dragon fruit cactus
Login
User Name
Password   


Registration is FREE. Click to become a member of OrchidBoard community
(You're NOT logged in)

menu menu

Sponsor
Donate Now
and become
Forum Supporter.

dragon fruit cactus
Many perks!
<...more...>


Sponsor
 

Google


Fauna Top Sites
Register dragon fruit cactus Members dragon fruit cactus dragon fruit cactus Today's Postsdragon fruit cactus dragon fruit cactus dragon fruit cactus
LOG IN/REGISTER TO CLOSE THIS ADVERTISEMENT
Go Back   Orchid Board - Most Complete Orchid Forum on the web ! > >
Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread Display Modes
  #1  
Old 08-21-2016, 12:37 PM
kindrag23 kindrag23 is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2013
Zone: 8a
Location: Texas
Age: 35
Posts: 2,966
dragon fruit cactus Female
Default dragon fruit cactus

So I have several pots of Dragon fruit cactus. I think my largest should produce fruit next year.

But it's growing so fast I can't keep it upright! A tomato cage is not heavy enough to keep it up right either. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 08-21-2016, 01:17 PM
No-Pro-mwa No-Pro-mwa is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2013
Zone: 4a
Location: Wyoming
Posts: 8,344
dragon fruit cactus Female
Default

I don't know what it is but I will tell you that the tomato cages you buy from the store won't hold up my tomatoes. My dear hubby makes them out of either woven sire or concrete wire. The concrete ones are the best. Hope that helps.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 08-21-2016, 01:19 PM
kindrag23 kindrag23 is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2013
Zone: 8a
Location: Texas
Age: 35
Posts: 2,966
dragon fruit cactus Female
Default

That does help. These grow really big and tall and between the birds landing on the cage and cactus as roots and the weight of the cactus they keep falling over.
Reply With Quote
Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes
Likes No-Pro-mwa liked this post
  #4  
Old 08-21-2016, 03:18 PM
estación seca's Avatar
estación seca estación seca is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jun 2015
Zone: 9b
Location: Phoenix AZ - Lower Sonoran Desert
Posts: 18,654
dragon fruit cactus Male
Default

They get very heavy, and they are vines. You would have to be very strong or have some kind of lift to move around a mature plant in a container with a trellis. Also you need to hand-pollinate most varieties, so the flowers need to be within reach.

For fruit production people build an umbrella-shaped trellis. The central column is an upright, 5 foot to 6 foot tall / 150 cm to 180cm, 4" x 4" / 10cm x 10cm piece of wood. On top they make a horizontal T with pieces of 2" x 4" board extending 4 feet / 120cm from the column.

Plant the plant at the base of the column. Train and tie the main stem up the column, pruning out side shoots (root the cuttings to sell), until it grows over the top of the trellis. Now let it flop over and make side shoots, and train them along the horizontal cross pieces.

In time the side shoots will lean on the older side shoots. You wind up with an umbrella made of dragon fruit cactus. They can dangle almost to the ground.

You can also train them on a trellis on a wall, but it needs to be extremely sturdy. We're talking iron rods screwed into a masonry wall, or a frame made of 2" x 4" boards. If you build it against a stucco wall, you're going to need to send screws into the upright framing boards behind the stucco.

If you get just a little frost, you can train them on a house wall, and in the winter cover the plant with frost cloth with an extension cord to an incandescent light bulb under the cloth.
__________________
May the bridges I've burned light my way.

Weather forecast for my neighborhood
Reply With Quote
Post Thanks / Like - 2 Likes
Likes kindrag23, No-Pro-mwa liked this post
  #5  
Old 08-21-2016, 03:37 PM
kindrag23 kindrag23 is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2013
Zone: 8a
Location: Texas
Age: 35
Posts: 2,966
dragon fruit cactus Female
Default

Awesome thanks! Estacion Seca! Mine is not that big yet and I have maybe another year before my biggest one is as tall as me and I am 5'6.

We get snow in the winter at least once I January/February usually. So I will have to figure something other with it then. I have like 4 small broken peices that are re-rooting and taking off. Do you know if these are prone to infection or disease? My 2nd largest plant is looking rather funny. It's starting to slowly turn a whitish color up the main stalk. But the biggest new branches are clear of it...
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 08-21-2016, 03:55 PM
estación seca's Avatar
estación seca estación seca is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jun 2015
Zone: 9b
Location: Phoenix AZ - Lower Sonoran Desert
Posts: 18,654
dragon fruit cactus Male
Default

This is one of the hardest to kill and easiest to bloom of all cacti, unless you let it freeze. It would be in the collection of everybody who likes cacti even a little bit - except it gets really big.

It's best to take cuttings from a natural constriction in the stem, but mid-stem cuttings will also root.

The surest way to root them is to stand the cuttings upright, right-side-up, on top of some soil in a pot. Don't bury them at all. Water when dry. They will root from the central vascular ring at the cut, and then you can plant them somewhere else, just an inch deeper.

You will probably need something to hold them upright while rooting. I often put an inch or two / 2-5cm of soil in the bottom of a 1-gallon / 3.78 liter nursery pot, and stand the cutting upright inside, letting it lean against the side of the pot for support.

The green skin eventually turns to whitish or light brown bark on older parts of the plant. That's normal, and happens with a lot of cacti.
__________________
May the bridges I've burned light my way.

Weather forecast for my neighborhood
Reply With Quote
Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes
Likes No-Pro-mwa liked this post
  #7  
Old 08-21-2016, 03:56 PM
kindrag23 kindrag23 is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2013
Zone: 8a
Location: Texas
Age: 35
Posts: 2,966
dragon fruit cactus Female
Default

THANKS! The cactus around my house don't do this so I was wondering.
Reply With Quote
Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes
Likes estación seca liked this post
  #8  
Old 08-21-2016, 04:29 PM
estación seca's Avatar
estación seca estación seca is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jun 2015
Zone: 9b
Location: Phoenix AZ - Lower Sonoran Desert
Posts: 18,654
dragon fruit cactus Male
Default

If you look at the bases of the prickly pears you will see the oldest parts turning a corky brown.
__________________
May the bridges I've burned light my way.

Weather forecast for my neighborhood
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 08-21-2016, 04:54 PM
kindrag23 kindrag23 is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2013
Zone: 8a
Location: Texas
Age: 35
Posts: 2,966
dragon fruit cactus Female
Default

Who knew? I don't get to close to the one outside by my house. It was the size of a extra large bush. I called it my cactus condominium. It housed many spiders and birds and other creatures.
Reply With Quote
Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes
Likes estación seca liked this post
  #10  
Old 08-21-2016, 08:32 PM
Leafmite's Avatar
Leafmite Leafmite is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Sep 2010
Zone: 5b
Location: Ohio
Posts: 10,953
dragon fruit cactus
Default

Logees, up in Connecticut grow these in their greenhouse. You could always see if they wrote an article or made a video on how they grow it. Just check their website. I have a small one, rescued from Lowe's. It was the bottom of a novelty grafting. I also have seedlings but they will be given away.
__________________
I decorate in green!
Reply With Quote
Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes
Likes estación seca liked this post
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
cactus, cage, dragon, fruit, upright


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
more cactus flowers and one more new cactus! NYCorchidman Off Topic - Totally 10 07-19-2013 02:46 PM
Cute little budded Cactus NYCorchidman Off Topic - Totally 11 06-18-2013 03:30 AM
Anybody know the correct name for this flowering cactus? cythaenopsis Off Topic - Totally 11 07-23-2012 12:39 AM
Some cactus in bloom EdinAZ Off Topic - Totally 2 07-04-2009 06:04 AM
Arizona "native" back yard - cactus blooms EdinAZ Off Topic - Totally 14 10-25-2008 01:28 AM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 09:49 AM.

© 2007 OrchidBoard.com
Search Engine Optimisation provided by DragonByte SEO v2.0.37 (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.
Feedback Buttons provided by Advanced Post Thanks / Like (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.

Clubs vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.