Flowering Pitaya: Dragonfruit

Mr. Krip · Jun 4, 2019

FLOWERING PITAYA CACTUS

The Pitaya flower opens at night and only stays open for about 16 hours. If it doesn't get pollinated in that time, no fruit. Natively, it would get pollinated by a bat, but since we don't have those here, I do it by hand with a paint brush.

The flower is enormous and quite beautiful and the fruit is mild, very tasty, and considered a "superfood".

These pics were taken over a two hour period as the flowers opened.

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Happy Harvests!

K

TysonOG · Jun 4, 2019

Wow, incredible. Thanks, now I have hours of more googling haha.

Lerugged · Jun 5, 2019

Mr. Krip said:
FLOWERING PITAYA CACTUS

The Pitaya flower opens at night and only stays open for about 16 hours. If it doesn't get pollinated in that time, no fruit. Natively, it would get pollinated by a bat, but since we don't have those here, I do it by hand with a paint brush.

The flower is enormous and quite beautiful and the fruit is mild, very tasty, and considered a "superfood".

These pics were taken over a two hour period as the flowers opened.

View media item 1685659
View media item 1685660
View media item 1685661
View media item 1685662
View media item 1685663
View media item 1685668
View media item 1685667
View media item 1685666
View media item 1685664
View media item 1685665
Happy Harvests!

K

That's beautiful MrK. Dragon fruit is tasty too. Thanks for sharing.

Neiko · Jun 5, 2019

Is it a high brix Pitaya? It's beautiful and very cool.

Doc Bud · Jun 5, 2019

Mr. Krip said:
FLOWERING PITAYA CACTUS

The Pitaya flower opens at night and only stays open for about 16 hours. If it doesn't get pollinated in that time, no fruit. Natively, it would get pollinated by a bat, but since we don't have those here, I do it by hand with a paint brush.

The flower is enormous and quite beautiful and the fruit is mild, very tasty, and considered a "superfood".

These pics were taken over a two hour period as the flowers opened.

View media item 1685659
View media item 1685660
View media item 1685661
View media item 1685662
View media item 1685663
View media item 1685668
View media item 1685667
View media item 1685666
View media item 1685664
View media item 1685665
Happy Harvests!

K

That is beautiful! High Brix soil??

Mr. Krip · Jun 5, 2019

No, it's not in HB soil. It's been in the ground for about 4-5 years now, but I do grow all my fruits & veggies organically and just top-dressed with some more Azomite & EWC yesterday, so, while I haven't measured the brix on any of the fruit, her numbers should be pretty good!

With all the $$$'s I've invested in growing, I probably should splurge the additional $15-$20 for a refractometer, at this point! :rofl:

irie lion · Jun 5, 2019

That is amazing brother. How many flowers does generally push at a time?

Mr. Krip · Jun 5, 2019

irie lion said:
That is amazing brother. How many flowers does generally push at a time?

Last night I had two open. The most I've had is about 8-10 open in one night.

irie lion · Jun 10, 2019

Successful pollination Mr Krip? :nomo:

Mr. Krip · Jun 11, 2019

irie lion said:
Successful pollination Mr Krip?

It's a little early to be certain, but I'm sure it was successful. I think the only time I was unable to successfully pollinate was when the flowers happened to bloom the night of a rainstorm! :rofl:

I will usually do 2-3 "rounds" of hand pollination during the night, just to be safe.

Here's what the flowers look like today:

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And, there's another 15-20 buds that have formed that should all bloom in the next three weeks. These buds go from fairly small to pretty big in a short period of time.

Here's what one week old buds look like:

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irie lion · Jun 11, 2019

Thanks for the update brother, that’s so interesting :ganjamon:

I’m going to have to get myself a seed or cutting of one of these :rofl:

how old is yours probably many years?

Mr. Krip · Jun 11, 2019

irie lion said:
Thanks for the update brother, that’s so interesting I’m going to have to get myself a seed or cutting of one of these how old is yours probably many years?

They grow quick! You can start one from a cutting and have fruit in a year, though it will likely only be one or two fruits. Mine is about 4-5 years old. Last year was the first "big" production year with over two dozen fruits. I read that a mature dragonfruit plant can produce something like 400 lbs. of fruit per year! :thedoubletake:

irie lion · Jun 11, 2019

Mr. Krip said:
a mature dragonfruit plant can produce something like 400 lbs. of fruit per year!

You’ll be farming dragonfruit in no time! :popcorn:

Mr. Krip · Jun 12, 2019

irie lion said:
You’ll be farming dragonfruit in no time!

LOL! I've got two Dragofruit and that's gonna be it, but I have something like 25 different species of edible tropical fruits & veggies, including Persimmons, Pomegranates, Jujubes, Carambola, Moringa, several varieties of figs, bananas, pineapples, grapes, and more. I try to grow as much of my own food as possible knowing what they put in our food supply! :rolleyes:

irie lion · Jun 12, 2019

We’re very much the same in that way brother, I try and grow as much food as possible - from the garden to the kitchen to my plate. :high-five:

Mr. Krip said:
I have something like 25 different species of edible tropical fruits & veggie

I recently moved houses towards the end of last year and I’ve had to start all over in the garden unfortunately. I won’t be doing any moving any time soon, so I’ll be investing loads into the garden over the next couple months :yahoo:

Mr. Krip · Jun 14, 2019

MORE DRAGONFRUIT BUDS

The dragonfruit has put out another 15+ buds in the last few days, in addition to the 15+ new buds last week. Here are some comparisons...

These buds are all less than 3 days, or so old:

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The fly in this pic gives a good size comparison:

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Here's some of the new buds next to the "new" buds from last week (now, about 10 days old):

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Here's a couple more 10 (or so) day old buds showing the drastic growth in just the last few days since the last set of pics:

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And, both pollinations look like they were successful. Here's one of the fruits forming:

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It looks like it's gonna be a good season this year! :yahoo:

Happy Harvests!

K

irie lion · Jun 14, 2019

Wow she’s giving you loads, those flowers grow incredibly quickly :hmmmm:

Mr. Krip · Jun 23, 2019

Mr. Krip · Jul 17, 2019

FIRST TWO DRAGONFRUIT HARVESTED!

Less than a month after flowering, the first two Dragonfruit were ready to harvest. Here's what they look like when mature.

Note: the brown "hairy" stuff hanging on the left side in the first pic is the dried up flower that hadn't fallen off, yet. Usually, the fall off within a week or two after blooming:

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Happy Harvests!

K

irie lion · Jul 18, 2019

Happy harvests brother Krip! Dragon Fruit is super nice - I love it in a fruit salad, sometimes just like that with some honey if I’ve got a sweet tooth, or i’ll throw it into the blender with some yoghurt for a smoothie :yummy:

Flowering Pitaya: Dragonfruit

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