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Wed, Aug 8, 07 at 14:45
| I bought cuttings of 4 different dragon fruit back in march. I put the cuttings in cactus mix and they have been getting water and part sun. But only one cutting is showing any sign of growth. The rest are still green, but no new growth! What am I doing wrong? What can I do better? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by shsing2000 9 so Cal (My Page) on Wed, Aug 8, 07 at 19:02
| As long as the cuttings are still firm and not shriveled or rotting, you should be fine. My cuttings showed no signs of growth for about 3-4 months before growing. Are the cuttings getting any sun? |
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- Posted by holedigger z10 Long beach (My Page) on Wed, Aug 8, 07 at 19:23
| I had them in morning sun/afternoon shade and just moved them to full sun a week ago.They look firm and green. |
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| Just my two cents here but I'm not sure the cactus mix is your best choice for soils. The DF is a tropical and even the soil should be treated as such. You might want to change over when you transplant the cuttings. Once they start going though, they don't stop! Good luck. |
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| If you have a tad of compost to add to your soil would be good. I don't think the cactus mix is a problem, but Jay is right about it being a tropical cactus. They can be watered quite regularly. You can foliar feed the green part of the plant and any epiphytic roots with a miracle grow type spray to help. My first cuttings grew much more quickly when I started watering way more often during dry times. Gary |
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| You may have gotten cuttings from the same source as I (EBay) and mined aren't growing either. All my other epis are rampant with growth. Mine are in a nice mix of organic garden soil, compost, perlite, ground bark and moss, and have been in the containers as long as yours. |
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- Posted by holedigger z10 Long beach (My Page) on Sat, Aug 18, 07 at 20:20
| Subuch, I did get mine from an Ebay seller. The type of each cutting was written on their sides with black felt tip pen. One of the four is growing, but I can no longer read its name. I may re-pot them all in a homemade tropical plant mix tomorrow. I have been watering them a lot over the past 2 weeks, but still nothing. Its funny you mention the Ebay seller. What would prevent them from growing? When I re-pot them I will see if there is any root growth. If not what should I do? Apply rootone? |
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| You really shouldn't have to apply rooting hormone to get them started but it couldn't hurt. I also got mine from ebay. Planted in a well drained soil (but richer than cactus soil) and kind of forgot about it. Don't recall how long it took to start growing. Guess it can be like waiting for water to boil--I wasn't watching the kettle though. I have a hunch your problem is heat related. Are you growing these as indoor plants? If you could get them outside in a nice sunny and warm location it should root. Or if you can supply extra heat inside for them ("bottom heat" is good in this regard). Good luck! |
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| any new growths yet holedigger? |
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- Posted by racor_2006 SoCal (My Page) on Tue, Aug 28, 07 at 13:28
| I have some Pitayas growing in pots right now and I have to say they have been putting lots of growth. I am still experimenting with sunlight/shade to see which is best for it. Different people seem to have differnt opnions on whar is better for the plant light or semi shade. Eggo, Do you have any fruits on your plants this year? |
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- Posted by holedigger z10 Long beach (My Page) on Tue, Aug 28, 07 at 18:02
| No new growth. I pulled 2 from their pots and they did have some roots but they looked brown and dead???? I am stumped. I will eventually transplant these suckers into some orchid mix, or a homemade version I have had success with. The one that is growing (marked "purple"?) isn't exactly "taking off". We recently did a backyard re-do and I potted over 60 plants to avoid destruction and I have been slowly putting them back into the landscape. These pesky dragonfruit will have to wait until the others are situated before they get my undivided attention. I was hoping that getting four cuttings would put the odds in my favor. The person I bought them from suggested cactus mix and partial shade.I hope a rich potting mix and more sun will get these going. I am also going to put them in pots on the concrete deck and see if some bottom heat helps. |
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- Posted by racor_2006 SoCal (My Page) on Tue, Aug 28, 07 at 18:37
| Holedigger, I have one of mine in Supersoil Cactus mix but I'm not happy with the results. It dries out faster than the ones I have in Miracle Gro soil mix. It seems that cactus mix does not have enough nutrients. After all, Dragon fruits are not your typical desert cactus. They are tropical and require more water and nutrients than regular succulents. |
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| Racor is correct avoid a cactus mix as it drains too quickly and holds no water while at the same time lacks any nutrients for this type of tropical cactus. The best results I've seen with dragonfruits was a mixture of bark, steer manure, and potting soil. I think it really seems to like the mixture of bark into them so I think your orchid mix may do well but you may want to add some nutrients into your mix. Bottom heat is great but avoid too much direct sunlight, until it gets really establish(and even then) too much sun can cause what will look like brown spots, yellowing, and rotting of the limbs. |
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- Posted by holedigger z10 Long beach (My Page) on Wed, Aug 29, 07 at 11:28
| Well, I was puttering around the garden last night and decided to re-pot some of the cuttings. The mix I used was 1/3 peat, 1/3 moisture retentive potting soil and 1/3 crushed bark. I put them in an east facing border that receives morning sun and afternoon shade, and gets water 3x per wk. |
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| A local had the same problem. Turns out they need full sun in non hot climates.Even my Hayward neighbors have a large "grove" of Dragonfruit in full all day sun. Amazing that these epi relatives have sent out branches through the cracks of a dividing wooden fence-and look great despite the blazing reflected heat. No,these are not your mom's shade Epi's |
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  Part of the neighbors Dragons. Last year they had quite a few too. |
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- Posted by earth.water.air (My Page) on Thu, Sep 20, 07 at 5:47
| has any one grew them from seed before? any advices, how long does it take them to fruit if grown from seed? |
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- Posted by loquat_squat (My Page) on Fri, Aug 22, 08 at 23:39
| i have transplanted into black container with 75% perlite....its under a plum tree and gets filtered light and shade. My yard is windy and CRAZY SUNNY. its been a month and a half....nothing......bought it from ebay.... sigh.... i looked at it this morning, seems like the tops where it was cut is getting a little dark...looks kinda like fungus...not sure..... any tips?
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| They look fine. Be patient! If they were dead or dying, it would be very obvious. |
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| Earth, there are many breeders in California that has been growing dragonfruit from seeds. However they are trying to obtain new varieties and flavor. I would not recommend growing them that way though, its easy to get cuttings so why not go that route. Growing from cuttting takes 1 1/2 to 2 yrs for it to fruit. I would expect a seedling will take 4 yrs at least(?) loquat, yeh, be patient and it will start going when its ready. I recommend an area that gets sun but not the very hot afternoon 12'o'clock, right on top of your head, 90 degree sun. Side of the houses usually provide some protection. Either that or use some shade cloth. |
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- Posted by kamiljablo 6 (My Page) on Wed, Oct 15, 08 at 16:04
| I just bought 6 dragon fruit cuttings off ebay, and i do not know how to root them, can any one help? |
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| 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. |
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- Posted by tomatozilla 10 (My Page) on Sun, Nov 23, 08 at 10:25
| 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. |
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- Posted by trianglejohn z7b NC (johnbuettner@hotmail.com) on Mon, Dec 1, 08 at 13:17
| 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. |
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- Posted by bluespiritartist 5 (My Page) on Wed, Feb 4, 09 at 9:26
| 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. |
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| 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. |
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- Posted by babybuttoneyes 9 (My Page) on Fri, Sep 24, 10 at 19:19
| 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. |
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- Posted by Steven Mehler 33033(e_bloomer@yahoo.com) onSun, Jul 31, 11 at 3:10
| 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? |
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- Posted by wizzard419 none (My Page) on Sun, Jul 31, 11 at 16:22
| 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. |
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| 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? |
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| 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. |
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- Posted by wizzard419 none (My Page) on Fri, Nov 25, 11 at 17:57
| 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. |
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| 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? |
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- Posted by wizzard419 none (My Page) on Fri, Jan 27, 12 at 16:50
| It might be still building it's root structure out before it proceeds. |
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| 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. |
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- Posted by manninga22 8a (My Page) on Mon, Mar 19, 12 at 22:13
| 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. |
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- Posted by wizzard419 none (My Page) on Sat, Mar 24, 12 at 14:18
| You could grow it in the soil, but you're just overpaying since they literally grow in anything short of lava and ice. |
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- Posted by conniesr (connie_rash49@yahoo.com) on Thu, Jul 12, 12 at 0:50
| 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 |
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- Posted by LittleVietGarden none (My Page) on Mon, Feb 11, 13 at 7:34
| Hi to all the people who is asking about how to grow. It easy but people out their which are farmer don't want to show you. 1st growing dragon from seed is a NO. growing from cutting which buying it from ebay seller is NO!!!! why because they will sell you cutting that so small, that take years and years and years before the plants reach to the top of the pole, then take year again before new plant start to grow, Dragon fruit to fruit when the plant start to over hang. HOw to grow: make a pole at about 1.2 to 1.5 meter from the ground and make a square on top of the pole 1st have a cutting from 500m to 1meter or over, the longer the better. 2/ place the flat side of the plants against the pole and tried it, the flat side is where the root will grow 3/ once you've done that top up with garden soil & cow compost.then water it. water it every day but don't over water it as the plant it self is like water from the inside. they love the sun. In winter should water it only 2 or 3 times a week in the morning. only water it in the center where the pole is. should see some growth in it after 1 month or 2 once small plants start to grow, look and see how many small one start to grow.e..g if there's 3 growing cut away the 2 smallest one. keep doing it until they start to grow as over hang, once it start to over hanging, see if there more small one growing, cut away the smallest one leave 2 behind. buy doing this the plant will not over grow and when just winter is end top in cow compost. a month later you should see little bud( small round very lite in yellow colur) that's the bud of the dragon fruit. once that start any small stem start to grow just cut it. you only leave new stem after the fruit season. here is the photo of my 2 years old plant |
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- Posted by brandon1971 none (My Page) on Sun, Mar 24, 13 at 19:34
| 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 |
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| 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 |
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- Posted by conniesr49 none (My Page) on Tue, Apr 2, 13 at 19:04
| 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. |
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| 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: photo of the hanging basket set-up
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- Posted by LittleVietGarden none (My Page) on Mon, Apr 22, 13 at 20:39
| 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 gơd idea to plant dragon fruit in a hanging basket like that at all |
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| Ah sorry my bad. It was linked in a post that identified it as dragon fruit, so I assumed xD |
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- Posted by brandon1971 none (fdci1@aol.com) on Tue, May 21, 13 at 9:00
| 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. |
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- Posted by brandon1971 none (fdci1@aol.com) on Tue, May 21, 13 at 10:53
| A better pik of my Halley's Comet dragon fruit after snipping off the end. 11 new buds within days. Ft Myers |
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- Posted by brandon1971 none (fdci1@aol.com) on Tue, May 21, 13 at 10:55
| Better pik |
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- Posted by brandon1971 none (fdci1@aol.com) on Sun, May 26, 13 at 12:43
| Amazing. |
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