Richard

Don't anchor the trellis in the soil. Instead, affix it to the outside of the pot.

In fact, affix the pot and the trellis to a "garbage can" dolly to make the whole thing portable at a moments notice.

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Hammocked Banana

Physical Graffiti and American Beauty on their new trellis.

Dangermouse01

And so it starts...
Dark Star has 18 flowers opening tonight.
About a week and a half ago, I started counting flower buds on the DS, gave up counting at 52.


Physical Graffiti has 12 flowers opening tonight.


Purple Haze has 7 flowers opening tonight.


DM

Richard

Those photos of your trellises are great examples for every novice grower of dragon fruit. Just outstanding!

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Funkthulhu

Y'know, I bet if I made it look all snazzy like this with a good solid trellis, someone would let me have it in the house. (or at least the basement...)

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Dangermouse01

Dark Star this morning.


DM

merce3

very nice! what are the details in terms of the soil and fertilizer you use? i have a few varieties i need to repot/plant

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Hammocked Banana

Stunning!

Dangermouse01

When I take them from the pot they were in for rooting, I just dig a hole larger than the pot, removed the pot, put the DF in the hole. Instead of back filling with the dirt I dug out, I mix up about 50/50 bagged top soil & mulch (usually pine bark), and back fill with that (that is what I use for rooting them also). Then mulch the area (not so heavy around the base of the the DF and the tellis) with stuff that will break down (leaves, grass clippings). Re-mulch about as needed, I mostly use chopped up banana trunks because I have them available and they break down good and fast. Once a year I top dress the area with compost & cow manure (Black Kow). When I fertilize I use Vigoro citrus & avacodo and sometimes spray with kelp, fish emulsion and Southern AG citrus nutritional spray (making sure to spray the burlap around the trellis post good with the mix).

DM

Snookie

Groovy....

I'm thinking about planting mine in the ground:}

How cold does it get in NE Florida?

I'm afraid I would loose them if it gets as cold as last year if I did:[

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Dangermouse01

I am actually in NE Palm Bay in coastal central Florida. This last winter I think I only saw a few hours between 30-32F, with some frost. Got a little frost damage to the Yellow, but I also have papaya & bananas inter spaced to provide a little overhead frost protection that helps.

Opening tonight:
Dark Star 23
Halley Comet 1
Physical Graffiti 6
Purple Haze 16

DM

Snookie

Thanks for the reply, good idea on overhead protection:}

What you figure the minimum sun hours daily for them to produce?

I have Pine Trees dat could give great overhead protection:}

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Richard

The natural ground environment for Dragon Fruit is in a loose mixture of soil, bark, and leaves. They are a tropical cactus that climb trees in sparse forests. The ground level root system is very shallow. Above ground, cactus pods put out roots to attach and collect nutrients from the bark of the host tree. A 15 gallon container is sufficient for a large plant - and in my opinion a better choice than directly in the ground for cultivation. Notice that DangerMouse puts nutrients into the both the soil and the burlap-coated support. Foliar application of a copper spray a few times a year is recommended if you have problems with bacterial spot disease.

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merce3

Spotted this guy under a banana leaf... i wonder if it will bloom tonight.

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Funkthulhu

Okay, so the significant other bought a couple of those little colorful catci (Red, Yellow, Orange) that are grafted on the green stem. One of them fell off and now the green stem that remains is still trucking. It looks an awful lot like a Dragon Fruit plant. Does anybody have any idea what they use as root-stock on those color-cacti grafts?

I'm hoping this is my in to growing some fruit!

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"Ph'nglui musaglw'nanna Funkthulhu R'Omahaea wgah'basjoo fhtagn"
"In his house at Omaha, dread Funkthulhu plants bananas."

Richard

Could be Cereus or Hylocereus.

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merce3

you're better off choosing a variety that's tried and true. the darker red the better imo

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I_GROWER

I must say I got inspired by dangermouse setup and try my hand at it




Now we wait

merce3

bloomed last night:

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Richard

The red-fleshed one's are generally better tasting, for example H. ocamponis and H. guatemalensis. A commercially available cultivar of the latter is sold as American Beauty. As a counter-example H. polyrhizus is not so flavorful when grown here in the San Diego area.

As I've said elsewhere, if you have room and can grow Dragon Fruit outdoors year-round then I think H. ocamponis is worth growing. It grows large pods that have serious spines in comparison to other Dragon Fruit; it is a sparse bearer; but the flower sepals are very colorful and the taste beats any I've ever tried.

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