View Full Version : Dragon Fruit
Worm_Farmer
01-18-2009, 05:23 PM
Ok, so this year I am really thinking about adding some Dragon Fruit and Kiwi's to the collection. Does anyone here grow Dragon Fruit? I know that it seems to grow like a vine and needs something to hang on to. Do you think I could train a dragon fruit to grow up a clothes line? I think this would work out well for Kiwi, and anything else that is a vine and also it would stop me from bending over to pick the fruits. I am thinking about a clothes line like this one so that the plants have room to fill in. Do you think this would work?
http://www.clotheslineshop.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/3000use%20Out%20dryer.jpg
island cassie
01-18-2009, 05:34 PM
Can't help you yet Worm Farmer, just growing my plants from seed this year but they do seem to need substantial support when mature. There are some other threads here showing supports so a search should bring them up. Good luck!
Worm_Farmer
01-18-2009, 06:01 PM
Can't help you yet Worm Farmer, just growing my plants from seed this year but they do seem to need substantial support when mature. There are some other threads here showing supports so a search should bring them up. Good luck!
I did search and found a good thread with lots of pictures. I just wanted to ask someone who grows it also. I see them grow in circles kind of like trees but unsure if this would work. Maybe to high? From what I can see they will get to be about 4 - 6 foot high.
island cassie
01-18-2009, 06:14 PM
They do look big and heavy - but mine are only 1 inch tall atm!
Chironex
01-18-2009, 06:35 PM
I have 5 plants of it, but Richard is the guy to ask about it. He and some others here have some threads. Just search for pitaya or dragon fruit and you will find a bunch of information.
Or just PM Richard.
Worm_Farmer
01-18-2009, 07:30 PM
Yeah, I did read his input on another thread, I just PMed him about something different. If I am lucky he might be able to hook me up with some rooted cuttings or seeds. **High Hopes** LoL
MediaHound
01-18-2009, 10:35 PM
Mike come on down I have some with your name on it.
Pine Island Nursery down in Homestead has mature plants and they are awesome.
Richard
01-18-2009, 11:12 PM
Yes, if Pine Island Nursery is in driving range I recommend going there.
Year after year, the double-blind taste-testing at the annual Pitaya festival comes up with:
#1 American Beauty ... a selection of Hylocereus guatemalensis.
#2 Physical Graffiti ... an excellent hybrid
...
Among the consistent losers are the Yellow Pitaya, Selenicereus megalanthus.
The taste tests are performed under red lights using randomly numbered samples so neither the taster or the server knows what color or name the fruit is.
lorax
01-19-2009, 07:55 AM
Ah, but the crux of good yellow pitahaya is volcanic soil. Yellows grown anywhere outside of the Andean range taste skanky, and the only think that growers are doing differently is using their own fluvial soils. A good top-dressing with volcanic ash would change the flavour completely.
I speak from experience, since the Yellow Pitahaya are the native variety here, and reds have been introduced. Reds grown here taste awful compared to the Yellows, so very few people grow the reds anymore.
Richard
01-19-2009, 10:57 AM
Lorax, you are correct that the yellow needs the Andean soil. It also needs the tropical climate to mature properly.
Worm_Farmer
01-19-2009, 11:12 AM
Mike come on down I have some with your name on it.
Pine Island Nursery down in Homestead has mature plants and they are awesome.
Pine Island has a lot to choose from. I am just worried about shipping cost of 3 gallon pots. But if shipping is more then a tank of gas I guess I will be driving down there. They have some other stuff I want to get also, What types do you have available? You are MUCH closer then Pine Island.
MediaHound
01-19-2009, 12:46 PM
I have five types, come get them, give me a call. :)
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