The dragon fruit or pitahaya is one of the cactus plants. The following types are available in Germany:
- most common: pink skin, white pulp (Hylocereus undatus),
- a little rarer: skin and pulp in strong pink (Hylocereus monacanthus)
- rare: yellow skin, white pulp (Hylocereus megalanthus)
also read
- Grow thuja yourself from cuttings or seeds
- Propagate passion flowers easily from seeds or cuttings
- Grow date palm from seeds or saplings
The pitahaya plants are vigorous, do not require extensive maintenance and reward the hobby gardener with beautiful flowers. In our latitudes, the fruits are likely to be looked upon for a very long or long time. wait in vain. However, getting the climbing cactus to bloom seems incentive enough to try growing it.
Growing from seeds
The edible fruits contain numerous black seeds from which new cactus plants can be grown. First you release some seeds from the fruit, spread them on a piece of kitchen paper and let them dry. In this way, the seeds can be more easily cleaned of the remnants of the pulp.
The seeds obtained are then sprinkled into a pot with a mixture of soil and sand and lightly pressed down. The light-germinating seeds are not covered with earth, kept warm, light and evenly moist. covered with a translucent plastic or glass hood.
Temperatures above 18 ° C are required for germination, 22-25 ° C are ideal. The germination time is - depending on the temperature - about one to three weeks. If the two cotyledons and the shoot growing in the middle have become visible, the addition of water is reduced and the plants are isolated if the pot is too tight.
Growing from cuttings
The new dragon fruit plants are even easier to obtain through vegetative propagation. For this you need cuttings. A leaf member separated from each 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 poured every now and then. After a short time, the cutting will form roots and begin to branch from below.
Tips & Tricks
Both the seeds of the pitahaya and the cuttings can be bought in specialist shops, if necessary. in the online shops specializing in tropical fruits.
