Bump... Anything? No Pitaya growers here?

Not that I got a response from anyone but...it looks like 6 have rooted and 2 show new growth.

I bummed about the lack of activity since the change over.

unanswered posts don't stay on top, so they get missed very easy.
you must have lots of room to grow so many?

Thanks!!! I have at least twice that I'm hoping will still show some activity. I don't have tons of space but I'm a propagator and I like to make friends or trade for other stuff. The space I'm in now is a blank canvas and could use some pretty big holes filled. It's not permanent so I'm trying new things while I can.

I'll keep reviving this thread as I have more pictures to show. The other one has much bigger growth but I don't have any shots yet.

I miss that feature about the old gw.

I'm jealous! I've wanted one of these for awhile, but haven't been lucky enough to find one. Glad to see yours took.

Leslie, try growing one from a fruit/seeds you can buy in store...I never tried, but was gifted plant grown from the seeds (in 'cold' Canada).
Rina

Indeed, very easy to grow from seed. The seedling is slow at first, but then it'll take off.

I grew a plant from seed a couple years ago, but this Winter I left it out accidentally and it completely froze. Thankfully, I had pruned it and rooted those cuttings, so I will regrow a plant from the cuttings that survived the freeze.

Josh

I have never grown a cactus from seed- is there any special trick to it, or just plant it and wait?

As you have discovered, it is very easy to root, and from your neighbor's plant, you can see that it grows into a massive plant. However, I've had mine for three years and it has yet to bloom or make fruit the way I expected it to. You really need to plan ahead for its growth, as it is difficult to rearrange once it gets out of control. You will need some sort of trellis or support to keep it from growing along the ground like mine is starting to do. I do need to work on getting mine some more support - I have not yet given up on getting fruit from it:

I live in a frost-free zone - coastal southern California, and these plants do well here.

Lars

Thanks Lars! I've been very lucky. I had 22 root, 5 put on new growth and 2 bud (several have arial roots too). I have no idea what made them bud. One is on a cutting that is about 18" and has new growth also. The other is on a cutting that's only 8" with no new growth. I have 9 in ground against a sturdy fence that will get the upper supports next year. The others are in pots awaiting a good spot in the ground or a new home. Not a bad return since I pulled them out of a trash heap 17 weeks ago!

5 days ago

Today

Wow. That's exciting. You must really like to eat them to want to grow so many. I wish you all the best...........Maryl

I really didn't expect so many to take. The ones on the fence rooted just leaning there. Thankfully they have good spacing. My kids are fruit nuts and I'm sure I can make friends if I have too many! ☺️ I'll keep adding picture as I have interesting updates.

I've never eaten one and actually haven't seen any in commerce locally. I heard about them from my Vietnamese tailor (now retired) who gave me 2 Epiphyllum Oxypetalums which don't bare fruit but are related. Since the Epies weren't winter hardy I had to drag them into my unheated garage every winter and then drag them out come spring. Eventually they needed such big pots that this was no longer viable so I found a C&S grower with a greenhouse that was more then pleased to adopt them. But I've never forgotten what my Vietnamese friend told me about the Dragon Fruits. I find it interesting that you can grow them outside and look forward to your progress............Maryl

Make sure these plants are mounded if there's a high water table in Naples, as even subterranean flooding from temporary water table elevation can cause rot. Will be fine in winter, but cover them on nights in the low 30s to prevent minor freeze damage. For me these grow like weeds from April to September, especially ones with a little afternoon shade. In the humid Florida heat with a good fertilizing regimen, older plants will make 200+ pounds of fruit in a growing season. They are some of the best edible-fruit cacti to grow in Florida, along with Harrisia species.

Maybe the plant was getting ready to go to flower when they did their massive trim?

Or perhaps what I think may be more likely is that the bigger ones with enough stored energy to make flowers/fruit/seed did so as a means to propagate itself after the major disaster that just took place (the majority of its body and its friends were just violently whacked to pieces).

I hope you get fruit, or is this the type of plant that needs unrelated plants nearby to successfully pollinate?

I think you're right laticauda. The mother plant was going up a large coconut palm. They only cut down what they could reach and large pieces were still left high up, attached by arial roots. Wouldn't you know, one of them has a fruit hanging off of it. It's probably 20 feet in the air with the lowest piece around 15 feet. No wonder why they cut it down. The planter didn't know what they were going to have to do with it. It shouldn't need a pollinator. {crossing my fingers}

My dragon fruit cuttings are doing well. I planted them in November and December of last year and they're growing fast. I've been struggling though with building them a lattice or anything for them to hold onto. Hopefully I'll get some fruit out of them next year.

Hi guys, I was wondering whether anybody could help me. I purchased a Pitaya cutting from a seller in Portugal and brought it over to Cyprus where I live. The cutting was around 8 inches long and I potted it up with some normal potting compost and left it in the garden. About 4 weeks later the cutting has shot out a branch, about 2 inches above the soil level which is already longer than the original cutting. It's growing pretty much 90 degrees out from the trunk and if it gets any bigger the pot will topple. I don't know whether to prune the outgrowth and pot it up or leave it and support it indoors until the spring. We may get one or two light frosts through the winter in Cyprus and I don't want to plant it out until it is stronger and bigger. Any thoughts?

Martin

You can get more info on the Tropical Fruits forum - here is a thread I started recently when I finally got fruit.

When you do get flowers, you have a very short window of time to hand pollinate them in order to get fruit. Flowers open after dusk, and you must pollinate them before midnight. I pollinated mine at 9:30 and 10:30 - flowers that I pollinated later did not make fruit. The flowers stay open for a few hours in the morning, but by then it is way too late to pollinate them.

I do not have frost where I live, and so I cannot say anything about how they will react to that, but if it is a very light frost, I think they will survive. Your yard will have some areas that are warmer and some that are cooler than others. I use a thermometer gun to find out which areas of my yard are warmer and cooler. It seems to be warmer closer to the house and cooler in the center of the yard.

Martin

I think you need to build a trellis/support for it (also mentioned in posts in this thread). I just picked a random site showing many photos of these plants in pots - here-click me -

There is lots of info available, and you can get it googling 'growing pitaya (or dragon fruit) in containers'.

I have a plant, it is small (I keep cutting it, would gladly give it to someone that has a greenhouse) - but still too big for me an I could not get fruit; our winters get below -20*C...

edited to add: Lars just posted first hand tips as I was typing...

Last year I hand pollinated and things worked out nicely. This year I didn't and still got fruit from 2 of 3 flowers. Luckily I let the fruit ripe and then got to them before the mice.

If anyone in San Diego would like some cuttings then let me know very soon.

Thanks so much for your help Lars and rina. Very informative links. I guess I'll leave it in the pot for now and see which way the next shoot grows, surely that must be upwards!!

Joe, you got lucky with the flowers getting pollinated by insects (probably moths). I had five flowers this year, and the only one that made fruit was the one I hand pollinated in the evening. Two of them I tried pollinating in the morning, but by then it was too late. Does your fruit look red inside? Mine is white.

The one that has fruited two years in a row is white. I think I got the red kind as well but that has not fruited yet, so I'm not 100% positive it's red. I will fertilize soon and hope for the best next year.

BTW, where are you located?

I am writing a book about dragon fruit and needed subtiles and you gave me some thx :-)