When and How to Plant Dragon Fruit Seeds

Dragon fruit is a very common fruit, and it is currently sold widely on the market in our country. Inside the dragon fruit there are some black seeds, and these are its seeds. Many people want to use these seeds to grow plants, but they are not very clear about the specific planting method. So let us take a look together below!

How to plant dragon fruit seeds

1. Sprouting. Sprinkle the seeds evenly into a flower pot containing soil, and sprinkle on some water. Note that you must not pour water directly. Then cover with plastic wrap, and remember to uncover the plastic wrap every other day and spray water with a spray bottle. In less than a week, the seeds begin to sprout, and at this point you can remove the plastic wrap covering them. When the seedlings have grown somewhat, begin planting them separately.

2. Planting methods: There are many ways to plant dragon fruit; it can be grown climbing on walls, or grown on trellises, but column-style cultivation is the most common. Its advantages are low production cost and high land utilization.

3. Planting spacing: For dragon fruit using double-season columns, the plant and row spacing is 1.5×2 m. Calculating 4 seedlings planted around each column, 750 plants can be planted per mu. But note that it must not be planted deeply; planting about 3 cm deep is enough, and the soil should be kept moist at first.

4. Reasonable interplanting: Red-fleshed dragon fruit has poor self-compatibility, a low rate of fruit set from self-pollination, small fruit, and poor market quality. It needs white-fleshed dragon fruit for pollination. Interplanting about 10% of the white-fleshed type of dragon fruit can significantly increase the fruit-setting rate.

When to plant dragon fruit seeds

Dragon fruit can be planted all year round, but it must not be planted deeply; planting about 3 cm deep is enough, and the soil should be kept moist at first. After planting, it begins to flower and bear fruit 12-14 months later, and it can flower 12-15 times each year. April to November is the fruiting period. After the flowers fade, the fruit ripens in 30-40 days, with a single fruit weight of 500-1000 grams. In the second year after planting, each column produces more than 20 fruits, and in the third year it enters the full fruiting period. With a relatively high level of management, the yield can reach 2500 kg/mu.

How to fertilize dragon fruit

1. Fertilizing dragon fruit should adhere to the principle of “high-standard fertilization, frequent and light application”, that is, fertilizer should be applied in small amounts many times to prevent root burn and root rot. After dragon fruit sprouts, when the seedlings are about 10 cm tall, apply dilute human manure and urine into the planting holes, about 1 kg per plant. After that, apply once at each sprouting with human manure and urine plus 3 g/L urea and 1 g/L potassium chloride, until the dragon fruit flowers.

2. In the first year, fertilize 6-8 times, mainly with nitrogen fertilizer, combined with potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus fertilizers, and add one application of decomposed organic fertilizer in winter. Dragon fruit has a long growth and harvest period, so nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers and organic fertilizer should be applied in a balanced way. Each year, special attention should be paid to 3 fertilizations, namely the pre-flowering fertilizer in April, the fruit-strengthening fertilizer in August, and the overwintering fertilizer in December, mainly using decomposed organic fertilizer and NPK compound fertilizer.

3. During the flowering and fruiting period, increase the application of potassium and magnesium fertilizer, 0.5 kg per plant, such as spraying 300-times monopotassium phosphate solution. When the last batch of fruit has been harvested, apply a heavy dose of organic fertilizer at 15 kg/plant or compound fertilizer at 0.5 kg/plant to promote new branch growth and increase the yield of the coming year.

How to water dragon fruit

1. Each watering of dragon fruit should not be too large or too little; it is suitable to moisten the soil layer where the main roots are distributed. Determining the specific amount of irrigation water also requires considering the soil quality, the growth and development stage of the dragon fruit, the fertilization situation, and meteorological conditions. For theoretical irrigation amount calculation, determining it by soil moisture is the most commonly used.

2. It is generally believed that the minimum irrigation amount is when the soil moisture is 60% of the maximum water-holding capacity of the soil, and the ideal amount is 80% of the maximum water-holding capacity. In addition, based on the long-term accumulated experience of fruit farmers and technicians, when watering, if it is thought to have been watered through, that is actually the most suitable irrigation amount.

Dragon fruit seeds can be planted all year round, and the method is very simple. First, the seeds must be grown into seedlings, and then they are planted. After planting, management also needs to be strengthened, and the fertilizer and water work must be done well, so as to ensure its growth.