flaflowerfloozie

In the pic is the flower of Dragon fruit called Makisupa. This variety is the Megenta colored flesh type, one of the few that are self pollinating, you don't need an array of other types blooming at the same time hoping you will end up with fruit from this type.
Dragon fruit is actually an edible fruit very tasty, palm sized, incredibly easy to grow a vining cactus. I have mine clamering up the side of a pecan tree in full sun tolerated without issue 20 degree weather with only tip burn. Recovered very well.

So I have 15-18 inch cuttings for $3.00 each plus postage.

I have 2 other people waiting on orders but John only wants to climb the pecan tree once for fresh cuttings. So if anyone else is interested PM me by Sunday.

If you want to PM me with a real email address I have better pics, larger, clearer without a water mark. The flower is about the size of a salad plate and fragrant lasts till about 12 in full-sun and 3 pm in part exposure.

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George Webster

Can I grow this as a potted plant here in zone 7? Bringing it in for winter. How long was that exposed to 20 degrees?

flaflowerfloozie

Oh yea it will grow inside, just slowly, offer it good light... plant them next to a totem pole so they have something to grasp onto and feel secure.

Brothertom2020 is also just out of "all year" outside growing area, but like I said to him "he may have a micro climate that stays somewhat warmer?"
Only you know your yard and your micro-climates. I think Brothertom2020 is working on a growing stratagy...he's gonna get back to me.

We had lows of 20-25 degrees at night for over 60 days where the temps didn't get above freezing during the day...pretty cold for us Florida people as well as the oranges and sugar cane and celery.

Hope that helped, Patti (FFF)

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harveyc

Patti, you're in zone 10 and near the coast and had 60 nights in the mid to lower 20s???

Do you have other varieties that withstood temps where daytime temps remained below freezing? I've got over 30 varieties and very few looked in good shape after our 35 nights with frost this past winter with one morning getting down to 22F.

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George Webster

Save a cutting for me. I sent a pm for details.

George

flaflowerfloozie

I'm really not in zone 10 we are more like zone 9 now and the new ag map is suppose to refect that.

That year I was working for a tennis court, the courts were clay they were frozen solid for 5 weeks, when they thawed they were like goose poop, stepped on them and I hit so hard and fast I thought I broke something...took 12 pallets of clay, a week before tournaments started to try and get them right.

We hit record temps day after day after day, I lost allot of stuff that year that was in the ground, my 1000 fingers, my praying hands...gone didn't recover other stuff not related to bananas crispy, I was surprised to see my curcuma poke it's head up THIS YEAR thought it was long gone...I was sick at the site of the yard I worked so hard on in FLORIDA!
We had plants piled in 2 sheds heated, in the porch boarded up, in the RV and plied in my house, now try and understand I also have a pet rescue here, I think we had 20 cats and 4 dogs plus my Mom and her cat (her heat gave out) I do not have a big home...all of us and plants in the house!
We put the easter lily vines in the bathroom because they were insistant on blooming and there also huge but not pet friendly. My entire yard was covered in christmas lights, towels & blankets. I took cuttings of my 7 types of vanilla vines just in case they froze and piled towels on the rest, but surprisingly they made it just fine (wheew) but like the cactus I think they get some protection from the tree they guest upon, it's a living thing and they continually generate heat to a degree. The orange groves were beside themselves to water or not to water trying to find a balance, citrus doesn't like to be over watered but Ice is an insulator, citrus starts to ripen in winter here. My Avacado made it with a sprinkler raining on it also the guava with the water spray frozen on it as well and the staghorn fern with a cover and a lamp that's what I remember off hand I was surprised we managed to keep after that winter...Lost my red jade vine but the blue jade and other Mucunas made it threw without any more protection other than a good mound of leaves piled on them...had to dig up my Marcgravia Trinitatis and bring that inside it would have froze for sure. My older planted (20 years) tangerine tree had sever damage with bark splitting tried to save that to no avail, but my Black Money orange not only made it just fine it snubbed it's leaves by growing the entire time and thats a south african true tropical orange tree. That's what I can or choose to remember of that horrid winter.

There are times we go threw periods where there will be a few years of really bad winters, that's historical here...in 79? Ft. Lauderdale got snow..I was there. In 1893, 1894 & 1895 between the hurricanes and 2 years in a row 3 inches of snow fall all the orange groves in the area were completely wiped out and some of those groves were on Merritt Island for the most part surrounded by water, merritt island is 12 miles south of me...so yep, it does happen even here in Florida

Long winded but I hope that answed your question

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G.W.

I'll take one. Pm OTW

tell us about these vanilla vines...

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winter winners, jackfruit, carambola, hua moa, d namwah, hak ip lychee with pink leaves 2 days before a cold snap eeeek!

Winter losers, kohala longan, misi luki, 80% jackfruit seedling loss

first bloomers, HUA MOA, DC, D NAMWAH, FHIA 17, KANADARIAN, RAJA PURI, M D NAMWAH

best bunch FHIA 17 , undisclosed

WORST BUNCH hua moa, 2 fingers

flaflowerfloozie

What would you like to know?
I'll start here, then you let me know if you want to know anything else.
I wrote an entire art. on this on my facebook page and when they did the conversion it got lost along with other stuff.
I have 7 different types. 5 named and 2 unknowns till they bloom.

There are over 100 different known tyes of Vanilla, 3 are grown for commercial use but mainly Planifolia is the most widely used.
They range from very large leaves up to 8-10 inches to leafless stemmed types, looking like a green rope clammering up a tree (1 is a FL native). They are both epiphitic and terrestrial, but won't bloom grown unrooted to dirt. They are a dappled light vine prefering to climb up trees to a light source but won't tolerate full sun or there leaves touching the ground. One type is said to be self pollinating but most have to be hand pollinated because we just don't have the bee spcifically designed to pollinate this plant, that critter lives in Mexico where most Vanilla types originated. The vanilla flower can range from white on white /white on green/ white on purple and can be single or over bearing up to 50 flowers at a time and only last one day with pollination windows of a few hours in the early morning. It is said they won't tolerate temps below 50 but I really doubt that my elm tree they are growing on that winter a few years back actually kept them that warm when it was so cold for so long. The leaves looked sad to say the least when I uncovered them, crinkled, dehydrated looking and slightly weepy...after the threat was over inbetween cold snaps I would uncover them and let them breath, get some light and bottom water...AND TALK TO THEM (I'm so sorry) within a few weeks the leaves started to lift again and plump back out. It took a few months before they started growing again.

There is more but I don't want to bore you with long winded stuff you may not want to know, I'm happy to do more just let me know.

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flaflowerfloozie

I'm making a list of wants for the dragon fruit, didn't know it would be so popular...I responded to your vanilla information request, let me know if you would like to know anything else, I'm happy to help and be interactive.
At least we are in the so so right forum for this discussion so we aren't exactly "off topic" here

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flaflowerfloozie

Ok, your on the list

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harveyc

Patti, what size fruits do you attain from your plant?

I've been curious about this variety as Pine Island Nursery says the fruits can get up to a pound but the photo they show at Dragon fruit - Makisupa makes it look to be smaller than that. Small fruits can be very good, but I'm just curious about the description's accuracy. Thanks.

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flaflowerfloozie

I lost all my fruit pics on the last computer crash or I would post them.
The fruits look like the pics you see on the website Green and pink, 1 whole pound? That's really stretching it...I want to say 6-7 ounces, maybe a bit bigger...it's not the biggest of this type of fruit, but the biggest ones taste OK? Similar flavor but stretched out kind of like adding water to your fruit juice "watered down". I got this type after doing much research on the vine.
I didn't even know it existed till my B/F whom is of mixed Mexican decent said after we bought this house can we grow Dragon fruit? Dragon what?
This is where my mission began!
So I found many sources that only limited there discriptions to fruit color I avoided those sites. Then after I found a few types that seemed like they would florish in my area I started looking for nutritional value, not fruit size.
There isn't a whole lot available on consistant nutritional values for this fruit but all agreed that the fruit is high in flavinoides, anti-oxidants and an enzyme good for a healthy intestinal track apparently it helps boost good bacteria (?), there was an artical I saw that said it was being looked into for high blood pressure treatment options I tend to stay away from things I can't verify with good hard science so I wouldn't count on that exactly.
Everything in moderation, NEVER stop or reduce your medications on a hunch or a hope this or anything else will control your Blood pressure naturally, always consult with your Doctor when it comes to your health!!

So No NOT 1 pound fruits that would be like a larger medium sized mango...huge!
More like a medium size peach in size, tastes sweet, bit tangy the consistancy is like the flesh of an apple but loose (Ummm, discribe that?) Bigger pulp cells loosly gathered not as tight an apple but still holds together a little grainy...it is a cactus fruit after all not at all unpleasent at least not to me.
Really perks up a canned fruit salad, the fruits have a good after picked shelf life if kept in the fridge, up to a month. I served it cut in 1/2 with a spoon for desert or peeled it and cubed it served with sherbert, pretty on a plate sliced as a side compliment you know like those orange slices you get in a restaurant. Ummm....what else can I tell you. The ultimate decission on the type came down to this. The brighter and bolder the fruit color is usualy a good indication of fruit nutrition, we were tossing over 2 types, a bright pink flesh and a megenta colored flesh so we choose the magenta instead of the pink flesh based on that notion, like blueberriess, mulberries, cherries and the like...bold strong colors ussually means higher nutritional content. It was also a PLUS that this type is self pollinating so I didn't have to rely on having 2 or more types blooming at the same time or hoping there would be a different types close enough for cross pollination blooming at the same time.

If I didn't cover everything let me know, I'll be glad to answer it for you.

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George Webster

I have been slightly interested in vanilla for some time. I have seen them at the orchid shows. Not really a very pretty plant in a bucket. Sometimes they are shown with fruit.
I had no idea there were that many varieties. I assumed that I would probably not be able to keep it alive, so never looked into trying to acquire one.

George

flaflowerfloozie

Yea, there not much to look at in a bucket, your right.
Really not much to look at unless you like the leaf and it's growth habit.
People are under the impression they are Gawd awful hard to grow...this couldn't be farther from the truth, although they are a true orchid and the only vining orchid, they really require no care at all with exception to humidity. They are happy indoors or out, and don't like to freeze...that's about it...if you get the chance to get one at a reasonable price for a cutting 24 inches or more, get it, there so easy...stick it in some good draining soil just not orchid mix and walk away...really!

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harveyc

Some large pitaya are bland but some are very good. Size does not dictate the flavor. I've had great tasting small ones and small ones that didn't taste so great either. From the looks of it, I didn't think it looked like it could attain 1 pound but Pine Island Nursery is in the business of selling plants/cuttings so it's not surprising they might stretch things a little (or lot).

When I showed photos of various pitaya to friends in Nicaragua during one of my visits there they were amazed at the wide variation in fruit size and colors compared to what is also seen there, a fairly large 1-1.5 pound fruit with very dark red flesh. Good flavor but not much sweetness that I can taste.

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flaflowerfloozie

OK folks we are done with the climb & the trimming. All the orders are filled so this thread is officially "closed for requests" feel free to continue the conversation

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G.W.

I wanted to know if any of the vanilla would produce pods..uh.. beans.. whatever the specific plant name is for where vanilla flavor comes from.

Do or have any of your vanilla ever produced edible fruit?

I'll pm you my address and you tell me what I owe you.

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winter winners, jackfruit, carambola, hua moa, d namwah, hak ip lychee with pink leaves 2 days before a cold snap eeeek!

Winter losers, kohala longan, misi luki, 80% jackfruit seedling loss

first bloomers, HUA MOA, DC, D NAMWAH, FHIA 17, KANADARIAN, RAJA PURI, M D NAMWAH

best bunch FHIA 17 , undisclosed

WORST BUNCH hua moa, 2 fingers

flaflowerfloozie

Yes, the vanilla produces pods, but you have to hand pollinate them, there are videos on the net showing how it's done. Once I got a pod only because it was a bit of a challenge to see if I could but it took 5 months for it to ripen, so I don't bother any more just enjoy the plant and the flowers, the pods are worth the trip to the health food store to buy them, not real expensive.
Only the outter part of the pod is used for the flavor actually, the seeds are tasteless and don't contain any of the flavinoides that creat the flavor we crave...Ummm

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RAINFOREZT

Do you have the variegated vanilla?
variegated vanilla - Google Search

flaflowerfloozie

Yes I do, but won't be available till next spring...get hold of me then and we will work it out :-))

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