Have you ever seen a dragon fruit at the grocery store? With its shocking pink skin and green scales, it looks like something from another planet. But what if I told you that you could grow this strange and wonderful fruit right in your own backyard or on your patio? This guide will show you everything you need to know about how to plant dragon fruit, a surprisingly easy and incredibly rewarding project.
Dragon fruit, also known as pitaya, is actually a type of climbing cactus. It produces spectacular, night-blooming flowers and delicious, healthy fruit. We’ll walk through every simple step, from choosing your plant to building a support trellis and harvesting your first amazing fruit. Let’s get ready to grow something truly exotic!
The Magical World of Dragon Fruit: Picking Your Variety
Before you start, it’s fun to know that there’s more than one type of dragon fruit. The main difference is the color of the flesh and the skin, which also affects the flavor.
- Hylocereus undatus (White-Fleshed): This is the most common variety you’ll see in stores. It has bright pink skin and white flesh with tiny black seeds. The flavor is mild, sweet, and refreshing. This is a great variety for beginners.
- Hylocereus costaricensis (Red- or Pink-Fleshed): These varieties have pink skin and beautiful magenta or deep red flesh. They tend to have a richer, slightly deeper flavor than the white-fleshed types.
- Hylocereus megalanthus (Yellow-Fleshed): This variety has bright yellow skin with larger scales and white flesh. It is often considered the sweetest and most flavorful of all dragon fruits.
Many of the most delicious varieties are self-sterile, meaning they need pollen from a different dragon fruit variety to produce fruit. If you only have space for one plant, it’s very important to choose a self-fertile or self-pollinating variety. ‘American Beauty’ is a popular and reliable self-fertile choice.
Seeds vs. Cuttings: The Best Way to Start
You can grow dragon fruit from the seeds you find inside the fruit, but it’s not the recommended method. A plant grown from seed can take 5 to 7 years to produce fruit, and it might not be the same quality as the parent fruit.
The absolute best way to start is by planting a cutting.
- A cutting is simply a piece of an existing, mature dragon fruit cactus.
- A plant grown from a cutting will grow much faster and can start producing fruit in as little as 1 to 3 years.
- It is a clone of the parent plant, so you know exactly what kind of fruit you will get.
You can often find cuttings for sale online or at specialty nurseries. Look for cuttings that are at least 6-12 inches long.
[Amazon Product: Set of 3 Live Dragon Fruit Cuttings – Mixed Varieties
“Curing” Your Cutting: The First Crucial Step
Once you have your cutting, you can’t just stick it in the soil. You must “cure” it first. This is a simple but vital step to prevent rot.
- What to do: Just take your cutting and place it in a cool, dry, shady spot (like your garage or a covered porch) for about 5-7 days.
- What it does: This allows the cut end to dry out and form a hard “callus.” This protective callus will prevent the cutting from absorbing too much water and rotting when you plant it.
- You will know it’s ready when the cut end is dry and hard to the touch.
The Most Important Piece of Equipment: A Strong Trellis
This is not optional. Dragon fruit is a vining cactus. It has aerial roots that it uses to climb, and it needs something very strong to grab onto and support its heavy, fruit-bearing branches. You must have your support system in place before you plant.
A mature dragon fruit plant can get very heavy, weighing hundreds of pounds. A flimsy tomato cage will not work. You need a permanent, heavy-duty structure.
The “Post and Wheel” Trellis
This is the standard method used by commercial growers and is the most effective design.
- The Post: Use a sturdy 4×4 or 6×6 wooden post or a thick metal pole. It should be at least 8-10 feet long.
- Set it in Concrete: Dig a hole at least 2 feet deep and set the post in concrete. You want about 5-6 feet of the post to be above ground.
- The Top: Attach a strong, cross-shaped structure to the top of the post. This can be made from wood, rebar, or even an old bicycle wheel rim.
- The Idea: You will train the dragon fruit cactus to grow up the post. When it reaches the top, the branches will arch over and cascade down from the top structure like a living umbrella. This is where the fruit will form.
[Amazon Product: Heavy-Duty 4×4 Post Anchor Kit]
How to Plant Dragon Fruit: Step-by-Step Instructions
Your trellis is ready, and your cutting is cured. It’s time to plant!
Choosing the Right Location and Soil
- Sunlight: Dragon fruit needs at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day to produce fruit. Choose the sunniest spot you have.
- Soil: This is a cactus, so it absolutely needs well-draining soil. Heavy clay soil that holds water will cause root rot.
- Creating the Perfect Soil: If your soil is heavy, it’s best to create a raised mound or bed around the base of your trellis. A great mix is:
- 50% high-quality sandy soil or native soil
- 50% organic compost or aged manure
- This creates a rich but well-draining environment that the roots will love.
[Amazon Product: Premium Sandy Loam Soil for Cacti & Succulents]
Planting Your Cutting
- Dig a Shallow Hole: Next to the base of your trellis post, dig a small, shallow hole that is about 3-4 inches deep.
- Add Nutrients: Toss a small handful of bone meal or a balanced organic fertilizer into the bottom of the hole.
- Place the Cutting: Take your cured cutting and place it in the hole. Plant it only 1-2 inches deep. Planting too deep is a common mistake that can lead to rot.
- Important: Make sure the flat side of the cactus cutting is facing the post. This is the side where the aerial roots will grow, and you want them to be able to grab onto the post.
- Backfill and Secure: Fill the hole with soil and gently pat it down. Loosely tie the cutting to the post with a soft plant tie or a strip of fabric. This will keep it stable while it develops its own roots. You can plant up to 2-4 cuttings around a single post.
- Water Lightly: Give the soil a light watering, just enough to moisten it. Do not drench it.
Caring For Your Growing Dragon Fruit Plant
Your plant is in the ground! Now your job is to guide it to the top of the trellis.
Watering
- For the first month, keep the soil lightly moist but not wet to encourage rooting.
- Once established, dragon fruit is quite drought-tolerant. However, for good fruit production, it needs regular water during the growing season (spring and summer).
- Water deeply when the top 2-3 inches of soil feel dry. In the winter, you can reduce watering significantly.
Training and Pruning
- Training: Your goal is to get one or two main stems to grow straight up the post. As the plant grows, continue to loosely tie it to the post every foot or so. Prune off any side branches that form along the main stem. You want to direct all the plant’s energy into vertical growth.
- Topping the Plant: Once the main stem reaches the top of your trellis, snip off the growing tip. This will signal the plant to stop growing up and to start sending out the arching, drooping branches from the top.
- Pruning for Fruit: It is on these hanging branches that the flowers and fruit will form. After a fruiting season, it’s a good practice to prune back some of the branches that produced fruit to encourage new, productive growth for the next year.
Fertilizing
Dragon fruit are surprisingly heavy feeders during their growing season.
- Feed your plant with a balanced, organic fertilizer every 2 months during the spring and summer. [Amazon Product: Organic All-Purpose Plant Food]
- Many growers also supplement with compost or aged manure spread around the base of the plant.
- Stop fertilizing in the fall and winter.
Flowers and Fruit: The Big Payoff!
The flowers of the dragon fruit are some of the most spectacular in the plant world. They are huge, fragrant, white blossoms that bloom for only one night.
- Pollination: If you have a self-fertile variety, you don’t need to do anything. If you have self-sterile varieties, you will need to hand-pollinate. This involves using a small, soft brush to collect pollen from the flower of one variety and transfer it to the stigma of the other variety’s flower on the same night they bloom.
- From Flower to Fruit: If pollination is successful, the base of the flower will begin to swell and develop into a fruit.
- Harvesting: The fruit is ready to harvest about 30-50 days after the flower blooms. It is ripe when the skin is brightly colored and the small “wings” or scales on the fruit start to wither slightly. To harvest, simply twist the fruit off the stem or snip it with pruning shears.
Conclusion
You are now ready to take on the exciting challenge of how to plant dragon fruit. While it requires some initial work to build a strong support system, the process of watching this unique cactus grow is incredibly fascinating.
From training the vine up its post to witnessing the spectacular one-night-only flowers and finally harvesting your very own exotic fruit, growing dragon fruit is a gardening adventure unlike any other. Enjoy the process and the delicious, healthy rewards!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. How long does it take for dragon fruit to bear fruit?
If you grow from a cutting, you can get your first fruit in as little as 1 to 3 years. If you grow from seed, you will be waiting much longer, typically 5 to 7 years.
2. How much sun does a dragon fruit plant need?
Dragon fruit needs a lot of sun to produce fruit. You should plant it in a location that receives at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day.
3. What is the best support for a dragon fruit plant?
The best support is a very strong, permanent trellis. A 4×4 or 6×6 post set in concrete with a structure at the top for the branches to hang from is the ideal setup. A mature plant is very heavy and will break flimsy supports.
4. Can you grow dragon fruit in a pot?
Yes, you can, but it needs to be a very large pot (at least 20 gallons) and you must still provide a strong trellis inside or next to the pot for the plant to climb.
5. Why is my dragon fruit plant turning yellow?
Yellowing stems on a dragon fruit are most often a sign of overwatering or sunburn. If the stems are soft and mushy, it’s likely root rot from too much water. If there are yellow patches on the side facing the sun, it could be sunburn.
6. Do you need two dragon fruit plants to get fruit?
It depends on the variety. Some varieties like ‘American Beauty’ are self-fertile and can produce fruit on their own. However, many other varieties are self-sterile and require cross-pollination from a different dragon fruit variety to set fruit.
7. How do you know when a dragon fruit is ready to pick?
The fruit is ready when its color is bright and even (e.g., bright pink all over). The small leafy scales on the outside of the fruit will also start to look slightly withered. It should feel firm but not rock-hard.
