How many years does a potted dragon fruit take to bear fruit?
If it is a potted plant grown from dragon fruit seeds, it takes about 4-5 years from sowing to bearing fruit; some bloom in the 3rd year but fail to hold fruit. Dragon fruit potted plants grown from cuttings have a shorter fruiting cycle, and with proper care they canbear fruit in the second year.
1. Propagation of dragon fruit seedlings by cuttings or grafting
For raising dragon fruit seedlings, cuttings are most suitable in spring. Choose plump, well-grown stem segments for the cuttings, cut them into small sections 15 cm long, let the wounds air-dry, then insert them into a sand bed. They can take root in about 15-30 days, and when the roots reach 3-4 cm they are transplanted to the seedling bed.
2. Grafted dragon fruit seedlings
Choose a pest-free, robustly growing, plump-stemmed night-blooming cereus (Hylocereus undatus rootstock) as the rootstock, and graft on a sunny day. Cut the dragon fruit stem with a knife to make a flat surface, insert the scion, align the cambium, and tie it firmly with cotton thread. At 28-30 degrees Celsius, after 4-5 days a large amount of callus tissue forms on the wound joint surface; when the scion and rootstock colors are close, it indicates their vascular bundles have joined, and the graft is successful. Afterward it can be moved into a temporary planting bed to continue cultivation.
3. Seedling-stage management of dragon fruit
The seedling bed should be chosen in a field that is ventilated and sunny, with fertile soil and convenient drainage and irrigation. Fine-till and make beds, with beds and furrows 90 cm; per 667 sq m apply 1500-2000 kg of decomposed chicken manure or cow manure, mix in 1000 kg of rice husk ash, stir thoroughly, and apply it during land preparation to the surface soil layer 10-20 cm below the bed surface; then apply 100-150 kg of calcium-magnesium phosphate fertilizer, fully mix it with a hoe, and apply it to the surface soil layer 4-5 cm deep. Then plant the small seedlings in the seedling bed at a spacing of 3 cm, water thoroughly, and spray 500 times carbendazim once. Every 10-15 days apply 5-7 kg of compound fertilizer. When the first stem segment with plump flesh has grown, they can leave the nursery.