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annaam

new to dragonfruit, help!

annaam
9 years ago

Hello everyone!
A few days ago for my birthday I acquired a dragonfruit cactus. I love the fruit, I love plants, just finally put the two together. I've done a little bit of research, everything I've seen guides one stem up a stick or support of some sorts, then trims the top to promote sprouts...my dilemma is this: my plant came in a 10 inch hanging pot and the plant itself is almost...bushy? I attached a picture. Girl at the nursery said to not repot it into anything bigger than a 12 inch pot. I am so, very confused why this one came in a hanging pot and if it will do any harm to re pot it in a non hanging container. Will it bloom if it's hanging? I have some organic soil and some perlite since I read they love it. I'm kind of at a loss on what to do with it (2 separate pots maybe?), I don't want to harm it though, any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

Comments (8)

  • sapote
    9 years ago

    Hanging a Dragon is a crime!!! (of course you can do this as you wish.)

    I would think in this form the plant was trained for flowers value, not fruits. Those flowers are striking beautiful though, but you can get to enjoy both flowers and fruits too, by repot it into a big pot placed on ground level (can't hang a 50lbs pot).

    Repot it the way you had learned and prune off all other branches except one or two main strong ones, and train them to go up about 5 ft or whatever height your support structure offers, then cut off the top to force it branches out as a T. Only those one or two years old horizontal or whip down branches will have flowers and fruits, the vertical ones rarely produce any flower buds.

    Sapote

  • annaam
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you so much!! This cleared up a lot of confusion for me! I didn't think it was supposed to be hanging either x) do you think it would be best to repot this in multiple pots? or just prune away at it?
    Thank you again!

    Anna

  • sapote
    9 years ago

    Anna,

    If you want more fruits and have space for it, then you can plant those cuts in their own pots. Important: the easiest way to kill the plants is to over water. they love full sun. They do very well in Maui island -- full sun, volcano rocks soil for fast drainage and quick rains.

    BTw, is that Concord grape vine below the hanging Dragon?

    Good luck.

  • Nguy
    9 years ago

    Hi Anna,
    I also think this dragon fruit variety is trained for flowers as Sapote mentioned. I have seen several varieties only produce flowers and never produce fruits. I have some friends in Orange County have some kinds of dragon fruit like this one. They had tried to do hand-pollination but the plants never produce fruits. So don't surprise if your plant doesn't produce fruits.

    Nguy

  • annaam
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yes, that is a concord grape vine, my first year with grapes, they seem to be doing well (very yummy). So, a few days ago I couldn't stand the plant being in such a tiny pot so I did this (see picture); now I'm really nervous about it only being a flower dragon and not a fruit one...the girl at the nursery seemed kind of confused on that one..but I googled the species and they say both are possible...eep! I paid a pretty penny for it too. But here's what I did...still scared to prune them...I know I need to...also, a lot of the parts had airial roots so I stuck them in some separate pots.

  • sapote
    9 years ago

    Anna,

    I think the pots are too small for fruiting. I would use at least 24" dia pots.

  • annaam
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thank you! I need all the input I can get!! I really want to do this correctly! So all input is greatly appreciated :D I also invested in a 200watt bulb with a reflector for the winter, because in oregon our season is just too short. Do you guys think I'd be better off splitting them into more pots, or pruning away? If I prune, should I leave just one or a few? Thanks so much again!!

  • sapote
    9 years ago

    I think you should try to keep just two big pots and see if they will give fruits. Each pot I would keep two plants and discard the rest. Are you planning to have the 200w light ON 24/7 during winter, for fruiting or to keep them alive? That's a lot of power. If it's not freezing outside then I would just leave the pots out on the south facing wall with overhead protection and they will be fine.