Dragon Fruit Tips
I saw a new technique for growing them which looks
excellent. They used a coco coir pole. Using this method, dragon fruit
roots absorb more nutrients in the coir poles when being fertilized
instead of cement poles. (Coir is the outer husk of the Coconut). Ref: Sheryl Backhouse
In
Vietnam Pitaya are grown on square concrete posts 1½ mtrs above
ground, 25cms thick, 3 mtrs apart and cuttings are grown on all four
sides and then taped to the post. With this particular variety when
they reach the top, they just trail down. There are no wires between
the posts for them to climb along. Ref:
Sheryl Backhouse
Yellow
Pitaya: At the last meeting, Jim Wyman bought in some yellow Pitaya
which were so sweet! I asked him what he did and he said: “I have
clay soil, give them a little Nitrophoska in spring, a handful of
Potash when fruiting, they like lots of horse and cow manure and I just
brush off the spines when the fruit look ripe on the plant”. Ref: Sheryl Backhouse
Graham
Reinders mentions that to achieve higher brix levels in Pitaya, try
bumping the sulphur content of your nutrient up a bit. It is the main
flavour giver. Bumping CO2 is not a good idea unless you maximize all
the other plant inputs. I have bumped the CO2 up to 1500 ppm in a high
yield greenhouse and can get about 30% yield increase, however the
plant only does as well as the LIMITING input of the 20 or so required,
so any one lacking negates all the other good work.
When do you
pick Pithaya? If it is for your own consumption, the right time will be
when the bud (the end where the flowery part drops off) has begun to
show signs of a crack. This means the fruit is ripe. If you leave this
be, the fruit will start showing signs of cracking in the middle part.
This is sign of the final stage of fruit development in terms of
ripeness.
Sweetness is dependent not only on ripeness but
variety/species and type of nutrient uptake. If you have all the N, P,
K, Mr, Trace Elements and Humic Acid at par - adding a little bit of
Sulphur based plant nutrient will improve the Brix index. Ref: Surjan Singh
Kuala Lumpur
Bob
Cosgrove reports that he’s had great success in getting his
Pitaya to come into flowering by hanging a stocking over the plant with
two handfuls of fowl manure and 1dsp of potassium inside so when it
rains, it’s getting fertilised!
Besides the Cracker Dust
and Fowl Manure we give them an NPK dressing every 6 weeks so after the
water and fertiliser, these will really start to bud everywhere in 2-3
weeks. They need a heavy structure to support them. Large upright posts
and a post-rail on top and perhaps put in 2 rows a metre apart so they
can go over each side. When they get too large, just go through with a
cane knife and hack them off. Ref:
Bob Brinsmead - Tropical Fruit World
Overwatering
or excessive rainfall can cause the flowers to drop and fruit to rot.
Birds can be a nuisance. The bacterium Xanthomonas campestris causes
the stems to rot. Dothiorella fungi can cause brown spots on the fruit,
but this is not common. Ref:
Wikipedia
Pitahaya
flowering but not fruiting. There is a tendency for young fruit or
flowers to turn yellow and drop off after rain. This can be reduced or
prevented using minerals like calcium or plant vitamins to bolster
health. You might try placing an iron additive around the base of a few
to see if that cures the "yellow" condition...
We had a bad case
of rust which took 3 months spraying every 3 weeks with mancozeb to
clear. Anyone that needs help with rust it is the only product that
worked with white oil to stop pests. Ref: Roslyn
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