The dragon fruit is the fruit of a climbing cactus native to the tropical regions of Central America and Asia. The cultivation of cactus plants is also easy in this country if you follow a few tips.
The dragon fruit or pitahaya is one of the cactus plants. The following types are available in Germany:
- most common: skin pink, flesh white (Hylocereus undatus),
- a little rarer: skin and flesh in a strong pink (Hylocereus monacanthus)
- rare: yellow skin, white flesh (Hylocereus megalanthus)
The pitahaya plants are vigorous, do not require any extensive care and reward the hobby gardener with beautiful flowers. In our latitudes, people will probably wait a very long time or in vain for the fruits to come. However, getting the climbing cactus to flower seems to be incentive enough to try growing it.
Cultivation from seeds
The edible fruits contain numerous black seeds from which new cactus plants can be grown. First, remove a few seeds from the fruit, spread them out on a piece of kitchen paper and let them dry. This will make it easier to clean the seeds from the remnants of the pulp.
The seeds obtained are now scattered in a pot with a soil-sand mixture and lightly pressed. The light-germinating seeds are not covered with soil, kept warm, bright and evenly moist, possibly covered with a translucent plastic or glass hood.
Temperatures above 18° C are required for germination, 22-25° C are ideal. The germination period is - depending on the temperature - about one to three weeks. Once the two cotyledons and the shoot growing from them have become visible, reduce the amount of water and separate the plants if the pot gets too small.
Propagation from cuttings
The new dragon fruit plants are even easier to obtain through vegetative propagation. You need cuttings for this. A leaf segment removed from any part of the plant is suitable as a cutting. This is put upright in a pot with substrate, placed in a bright and warm place and watered every now and then. After a short time, the cutting forms roots and begins to branch out from below.
tips and tricks
Both the seeds of the pitahaya and the cuttings can be purchased in specialist shops, possibly in online shops specializing in tropical fruits.