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Dragon Fruit

synclinorium

synclinorium

I was just curious if anyone else on the forums is currently growing dragon fruit. I saw a couple older threads that mentioned it, but I figured I could start another- because I know how much I need yet another project plant.

Just received it in the mail today. Its root system isn't quite as developed as I'd've liked, and someone in the postal service seriously abused the package to the point that the cutting itself was damaged, so I've employed a posture-corrective bamboo stake while it recovers. I think the variety was listed as 'American Beauty.'

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And just on the topic of non-chili plants, my Meyer lemon is doing very well. I planted this earlier in the year, and it was just a 5 inch nub at the time; all of the growth is new.

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yea man! I have some little baby seedlings at my house right now. Yours is much bigger than mine though!
 
Here's mine.
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Don't worry, your American Beauty will survive. Cuttings are tough to kill. Remember to keep it moist and it will grow fast. When yours gets bigger, maybe we can trade cuttings.
 
thaichillihead said:
Don't worry, your American Beauty will survive. Cuttings are tough to kill. Remember to keep it moist and it will grow fast. When yours gets bigger, maybe we can trade cuttings.
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Sounds good... though I don't exactly live in a climate where I can grow it outdoors year round, so I'm probably going to need to think of a way to keep it more compact... or at least under control.
 
Nice looking plants. My Meyer Lemon tree has a similar thing going on where about half the leaves are dark green and curling downward slightly, and the other half are straighter and lighter green. I wonder what the reason for that is...
 
Avon Barksdale said:
Nice looking plants. My Meyer Lemon tree has a similar thing going on where about half the leaves are dark green and curling downward slightly, and the other half are straighter and lighter green. I wonder what the reason for that is...
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The first flush of growth was the same way for a while, but then it darkened up and acquired a slight curl just before the next flush. As far as I can tell the plant is healthy.
 
synclinorium said:
The first flush of growth was the same way for a while, but then it darkened up and acquired a slight curl just before the next flush. As far as I can tell the plant is healthy.
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When I got mine, all the foliage was dark and slightly curled, and all the new growth since has been the lighter kind. I agree I don't think it's anything bad or anything to worry about, just interesting.
 
Trying to think up a support system that I can put into a large container that is also relatively lightweight so I don't kill myself moving it in and out of the house come winter.

Looking around I found drain pipe at Lowes that seems fairly durable but isn't terribly dense, as well as what looks like wall attachments/caps with screwholes. I think I can rig up something that attaches to a sturdy base (if not the pot itself), as well as a support structure up top when I get to that point. I'm thinking I'll probably drill a bunch of holes in the pipe, wrap it in burlap and fill it with some lightweight potting materials (coco coir, perlite, etc.) so that the epiphytic roots have something to grow into and I can feed them periodically with diluted ferts by pouring it into the opening at the top of the pipe, which should in theory soak into the burlap through the openings.

I'll post pictures if any of this comes to fruition. I've been trying to locate those large round sturdy plastic storage totes with the rope handles, but the only ones I've been able to find seem rather flimsy. If anyone else has ideas for pots, I'm open to suggestions. I'm probably going with something around 12-15 gallons in size.
 
Question... as far as finding an appropriate container is concerned, I thought about it and I doubt the plastic tubs are appropriate. I doubt they're UV protected, so I imagine they would rapidly break down once exposed to the elements.

Anyone have ideas for (relatively) lightweight planter that can be moved at least twice a year?
 
Had a thought. Anyone try planting in a large, rigid plastic garbage can? I mean, they're built to last outdoors, and many models have wheels in the back, which would help with moving them around... not the most glamorous solution, but, removing the top portion of the pail would still leave a decent sized container.

EDIT: Nevermind, the garbage containers aren't nearly as sturdy as I thought. Might work as a semi-permanent placement (ie, seasonal usage), but as far as moving it in and out of the house, probably not.
 
Got another cutting in the mail today... Vietnamese Red. Still waiting on a Purple Haze cutting. I think, for the time being anyway, I'm going to plant them all in the same container... I know ideally they'd all have their own 15 gallon pots, but I definitely don't have the space. I think I'll just see which of them grow best, as they're all supposed to be self-fertile, and if I can get them to survive the winter then I'll think about a more permanent placement.

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Ran across this at the hardware store today, almost perfect in terms of what I'm looking for. Fits 3 and 4 inch pipes, and has drain holes at the bottom. Only problem is it's about 12 and a half inches in its longest dimension, which is wider than any 5 or 7 gallon bucket I've run across... I'll keep searching, or otherwise shave off some material from the corners.

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I'm kind of making this up as I go along, but anyway, the plan would be to drill holes through the bottom of one bucket into this base to allow bolts to be attached on the bottom, affixing the support structure to the center of the bucket. The PVC pipe (riddled with large holes, wrapped in burlap, and threaded with secondary pvc to create a sort of trellis) would be affixed to the base, as well as threading a couple smaller pvc pipes near the lip of the bucket to further secure the main support. Finally the main pipe would be filled with a lightweight potting material to allow the aerial roots to attach themselves to the main support.

In theory, this should allow me to carefully remove the support and soil as one unit, once the roots have worked their way into the main pipe and become somewhat rootbound it should hold together fairly well, the wide bottom allowing the entire mass to be lifted out in the event of potting up. In the winter I can place the entire structure inside a second bucket to create a self-irrigating planter of sorts.

In practice, I don't know how well this will actually work, and this is going to be top heavy, at least until the dragon fruit is potted up into their final large container... someday. Intermittently I'll probably need to secure the structure to prevent it from toppling.
 
thaichillihead said:
Here's mine.
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Don't worry, your American Beauty will survive. Cuttings are tough to kill. Remember to keep it moist and it will grow fast. When yours gets bigger, maybe we can trade cuttings.
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Wow, never seen one look like that.
When I moved into the last house, under all the overgrown trees, vines and grass, down behind the shed, I found a tray full of gravel and a few pots all full of cacti. The house was a rental previously and the owner must of them there 8 years before I moved in (previous tenants to me didn't do anything to the garden for 8 years).

I re-potted some of them and looked after them for the 3 years I lived there, but left most behind when I moved last year including one of them. I should have kept it because the ones I did take care of more and have here with me now were Echinopsis cinnabarina and one that looks like a Agujilla which are pretty boring to the picture of the dragonfruit
 
Novacastrian said:
Are there many edible and fast growing cacti?
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Edibles? many! some are so delicious you won't even believe it came off a cacti.
Fast growing? eh... not so much. you could always graft slow growing cacti onto fast growing cacti and get some "early fruit".
 
Obviously there's the Opuntia species (O. ficus-indica, O. littoralis etc...). Cereus repandus has excellent fruits. Hylocereus species mentioned above (H. megalanthus, H. undatus etc...). Stenocereus species (S. thurberi, S. queretaroensis etc...). Selenicereus species (S. validus, S. vagans etc...).
 
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