to grow up, or have the pot high enough in the air to allow branches to grow long enough straight out of the pot. If you have a dedicated window you can grow your plant in front of, the best answer might be to hang it, off SOLID chain from a ceiling rafter or other support. You'll probably have to keep it trimmed down once its mature, as these plants can weigh in the hundreds of pounds if left unmanicured. after that, you can use curtains of various transparency to moderate sunlight to your plants preference.
2. The damage looks fungal to me. Get a sharp, thin knife and sterilize it with rubbing alcohol and cut/scrape the dead sections off or out. You can either sacrifice the stem above the diseased sections or just cut away the bad, down to the central core of the branch. But dont cut the woody core. Think of that like the wood of a tree, and the green section as the bark. You can lose entire branches of the green plant material, but as long as the central core is unharmed, any plant material further down the line will continue growing. As for treating the fungus, I'd try an anti-fungal copper soap spray mix. Its worked pretty well for me in the past to keep my plants reasonably healthy during outbreaks.
3. Just out of curiosity, do you happen to know what type of dragonfruit you got the seeds from? I'd hate to see you go through all this trouble and years of waiting to find out you have a variety thats not self fertile and you'd have to either have to hunt down pollen from other people or have to grow a second plant from seeds/cuttings and have to wait all that time again.

Hi JirkaH. The thin growth is due to lack of sunlight. You mentioned flowers, but your plant is far too young to produce flowers. I’m not sure what the weather/season is like in the Netherlands, but sunlight is a dragonfruits best friend. Without enough sunlight, plant growth will be lacking and flowers won’t ever develop. Did you grow your plant from seed?
Skin issues are a standard problem with dragonfruit. They all get it occasionally, but lack of sunlight doesn’t help with those problems unfortunately.
Sunlight and heat are the best things for healthy dragonfruit growth

Hi, thank you so much for your reply.
I grew this from seeds. Is this a reason why there are no flowers yet, or is it because its still young (approx 1year).
I noticed the dry part started appearing when the plant was exposed to too much sunlight. Which is why I remove it from direct sun for some time.
After your comment I put it back immediately.
How often do you recommend to water it? Its an indoor plant.
Do you also have any other recommendations regarding taking care (fertilizing, vitamins, antipests,...)

Thanks a lot.

Jessg333

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3305 on: September 13, 2021, 05:34:29 AM »
Wow 133 pages and I’m spent! Lots of greats Info for a newbie like me. I just started growing dragon fruit. I presently have palora, frankies red, sugar dragon, bruni, and some unknown whites.

Thanks Mike T for your post #3113 it really cleared things up for me as I was getting all caught up in the hype of getting a million different types of dragon fruit. Hopefully I can cut out all the unnecessary collecting. Any suggestions on sweet fertile whites or are they not worth it in comparison to the red and purple flesh fruits?

Others I’m interested in getting are condor, delight, and American beauty. I’m just curious if these are good ones to get or any reason why I should pass on any one of them? Are there any must haves other then Sugar dragon? Also, stupid question but is Columbian red a specific cultivar of dragon fruit or simply any red type from Columbia?

Thanks 🙏🏻

« Last Edit: September 13, 2021, 05:50:43 AM by Jessg333 »

Jessg333

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3306 on: September 13, 2021, 05:38:37 AM »
Early on in this thread there was a brief mention of Leo’s Costa Rican dragon fruit H. costaricensis X S. Megalanthus. It was red flesh and no thorns on the fruit. Is there any update on this one?

tiendadefruta

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3307 on: October 01, 2021, 12:15:52 PM »

Wow this design is just amazing! but I guess you need special tools and a solder to make it; was it too expensive to make?


Aluminum is lighter than wood and concrete!! Or you just tig weld some aluminum and it's good for the next 2000 growing seasons and not having to fix wood or look at a failed design saves you money and ego. At least when we get a huge hurricane my d.f. posts will be there still 😆. 

I love growing tropical fruits in Almunecar, Southern Andalusia, I also deliver them to western Europe through my web www.tiendadefruta.com

Happy to help you if I can :)

brownkawa

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My Dragonfruit won't quit growing UP...
« Reply #3308 on: October 11, 2021, 06:53:08 PM »
I planted this dragonfruit (our first) in our greenhouse about a year and a half ago. It grew up through our supports and just keeps corkscrewing around. It has split and branched, but isn't doing the hanging down thing we expected.

It's probably hard to tell from the photo but our trellis is a dead juniper trunk set into concrete. it has another juniper branch screwed to it to provide the "web" that we thought it would cascade over.

This summer a second shoot came out of the base plant and is climbing up as well.

What are we doing wrong?  Do we need to cut off all of the dead juniper branches that reach up beyond where we want the plant to bend over? (Can it somehow "see" that there is still something above it to reach up to?) At one point we put a screen "topper" over it to keep it from going up. but it just keeps twirling around and reaching down, out, and up again.

We do have shade cloth over our greenhouse to protect from the intensely harsh New Mexico sun... did we overdo it with that? Our cheapo light meter indicates light toward the high end of the scale but it says that's 1000-2000 Lux which doesn't make any sense because I found references saying plants need 10,000 Lux??

I've searched the forum and have found others suggesting cutting the main stem off at the top to encourage it to put out more branches and go down, but ours already split at that point -- I have a feeling if we cut it off all of the new growth would keep just going 'round and 'round...

(I don't know what type this is, we just ordered it from Fast Growing Trees as a "Dragonfruit" as the ignorant newbies that we are...)

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

<br /><br />
Kimi Ishikawa
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https://www.brownkawa.com/

John B

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3309 on: October 11, 2021, 07:30:30 PM »
Kimi,

I'm not sure which way the structure faces but looks like you are only receiving 1/2 day sun at that location? Maybe a bit more or less? That, as well as your other shade cloth is certainly not enough sun for your DF. You can tell by it's thin growth. At that age, the vine should have significantly more girth, regardless of variety. Your vine is "stretching" for the sun and is confused.

Once you get it in a location that has more sun, things will improve. You may want to cut the plant to take cuttings and try a different location. 

As for training, this kid has a great channel for his commercial operation that will provide value on some training and growing of the plants:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=miHo1-zmLGY&t=1s

brownkawa

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3310 on: October 13, 2021, 02:24:05 PM »
Thank you, John!

Our greenhouse faces south and gets sun all day, so that's not it.

But I have been suspecting the shade cloth... we went with recommendations from other local farmers since we are new in this area. They shade their tomatoes here because our sun is so intense it will fry everything. I think we need to go with a less dense shade cloth.  But at 90' x 14' it's an expensive proposition to muck around with by trial and error!  Maybe we should get a smaller piece of lighter shade cloth and try that on one section to see how it goes. Our cherry tomatoes are going great guns, but not much else is...
Kimi Ishikawa
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https://www.brownkawa.com/

John B

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3311 on: October 13, 2021, 03:11:32 PM »
Try a 30% shade cloth. Some varieties that I grew under full sun were: Haley's Comet, Physical Graffiti, and S8.

Nuraxi

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3312 on: October 20, 2021, 06:12:31 PM »
Hi, this is my pitaya Born from Vietnamese seeds, it has bloomed after eight years, now I have grafted on it, a cosmic charlie, and an s8, I am also experimenting with phisycal graphitty, Lisa, golden dragon, all in pots.

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« Last Edit: October 22, 2021, 07:06:39 AM by Nuraxi »
There is always a good reason to plant a tree.

nullzero

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3313 on: November 07, 2021, 05:06:59 PM »
Some pictures of the desert king seedling which was grown out. Not sure how it compares to the original desert king (never had it) but seems very productive for size, self fertile, and excellent flavor better then S8 sugar dragon.






Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

nullzero

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3314 on: November 16, 2021, 03:38:09 PM »
Made some trellis for the dragon fruit from ikea furniture. Used the Hyllis some burlap cover, zip ties and concrete block for the footing. Hole saw the middle out and a 10 gal fabric container on the bottom. Cost about $25 for all materials, should hold up to the weather with the galvanized steel for a while.



Grow mainly fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

DFfarmer

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3315 on: November 26, 2021, 04:30:42 PM »
Thanks to everyone for starting and contributing to this thread, it is a wealth of information! I have read the entire thread and have really learned a lot about the history, and care of these plants. I have a question for everyone, where do you go to get your plant material that you trust to really know what they are in this day and age?

I am in North County San Diego (southern California) and I know at one time we had some great options, but have lost some of them. I am looking for specific varieties to try and fine tune my pollination program and also to experiment with breeding. I've been growing for about ten years and am trying to make our ranch as productive as it can be. After going through multiple seasons and pollinating strategies, I am learning that it's not only what we do, but weather factors that influence our success. I have one cross at the seedling stage. I am trying to find the most productive and flavorful varieties for our micro climate here. So I am looking for specific varieties like Neitzel that I have read about.  I have been using S8 as a pollinator and it has served us well, but I have read that some White varieties can increase the size of the fruit and the customers are often interested in that! To me flavor is top consideration. If we could increase the size of S8 it would be perfect!  We have brought a seed grown Megalanthus to flowering so that is exciting but we are not sure that will be viable in our climate or very productive.

I have one white fleshed variety that came without an ID, propagated and planted around the grove, and it wasn't very productive this last year so I am considering removing or grafting something else to them. Cal Poly Pomona has been my best source and in years past, Dragon Fruit Festivals put on by UC with Ramiro, and friends, and CRFG, (but often we get ID mistakes that way). Even though Home Depot is selling plants, we can't rely on them to properly ID theirs. Thanks to all of the pioneers for sharing their experiences!

JCorte

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3316 on: November 26, 2021, 04:44:31 PM »
Linda Nickerson sells dragonfruit in Fallbrook.  She is a reliable source.  I heard she named the s-8 Sugar Dragon.

http://www.devonsaustraliancattledogs.com/Dragonfruit

Janet

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3317 on: November 26, 2021, 04:52:19 PM »
I have also received healthy cuttings from forum member Spaugh.

Janet

DFfarmer

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3318 on: November 26, 2021, 04:56:59 PM »
Thanks @JCorte I should have mentioned her, she and her husband were early mentors. Some of our first plants came from them. Maybe that is where we got our fondness for Sugar Dragons from because they were so enthusiastic, but I totally agree with them! I really love the fruit! ;D

Thanks for the resource! Great to see a "modern" one! I'll have to get in touch with the person you suggest! Lots of great posts from that person here in the thread!

LEOOEL

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3319 on: November 28, 2021, 08:04:53 PM »
Please help:

I remember the time during the existence of this Thread, when many of Us were hoping to find a truly sweet & good quality dragon fruit variety.

Well, this Great-Breakthrough! is now Old-News, In-My-Opinion.
As You can now find such Quality Dragon-Fruit variety at a local quality Supermarket like ‘Whole-Foods.’

Next-Step (Question(s)):

Does anyone know if there’s a Dragon-Fruit Variety for my South-Florida Zone-10-b Area with these ‘Breakthrough’ specs?

And, the Best source where I can go and buy it?

Does ‘Excalibur Fruit-Tree Nursery’ in Florida have such sweet Dragon-Fruit Variety?

Thanks in Advance for any Help
« Last Edit: November 28, 2021, 08:10:25 PM by LEOOEL »
'Virtue' should be taught, learned and propagated, in order to save others and oneself.

FlMikey

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3320 on: November 29, 2021, 08:29:55 PM »
Question - I'm still a dragonfruit newb and looking for recommendations on an addition. 

So far I'm growing a palora variety, sugar dragon variety, and purple haze variety I luckily received from Spaugh.  I have room for 1 more df cutting. 

Ideally, I'd like a variety that is very productive, sweet, delicious, and self-pollinating.  I'll also be growing it in the same garden bed as the palora, sugar dragon, and purple haze, so I don't want a variety that's super aggressive that may interfere with the root biology of its neighbors. 

ANY suggestions is most appreciated!

JCorte

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3321 on: November 29, 2021, 08:58:04 PM »
Kim Phan has a lot of videos on dragonfruit tastings with Brix testing. 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYbOLZfLUtNHlkBW09vxZMw/videos

There’s a few videos titled Special Event that featured a large tasting with Edgar Valdivia present.

Janet

FlMikey

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3322 on: November 30, 2021, 08:15:39 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.

Mistozy

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3323 on: November 30, 2021, 09:43:08 PM »
I really like American beauty. It's self fertile and tastes great

MorroBay

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Re: Dragon Fruit thread.
« Reply #3324 on: December 01, 2021, 02:02:40 AM »
I’d also say American beauty for an addition.  No idea of root biology.  It’s played nice so far in my mixed planters.