In a perfect world, everyone would have a dragon fruit plant growing on their own property. Unfortunately, this exotic and beautiful plant can’t be grown everywhere. It is primarily native to Central and South America and requires a temperate climate to flourish. This makes sense since the plant is a member of the cactus family and cannot handle exposure to frost very well.
The dragon fruit is interesting because it resembles a tree but is actually many different large vines growing from one stem. This, coupled with its luxurious white and red sweet flesh, gives the plant a unique look. If you wish to learn how to grow dragon fruit at your own home, you must first decide whether you want to grow it from a seed, seedling, or younger plant. The stage at which you take up growing it will decide how you handle the plant.
If you want to grow the fruit from seeds, you should have some previous experience doing this with other plants. You’ll want to either buy packaged seeds or harvest some from a fully grown dragon fruit. Once you have the seeds, plant them in shallow, well-drained soil. Use a plastic covering to keep the area moist and you should see a sprout in two weeks.
If you’re starting with seedlings, make sure you transplant them to pots that are large enough to give the fruit room to grow. These pots should have holes at the bottom for proper drainage, and you need to use rich soil for this. Keep the temperature at moderate levels and make sure to stake the plant as soon as you can to provide better support for when the vines grow. If done properly, the plant will grow healthy.
If you want to use a cutting to grow the fruit, simply cut off a vine from a mature plant and plant it in a pot of soil. Growing dragon fruit in this manner is rather easy. Voila, you’ll have a flowering plant within a year’s time!
