Dragon Fruit

Dear Diary,
One day I was at the fruit market and even though I don't buy Dragon Fruit I noticed they were $20 a kilo and I thought wow they must be fantastic. I noticed that my nursery had the plant so I bought one and I've had it a few years now and today I noticed something really exciting. It's first tiny fruit had formed and I felt like opening a bottle of champagne I was so excited. Not because they are expensive but because it is such an unusual type of fruit for me to grow.
Anyway just thought I would share that with you.

Congratulations FS. I have never tasted the Dragon fruit but my brother was always tasting the cactus fruit, and the pads of the opuntias. Thanks for sharing. Colleen

The fruit looks nice but I find it bland and seedy.
My plant is trying to eat the house!
Good luck with it ...you may enjoy it.
It does look lovely ...let us know what you think of it.

I tried one from the supermarket and also found it quite bland and tasteless Chrissy. It was suggested that that was because it was a supermarket fruit, but from the sound of your post, perhaps not? I bought a red and a white plant from ebay and am yet to see fruit, but like yours they're trying to eat trees and structures at the moment.

I have a plant I've recently struck, but really don't know where to plant it. The ones I've seen grow so huge and heavy. Would be OK if I was on acreage I guess, but I'm not. Is there a secret to keeping them "tame"?

Karen

No ...
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/124842/
Check that out! Have a look at the cultivated one in there.
Many people train them over the brick walls of their homes.
Mine grows back as fast as I chop it!
Good luck!

Karen, somewhere around Nanango or thereabouts, there's a dragonfruit farm that we drive past on the way to visit hubby's family. They simply have them growing up poles. I read somewhere a couple of years ago that the main requirement of dragonfruit is that they need to climb a couple of metres or so before being allowed to hang downward, and it is the downward hanging pieces that bear fruit. Chrissy, does yours do that?

Chrissy, I couldn't get that link, but found some others. Looks simple enough, I think. Doesn't chopping it back limit the new fruit? I actually find them a bit bland, but don't mind dragon fruit. Expensive though, and hard to find too. Would be good if I could grow my own. Pam, the pole idea looks easy enough. I've seen them growing up trees. They are monstrous, and get too heavy for the tree, and you couldn't reach the fruit anyway.

Karen


This message was edited Jan 31, 2011 2:47 PM

Karen do you live anywhere near Chambers Flat? My sister lives there and has a huge one and I'm sure that you would be able to get some pieces to grow. Colleen

Colleen, Chambers Flat isn't far from here at all. However, I do have pieces I have struck, just still figuring out where to plant them.

Karen

I have mine in a hanging pot in the shade house at the moment but Will have to move it veerrry soon. Colleen

Well thank you so much for all that input. I cannot thank you enough for the comment that the downward fronds are the ones that have the fruit because that makes sense now and because of that I will now be able to get a lot more fruit.. wooohooo you are beautiful guys!
Just to let you know I have a small backyard and the fronds are trying to reach up to my garage roof and I was going to build a lattice contraption to help them but now I am going to let them hang down....I'll let you know how they taste asap.

Hi
I grow dragon fruit. it needs to be kept cut back to produce fruit. once they get too long as in climbing trees they stop flowering. The pic Dawnsong posted shows the best way to grow them, on a stump, hanging down. You don't want to let them reach the ground. They need full sun and plenty of space. Mine are sweet and delicious. currently got the white one fruiting. it's my red one that I cant wait to start fruiting, it taste better than the white one.

Wow......I learnt so much from you guys re growing dragon fruit.....and the photo tells it all. thank you. Boy....I know what to do with coconut tree stumps now. I bought fresh made dragon fruit juice on the street in Thailand and it was very nice. They just cut it up in chunks and put it in a blender.

Hi Stellamarina,
Now I know what to do with my dragon fruit. put it in the blender! Perfect!!
Thanks so much.

Just to let you know we did eat the dragon fruit. We looked on the internet at how to prepare & eat it. The internet said to cut it in half and then ease out each centre and it should come out in one piece. Which it did exactly as it said. It said the outer casing is just used as the bowl and cannot be eaten. The article said to chop it in cubes and put it back in the casing and serve as it is. We did that and honestly it was delicious and had a distinct taste of pears crossed with kiwi fruit. There were no seeds to speak of just little black specs which were the seeds. Maybe ours was so delicious because we ate it as soon as we picked it!

fruity sage isnt that a flower forming on yours?, not a fruit. Or did it flower already?
I have the yellow type of dragon fruit. Pitaya i think its called and its had 1 fruit on it but theres 3 more forming. This is the flowers and when they close and drop off the fruit starts growing at the base where the flower was..see the spikey bit.

I tend to agree with Gardengal. The Pitaya I have tried were a bit bland & a little bit of a let down. I happened to try the fruit of an Epiphylum the other day though & it was surprisingly sweet & fruity; a full on strawberry flavour like those erasers that used to be around when I was a kid. I am sure you know the ones. They smelled so good you wanted to eat them but unlike the Epi fruit, they didn't taste any good. A bit like a Pitaya come to think of it.