Has anyone tried growing this? Dragon Fruit

Andy P

Has anyone tried growing this? Dragon Fruit

Post by Andy P »

I visited Vietnam about a year ago and discovered a very exotic fruit they have there called `Than long` or Dragon fruit. It grows on a cactus plant that they farm out there. I obtained some seeds and thought i`d give it a try growing some.
Anyone else had any experience at growing these?
Andy
Attachments
Dragon fruit cactus
Dragon fruit cactus
2011-09-08 19.55.34.jpg
Last edited by Andy P on Sat Aug 18, 2012 8:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
grub

Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by grub »

Never grown them Andy but seed are easy and cheap in Tesco :lol:
Andy P

Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by Andy P »

Hi Grub. Yer i actually got my seeds from one i bought in Sainsburys but they don`t seem to sell them there anymore. They`re grown all over Vietnam and Thailand. Thought it might be a bit of a challenge to try and get one to grow big enough to fruit in the uk. Love a challenge!! :lol:
Andy
Troppoz

Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by Troppoz »

Andy they are a climbing cactus and can grow many metres up trees. Be prepared to offer it a good amount of space if you hope for it to fruit.

Do you know if its the pink or the white fleshed variety? IMO the pink is superior a bit like a kiwifruit with a subtle strawberry flavour, while the white one just tastes like a cactus, watery and bland...

The flowers can be nice and showy as well, long droopy white petals and stamens. I think they only open at night and are pollinated by moths.

Good luck!

Sean
Andy P

Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by Andy P »

From what i remember Troppoz it`s the white fleshed veriety. I saw acres and acres of them growing on farms whilst i was in Vietnam. They train them to grow up wooden structures. (as i am doing) Most of the ones i saw out there in full fruit were around 8 to ten feet tall with dozens of fruits on them, so yes, i think if it survives i`m going to have to give it plenty of space. Like you said - they only flower at night and are pollinated by moths and bats. I actually have both in abundance in my garden during the summer months so who knows ... maybe i can get them to fruit, but i think that`s a good few years away yet.
Vagetarian

Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by Vagetarian »

I've got one of these from Sainsburys fruit seeds, very easy to grow and I think it's surprisingly fast for a cactus (although the only one I've ever grown).

It might flower after it's reached about 10lbs or more in weight!
Trudytropics

Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by Trudytropics »

You learn something new every day, had no idea dragon fruit grew on cactus, good luck with it Andy, the fruits are apparently delicious, though I have never tried. icon_thumleft
Vagetarian

Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by Vagetarian »

Trudy, don't get your hopes up. The supermarket fruits are absolutely tasteless! I only bothered to eat half of mine and that was mostly just because it wasn't cheap, lol.

I've read that if allowed to ripen on the plant properly they can be very nice but I think I'll take Troppoz' word as he is so much closer to where they are cultivated, maybe I'll mail order some pink fleshed seeds.
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JoelR
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Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by JoelR »

Impressive Andy! How old is your plant? If it's under a year old it's very fast for a cactus. My Opuntia seedlings are 1 and 2 years old but it might be another 8 or 9 years before I get prickly pears. I have a 50 year old Soehrensia formosa which flowers every year but I could expect to wait 25 years for a first flower if I grew it from seed. The way to cheat is to acquire cuttings from mature plants.
Trudytropics

Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by Trudytropics »

Vagetarian thats disappointing, admittedly have bought different fruits myself at times and ate them even if not very nice, not wanting to waste money. I had read Dragon Fruit tastes like a cross between a kiwi and a pear, but I believe there are 3 varieties, perhaps some are nicer than others. Hope Andy has the tastier variety :lol:
Andy P

Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by Andy P »

The one in the pic is about a year old from seed now. I`ve had it growing in my conservatory which reaches 40 degrees quite often on a sunny day. It`s true, the ones i bought from sainsburys were small, pretty shrivelled and totally tasteless although the ones i ate in Vietnam were delicious. I presume they`re only really tasty when they`re fresh off the plant.
Andy
callin

Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by callin »

Hello Andy,
Three months ago, may be four icon_scratch I bought a dragon fruit from supermarket, it was the pink flesh type, it was not so tasty, not at all.
I colected some seeds and threw them in a transparent donut box half filled with moist perlite. put them in the kitchen on top of refrigerator...the results untill now are this....
Attachments
IMG_7687.jpg
IMG_7691.jpg
callin

Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by callin »

Dont know much about this plant . Do you think i should separate them and move in bigger pots?
Andy P

Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by Andy P »

Lookin good Callin :DD If i were you i`d leave them in the same pot for now. There`s a good chance u`ll harm them if you try to move them at this stage. I`ve learnt that they have very little in the way of a root system and until they are quite a bit bigger and start to push out much larger stems ( not sure that`s the right word) they`re incredibly delicate and easily killed.
I`d put a tad more soil in there - up to the bottom of the first set of leaves and a support ( something like a wooden lolly stick to start off with ) or u`ll soon find that they fall over. If you allow them to fall over into the soil they`ll just rot.
Good Luck with them. Keep me posted how they`re getting along. icon_cheers
Andy
callin

Re: Has anyone tried growing this?

Post by callin »

Hi Andy,
Just want to post an update photo of my dragon fruit seedlings.
Compared to yours they seem to be a different kind. How is yours?
dragon fruit.jpg
Last edited by callin on Tue Apr 03, 2012 9:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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