If you want to grow a plant that looks straight out of a Dr. Seuss book, growing Dragon Fruit should be at the top of your to-do list.
Dragon Fruit is a cactus that presents a beautiful yet strange-looking fruit. A bright pink scaly outside protects the soft fleshy inside that’s either pink or white and speckled with many tiny black seeds. The fruit, with it’s cheeky appearance, is crunchy with a sweet flavor that gives the average kiwi, watermelon, or pear a run for its money.
If the concept of sinking your teeth into the sweet flesh of a Dragon Fruit doesn’t kickstart a passion for growing it, the flowers might (or, should we say, will). Dragon Fruit flowers are stunning, large (20cm) orbs of color, yellowish green on the outside, and a bright-white lily-like flower when in full bloom. But, unfortunately, you’ll have to keep an eye on your flowering Dragon Fruit because the flowers are only open at night and last only one night!
While you can buy Dragon Fruit at the local grocery store or market, you may want to enjoy the rewarding process of growing the fruit for yourself. And you’ve come to just the place to get a few top instructions on how to grow Dragon Fruit – either by Seeds or by Cuttings.
Types Of Dragon Fruit
The good news is that while there are different varieties of Dragon Fruit, they all have similar growing requirements and the four main types are as follows:
Stenocereus
This almost dinosaur-sounding Dragon Fruit is also called “Sour Dragon Fruit” and grows best in dry regions. The seeds, which have a strong nut-like flavor, are edible.
Hylocereus / Selenicereus Undatus (White Dragon Fruit)
This variant is the most psychedelic in appearance, with bright pink skin and white flesh inside. This is the most common variant, with the largest fruit and a mild sweet flavor.
Pitaya Roja / Hylocereus Costaricensis (Red Dragon Fruit)
This variant has bright red skin and red flesh inside. While these have a sweeter flavor compared to the white one, they’re slightly less popular to some because they can stain your hands and mouth while you eat.
Pitaya Megalanthus / Hylocereus Megalanthus (Yellow Dragon Fruit)
This variant has yellow skin with white flesh inside. It is said to have the tastiest flavor among all.
Growing Dragon Fruit From Seeds
Growing Dragon Fruit from seed is simple, but keep in mind that it can take up to five years to bear fruit when planted from grocery store seeds.
Prepare The Soil
Choose a sunny spot (it must get at least 6 hours of sun per day). You can play directly into soil or in a container. Use well-draining potting soil that includes rich organic matter. While Dragon Fruit is a cactus, don’t use cactus soil as this particular fruit requires soil with better moisture retention.
Harvest The Dragon Fruit Seeds
Slice a Dragon Fruit in half and scoop out the black seeds in the fruit pulp. Using a bowl and water, wash the pulp off the seeds, placing seeds on a damp paper towel. Leave them to dry for around 12 hours.
Sprinkle The Dragon Fruit Seeds On The Soil
Instead of planting the seeds under the soil, sprinkle the seeds on the surface of the soil. Gather a hand of fresh potting soil and sprinkle it lightly over the seeds. Don’t cover them too deeply.
Moisten The Dragon Fruit Seeds
Using a spray bottle, mist the soil bed to make it moist. It’s important to keep the soil moist but not wet for several days until the Dragon Fruit seeds germinate. The time to germinate can be variable. Most sprout within 5 to 10 days, while others may take up to 30 days.
Transplant The Dragon Fruit Seedlings
Because you’ve sprinkled the tiny seeds, you may find them growing all on top of each other. When the seedlings are a few weeks old, you can start to thin/separate them and then transplant them into the garden bed or pots. If you’re growing Dragon Fruit straight in a garden bed, leave at least 20 inches between each plant. A potted Dragon Fruit will eventually need a 20-gallon pot to thrive.
Provide Support For Your Dragon Fruit Plant
The young Dragon Fruit plant will need some support when it reaches 12 inches in height. Dragon Fruit is a climbing cactus and will do best if you provide them with something to climb. For example, you can use wooden stakes or install a trellis for them to grow up.
Grow Dragon Fruit From Cuttings
If you have access to a mature Dragon Fruit plant, you can grow another plant from a cutting. Here’s how:
Prepare The Soil
Choose a sunny area with at least 6 hours of sun daily. You’ll need well-draining potting soil, whether growing the plant directly in a garden bed or a pot. Make sure the potting soil has rich organic matter.
Trim A Cutting From A Mature Dragon Fruit Plant
Use a sharp pair of garden shears to trim a branch from a well-established Dragon Fruit. Your curring should be no shorter than 12 inches long. Don’t take a longer strand, which could negatively impact the plant’s growth.
Decide How Many Dragon Fruit Plants You Want & Trim Your Cuttings Accordingly
Ideally, you only want to grow 4 – 5 plants from a 12-inch strand. Cut your cutting into 4 – 5 pieces – each piece will propagate a new Dragon Fruit plant. Mark the top or “up” side of each piece so that you plant the stem of your new plant the right way up.
Cure The Dragon Fruit Cuttings
Leave your pieces of cutting in a dry place that’s warm for 2 to 7 days. This allows the cut edges to heal. When the edges have turned white, it’s time to plant them.
Plant The Dragon Fruit Cuttings
Place each cutting into the soil, and remember to place them the right way up (the new plant must grow in the same direction as the original stem you cut it from). Push the stem at least two inches into the soil and press it firmly to ensure the surrounding soil supports them.
Water The Dragon Fruit Plant Cuttings
You can use a misting bottle or simply lightly water the soil around the plants. Keep the soil moist for at least 3 – 4 weeks without keeping it wet or soggy.
Transplanting Dragon Fruit Cuttings
After around a month, you can expect the roots to have grown and be well-established. You can now transplant the cuttings into bigger pots or a garden bed if you didn’t already plant them into the space they will be expected to grow in.
Provide Support For Your Dragon Fruit Plant
You can use a trellis or wooden stake to provide the creeping Dragon Fruit cactus something to creep on. You should provide support as soon as your plant reaches 12 inches in height.
Caring For Dragon Fruit Plants (General Maintenance)
You should apply a general maintenance schedule to ensure that you’re taking care of your Dragon Fruit plants correctly. Below are the top tips for maintaining your Dragon Fruit, so each plant thrives.
Watering Schedule For Dragon Fruit
Dragon Fruit are tropical fruit and need an environment that can mimic their original environment. Keep the soil moist without keeping it too wet (Dragon Fruit hate wet feet). Never let the soil completely dry out.
Pruning Dragon Fruit
Pruning dead, dying, diseased or overcrowded branches is a good way to ensure that your Dragon Fruit thrives and remains disease free. Pruning also ensures better airflow and keeps insects/pests at bay.
Fertilizing Dragon Fruit
Dragon Fruit plants are fairly hungry, but this makes sense when considering the zany flowers and fruit they develop. During the growing season, you must fertilize the plant as much as once per month. Look for Super bloom fertilizer. This is a low nitrogen fertilizer with a composition of 10-10 or 2-10-10. In addition, blooming Dragon Fruit can benefit from calcium and micronutrients.
Maintain Prime Temperature For Dragon Fruit Growing Success
Dragon Fruit may seem hardy, but they’re not. They don’t like getting too cold or too hot. They do best at temperatures between 32 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. 70 degrees is the best temperature for them to thrive at. When it gets cold, bring the plants indoors to protect them.
Be Kind To Dragon Fruit Pollinators
You may use hand pollination if you’re growing your Dragon Fruit plants indoors. If your plants are growing outdoors, remember that bats, bugs, and moths naturally pollinate them.
Conclusion
You can successfully grow Dragon Fruit from seeds or cuttings. How soon you want fruit will determine which growing method you choose. Growing Dragon Fruit from seeds will mean waiting at least 5 years to see fruit, whereas growing from cuttings will take 2 to 3 years. Following the steps above, you can get a headstart on growing your Dragon Fruit at home. While the process is long (to see fruit, that is), it’s certainly rewarding.
