Pitahaya plants are easy to grow from seeds or cuttings. Just a few weeks after sowing, the two cotyledons are visible, from the middle of which a small main shoot grows. He althy plants develop within a few months.
How to grow dragon fruit successfully?
Dragon fruit (pitahaya) can be grown by sowing seeds or planting cuttings. A warm, bright location and a sandy, earthy substrate are important. For successful fruit formation, manual pollination during the night is recommended.
Pitahaya belongs to the cactus family and is also called dragon fruit. It owes its name to its scaly appearance and unusually bright shell color. If you want to grow pitahaya plants yourself, you have two options:
- Sowing the seeds or
- Planting from cuttings.
Location
The plants thrive in tropical conditions. Their homeland is Central America. But they are also successfully grown in the tropical regions of Asia. A greenhouse climate that is not permanently humid suits them extremely well. To grow well, pitahayas need sufficient light and warmth. They tolerate drought and heavy rainfall, but not stagnant moisture.
Substrate and care
A mixture of soil and sand in a ratio of 1:1 is suitable as a substrate. Cactus soil is also suitable. The soil in the pot should be allowed to dry out completely before watering the plants vigorously again. When sowing young plants, however, care must be taken to ensure that the substrate is kept evenly moist.
The climbing cacti grow quickly and branch heavily, so they need support in the form of scaffolding, walls or trees that they can climb up with the help of their adhesive roots. Cactus fertilizer can be administered as needed. A winter break also proves to be beneficial for this type of cactus. Temperatures between 10° and 15° C in a bright room and the addition of water very sparingly are ideal.
Sowing
You get the seeds yourself from a ripe fruit that contains them in large numbers, or you buy them from a seed trade. Sowing takes place all year round. The seeds germinate in light and with sufficient light and warmth (18°-25° C) results can be expected after 1-3 weeks. From a size of approx. The seedlings are separated by 5 cm.
Propagation by cuttings
You can get the new dragon fruit plants a little faster through cuttings. A leaf cut from any part of the cactus is suitable as a cutting. It is planted upright and a few centimeters deep in sandy soil. A warm and bright location as well as occasional addition of water means that the cutting takes root after a short time and forms the first side shoots.
Flower and fruit
If you manage to get the pitahaya plants you have grown yourself to bloom, you will be able to enjoy the most beautiful flowers that bloom and smell overnight. The ripe pitahaya fruits also look very exotic and eye-catching with their bright color and scaly skin.
Tips & Tricks
For the flower to develop into a fruit, pollination would have to take place within a short period of one night. It is therefore more than uncertain whether you will ever harvest fruit under indoor conditions.
