Dragon fruit plants can be a fascinating addition to any garden. They’re cactus-like with a twisty patchwork of vines and delicious pink fruit!
They need a lot of light and can grow well in hot, humid climates. However, you’ll want to make sure your plant gets a consistent amount of water. Excessive watering can cause root rot, as can over-fertilization.
Planting
Dragon fruit plant seeds need a warm, humid environment to germinate. If you live in cooler zones, it might be easier to grow them from cuttings or seedlings.
When you plant your dragon fruit, choose a spot that receives 6 to 8 hours of sunlight daily. It also likes well-draining, sandy soil.
Once your seeds have germinated, transplant them into deep trays or pots. Use potting compost to cover the seeds.
Water them constantly and keep the soil moist. Avoid overwatering, which can lead to rotting stems.
As a climbing cactus, dragon fruit plants require support when they become mature. A trellis or something else that it can climb on works well.
Watering
The dragon fruit plant – also known as pitaya, hylocereus undatus, and cactus pitaya – needs plenty of water to thrive. It likes a moist, but not soggy, soil that never dries out.
You can grow a dragon fruit plant from seeds, but it’s also possible to propagate a new plant by taking cuttings from mature plants. Start with a piece of stem that’s at least 12 inches long.
When ready to begin, place the cutting in a pot of well-draining potting soil, burying two inches of stem under the soil. Keep the substrate moist but not soaked, and rooting should occur within 2-4 weeks.
Fertilizing
Dragon fruit plants need plenty of fertilizer to thrive, especially during their initial growth stages and flowering and fruiting seasons. To help your plant achieve this, add balanced granular fertilizer every month when planting indoors or every couple of months during outdoor in-ground planting.
To propagate from cuttings, cut a 30-50 cm segment from the base of a healthy plant. Place the cutting in a free-draining soil mix and allow it to develop callus at the end.
Once the cutting has formed roots, pot it up and place in a sunny location. Water the pot regularly and feed with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser. Once your dragon fruit plant is established, it should produce 20 to 60 pounds of fruit per year.
Pruning
Dragon fruit plants are a great addition to any garden or tropical motif, with their beautiful white flowers and dense, juicy fruits. They’re also self-fertile, meaning that a single plant will yield plenty of fruit.
If you want to expand your dragon fruit crop, it’s important to prune off dead or dying stems. This can help control fungal and insect growth, as well as encourage more prolific flowering.
Pruning also helps keep dragon fruit plants manageable and makes them easier to train to climb up a trellis. Use pruning scissors to cut back any overgrown branches that are too long for your trellis or have become tangled in the center of the plant.
After trimming, spread a layer of compost over the base of your plant and water it in. Add Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser every spring and summer to nourish the roots and help your dragon fruit grow and flourish.
Harvesting
If you’re growing a dragon fruit plant as a houseplant, you can harvest the seeds from mature plants to start new ones. These seeds can be germinated in a tray of moist soil, and then planted into a larger pot with well-draining potting soil that contains organic matter.
You can also propagate dragon fruit from cuttings that you trim from an established plant. To do this, use garden shears to carefully cut a twelve-inch branch from the plant.
The tips of each cutting should turn white after curing, which can take from two days to one week. When you’re ready to plant the cuttings, place each base an inch or so under the soil surface, then press the soil around it to keep it upright.