They are very easy to root. You can either plant them each in a container or plant them in the ground to grow up along a tree or a post. They will root by just putting it in or on the ground and watering the cutting occasionally. The pic a few posts up with the cuttings in the container is a good example of how you can place the cuttings. Just bury about half of each cutting vertically and they should root fine.

I got a bunch of cuttings at the Pitaya Festival which I guess was in September. I'm in Los Angeles and the big worry here is not burning them. I potted each in a mixture of better potting soils (not cactus), some sand and local soil (just bits really for flavor), a smattering of composted manure and a generous helping of my very own compost. The first watering was a plunge into a bucket of water laced with Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro and injectable B Cattle Vitamens (I have this around and use it where others would use Super-Thrive, just tint the water a bright yellow pee color, more than you want yours to look like). They are plunged and swished so that much of the air pops out. Then the starts in their 1 gl. nursery cans were put into the spaces left between the 30"w x 20"h circular nursery containers for part of our backyard orchard. That meant dappled sunlight for the greens and full shade for the small black nursery cans. They were watered probably twice a week and had decent drainage. I now have gherkin-size and shape new growth on almost all of them, and no burning. I think they really want to feed and nutritious soil is important.

Mine grow in spurts and spend a great deal of the year standing still - so you might have to wait a while to see any growth. They are pretty tough plants so you can check the root area to see if roots are being formed. If it was me, as long as the leaves were firm and not shriveled I would set them aside and not worry about them. I would also let them dry out between waterings. If they are newly rooted or just barely rooted cuttings then the damp soil is just going to encourage fungus and problems.

I live in Northern Pa where our fall and winters are cold! Been growing dragon fruit for several years here (indoors) and found that if I do not water them all the time, let it have filtered light and just good potting soil, it does fine. When the plant equals around 10 lbs of weight, that is when it flowers. Hope this helps.

I have red, white and pink ones growing indoors from seed, plan on growing some in pots, some in hydroponics outside. I live in PHX, so I will need them to be mobile till they get big. Planning on growing under my hibiscus for extra shade, my yard is mostly shaded. The red ones did not germinate well, only one came up, the pinks were easy and the white hasn't been all that great yet.

I ordered a cutting from ebay and has been growing in the yard under a tree all summer in 110 degree, in 4 monthes it has grown four times its original size.

Yea, just on bid on ebay and I'm the only bidder so I guess I'll win the items.Two red , two purple two red. Just learned about Dragon fruit. I'm grown all the tropicals. A couple questions. Here in Homestead the soil is a few inches deep and then it's crushed or solid rock coral. The mangos, carambolas, avacato, lychee mamay sapote. and a lot more have grown to really big trees. Because of the high PH soil should I leave them to grow in containers? Also, every ten years or so like last year the temperature can freeze here. One night this winter was 29*. Would that have killed the pitangas?

They literally will grow in anything, I've seen them flourish in a giant pile of manure. Ideally you want something with good drainage but can hold more water than a cacti mix. The tropical mix I use is an acid mix with some (I think) peet moss in it so that it can hold moisture.

I bought some cuttings on ebay about a year ago and i live in ohio so during the winter i bring them inside and put them in my green house they are growing fine but on the new growth they seem to be getting roots (i think) but the new growths are above ground. The roots are approx. 2 inches long. Does anybody know what i should do with them?

Leave them. Dragonfruit has epiphytic roots. They will cling to surfaces, such as trees/poles/fencing. Nutrients are also obtained by them & the roots in the soil.

They are common in dragon fruit, part of growing and occasionally it also means they need more light (which makes sense since it's winter and unless it gets special lights in the greenhouse it won't be happy.

Nothing to worry about though.

I planted seed from a dragon fruit. the seedling germinated in about 2 weeks. that was 6 months ago and they have not move since. i water them about every 3 days but still no growth. all I see are the beginning 2 leaves, is this normal? or is there something i am not doing to make the seedling develop to the next stage?

It might be still building it's root structure out before it proceeds.

Hutch ... although the dragon fruit seeds will germinate relatively quickly, they are painfully slow growers. I raise them from seeds only when I am trying to develop new varieties. Otherwise, as mentioned above, cuttings are a better route to producing fruit. However, growing from seed can be fun (patience is a virtue with these).. Just be prepared to wait 3 or more years before your first harvest.

The batch of seeds that I am currently growing was planted last October. Now, some four months later, the central stalks (that will emerge between the two leaves) are only 2-5 cm high. Just try to give your sprouts a healthy amount of sun and even moisture. This has worked for me.

Okay, well I just bought my first cutting from ebay and I'm excited to see they can be brought to fruit in containers which is my plan. Are these self pollinators or do I need to purchase another? Also if I purchased a different variety would it cross? I also purchased cactus soil in advance my logic being "well it's a cactus" I'll be returning that XD but I'll post a photo as soon as I get it started.

You could grow it in the soil, but you're just overpaying since they literally grow in anything short of lava and ice.

Does anyone have a cutting they are willing to part with. I live in Arizona now. I am just getting into cactus and there are so many but I would love to have some cuttings. Thanks Connie

My dragon fruit delight cutting showed a new sprout at 5 weeks. Right now at 6 weeks my 2 tiny Halley's comets show a tiny sprout that is hard to see. I spray with a water bottle every day and the soil and a little bit of late sun. I still need a David bowie cutting if anyone wants to trade for a natural mystic, h comet, yellow, voodoo, graffiti,American B, or delight. Ft myers Thanks fdci1@aol.com

Water too often or constant wet soil is the main cause of dragon fruit root root. And it's correct that the plant tends to send out flowers when it is laid horizontal or pointed down. Also it's true that it loves raw cow manure -- lots of them -- put around the root on top of the soil before the flowering reason.

sapote

I bought mine off ebay last summer and he told me to let it stay in the box for a week before I planted it. And ithas grown a piece off the side about as big as the one I bought and I saw yesterday there is a smaller one on the other side. I've had mine in the greenhouse all winter. Can't remember what I potted it with though.

So I bought a dragon fruit cutting (well less a cutting and more a very tiny "tissue culture") for a lark from Disney World of all places a couple of years ago, and have been stunned by how resilient it is. I've already repotted it a few times, but have been doing research recently to see how to take care of it properly instead of faking it like I have been. It's still fairly small (no piece is much over a foot), but I would like to get it worked into some sort of pot since I live in Ohio and can't plant it outdoors. In doing research, I ran across a few photos of people planting them in hanging baskets where they were flowering, but every place I've researched has told me they need to be staked up. Is it possible to grow them well in a basket like that, or is that asking for trouble and should I focus on potting them normally? Thanks ^-^

Here is a link that might be useful:

HI Ainnir
the photo you post, that's not a Dragon fruit plant, that's call Queen of the night, it only flower don't fruit, It's not a gád idea to plant dragon fruit in a hanging basket like that at all

Ah sorry my bad. It was linked in a post that identified it as dragon fruit, so I assumed xD

My Halley's Comet dragon fruit reached the top so I snipped the tip off and within a few days 11 new buds popped out of the top foot.

A better pik of my Halley's Comet dragon fruit after snipping off the end. 11 new buds within days. Ft Myers

Better pik

Amazing.

LittleVietGarden,
I really appreciate your step by step instructions. I hope you don't mind but I saved them as a word doc so I can look at them at will.
On your single pole stakes, do you need supports at the top or can they just lean over after reaching the top?

brandon1971, you should cut all the new growth from the bottom, and just leave 2 left from the top, you should make a square frame on top to give it support.

to: tpacumio - of cause you can save it, you can re post it to other page if you like. about the support on top, it really up to u, they will hang over by itself, but I like to have a frame on top, as they will grow out like a tree, and with a frame on top it will give the plant alot of support, as it over 2 years, with a single pole, the pole may lean to one side, I will post a small model of the frame later, need to take a photo of it

Update on my 11 new buds. 10 are growing fast. 1 seems to be left behind and small. I planted 20 dragon fruit cuttings in cactus mix soil and put them under my porch roof. They received late low sun. Maybe an hours worth every pm. I misted with a water bottle everyday if I remembered to and 19 of the 20 have sprouted so far. Most sprouting happens between 6-9 weeks. My voodoo child is my only one left to sprout after 5 months but it is still firm and looks good so I expect a 100% success rate soon.

here is a photo of the model

Sorry littlevietgarden. This is the worst trellis support i have ever seen. Particle board exposed to moisture declines fast. Put a piece in a bucket of water and watch what happens over night. A dragonfruit rarely survives a trellis collapse. If you must use wood, cedar has natural rotting resistance. Treated wood wrapped with burlap fabric from Walmart is better. Otherwise steel, PVC pipe, concrete or motorcycle tires are long term. Remember to use special screws or stainless on American treated wood. Screws will disappear from the chemical treatment in the USA.

HI Brandon1971, hihih, it was only a model that I made for other views from youtube, that model was only about 30cm, very small, so I can hold it up to show them. they wanted to know what it look like, so the plant can become overhang like a tree. I don't know how long you been growing dragon fruit, you should cut off some of the new growth. you will fine that after each stem will be bigger and can grow over a meter.

I bought mine off ebay and they are growing like crazy. I had them in the greenhouse during the winter. I cut one piece off that looked like it was going to break and just made a hole and stuck it in and now its big as the mother pland and had little ones on it now and the mother has little ones on it too. I just used potting soin and fertilized it when I did the others. when I got it I was told not to plant it for a week so I didn't and I guess thats why its doing so well. It was from a nursery in Houston and I talked to the owner. Good luck everyone

My David Bowie cutting took 7 months to sprout. It was also the first time I did not use a Home Depot cactus mix that came with miracle grow in it.

I bought several types on ebay to try. One seller offered 9 rooted cuttings in 4 inch pots with soil for $22. Those are in my greenhouse and doing very well. Already have new growth and it's been about two weeks. These were red, purple and white varieties. I wanted some yellow to try so bought 4 12 inch cuttings. I cut each of these to 6 inches and placed in custom made potting mix that I use for my garden. I grow everything in self watering containers. Those have just begun to bud out. I also bought some seeds to try and have been using the papertowel baggie method to germinate the seeds. They went into small pots yesterday so the jury is still out on how well they perform but it's fun to experiment.

Please help, I just purchased a dragon fruit plant from Home Depot 2 days ago, I added some water in it the first night and leave it in a patio with direct sunlight, I then transplant it into the ground with 1/3 miracle-glo water retrained potting mix, about 1/4 of native soil, and the rest is cactus mix. This area have Part sunlight and shades, However, I think I planted it too deep, since the 2 lower leaves almost touch the soil, the plant is a bit flagging (not as upright and straight as the time that I purchased it), Can someone tell me are they dying? Did I ruined it by planting too deep and not give it direct sunlight? Please let me know how can I save this plant.

@ mike7381

If the dragon fruit was dead, you would know. It turns brown then black when it starts to die.

Dragon fruit plants can grow without water, light, and soil. They are cactus plants. They have plenty of water to keep them from dying. Just keep it in part shade, part sunlight, water it, and leave it alone. Water it every two weeks.

You can't kill it by not giving it light. It just won't fruit is all. But, I'm guessing, your tree isn't mature enough to fruit, it should be okay.

Once you see new growth, which can take a month to six months, then plant it outside. Just be patient.

mike7381,

It will also need a support of some type. It's a climbing vine cactus. Whether you use a stake or trellis support system, it will need some thing to climb on too. If next to the house, it will even climb that too, but stake or trellis is best. But, you would have to help train it to climb first. You can do that by tying the branches on to the stake, then it will eventually start climbing on it's own.

Couple of years back, hutch007 posted that dragonfruit grown from seed stayed miniature with two leaves & refused to grow. I'm trying to grow them from seed too, and hope for fruits in a few years, but I just wanted to share a strange fad which has developed in my country, Singapore, for dragonfruit seedlings which are kept miniature, grown indoors in cute small pots, & marketed as 'happy plants'. OK, I know we all want fruits, but I just wanted Hutch007 not to despair - if all you have is two-leaved eternal seedlings, you have a 'happy plant'. Would you believe the sellers claim they can absorb computer radiation?

Thanks for all the useful tips on growing. Some of the plants shown here are awesome!

Here is a link that might be useful: Happy plants

edels-

You might want to reconsider growing dragon fruit from seeds. It can be very variable in it's taste, pollination requirement(might not even be self fertile and you would need an other DF variety to cross pollinate) and growing habit. DF are very easy to grow from cuttings of a mature plant. Cut and just stick in the ground and you'll have a new plant soon and I've read that the longer the cutting you start your new plant from, the faster it might bear fruits for you. Seedlings are very variable and can take several years, while cuttings may take as quick as the first year to fruits, but can take a couple of years to bear, which is more common. Plus, you know what kind of fruits you'll be getting in the future, since it's a clone of the same plant you have eaten the fruit from.

But, if growing to try for a new cultivar or just for fun, then go a head and plant as many seeds as you wish. You never know you can come up with a better tasting variety and start selling back to make money back.

And, seedlings start out looking like regular plant as seedlings with 2 leaves, then as they age they will become more like how a regular Df plant looks like. Those dwarf Df in pots you see around your town and other place are most likely not grown from seeds, most likely from cuttings, to retain the same dwarfing effect as it's parent.

Thanks for the advice, soaht - I seriously will start looking around for some dragonfruit cuttings here in singapore. I'll keep my seedlings for fun to see what comes of them, but I won't invest too much energy and tears getting them to fruit!

Hi so I'm from Maryland and bought a cutting from Disney world a year ago. It sits in my window sill and is in sunlight and I was wondering if I am doing this correctly or if there is something that needs improvement

Samantha: from what ive learned about pitaya, it needs to climb. You should add a support for it to grow up against.

I purchased some cuttings from ebay a month ago. About 18 inches each. I had them in pots with 50/50 soil and perlite. They developed roots and have not died but no new growth. I later purchased some 36 inch cuttings (branches!) From the same seller and I have them also in 50/50 set up. They have been going for a month now. Most have taken root but no top growth.

Im in Ohio and have them all in pots situated in a south facing window. I noticed one of my tall ones had orange tiny spots. That one has shriveled and looks ti be dying. I pulled it out. No roots. Are the tiny orange spots (kinda like little holes with scar tissue around them but no sign of insects) something I should worry about? None if the others have them. Also do I have too many in one pot? A gentle tug proves they have roots and I intend to let them eventually grow into "curtains" in front of my window.

I water once a week

temperature in this room is an average 65° - 70°

Is there something I could improve? Something im doing wrong? Any advice welcome.

They don't do a whole lot of growing in the cold months, even indoors. As soon as it warms up and roots grow, then you'll get stem growth and can repot them.

This is 1 DF segment.

it is easily 13ft long.

i planted in the ground next to the house

and planted papaya trees in front of it. The leaves reached out farther on the papaya than oi had thought, and the sun's angle changes with the seasons... go figure... didnt take that into consideration... LOL

so, it kept climbing the wall, until it hit daylight, which it found, after it made the turn on the eve.

it actually does get about 3 hours of direct sun on the long segment in the summer, and about 2 hours in winter.

i think i will build a platform for it on the eve to keep growing.

its amazing how strong the roots are, grabbing solid brick !!! i couldnt pry it off with a knife if i tried.

I got a dragfruit cutting in a pot will it grow

I renovated my house and took a year to finish. my 4 dragon fruit trees were ruined during all this time. The older one has lost 50% leaves. i want to revive them by planting new leaves on the same drum i planted and let new roots climb over the old roots. i cannot dig pull out and carry n throw the big body of roots . can this be done? Thank you anyone