What conditions are needed to grow dragon fruit? These 6 are indispensable

Dragon fruit is a perennial climbing succulent plant of the genus Hylocereus in the cactus family. It is a tropical and subtropical fruit that likes light and tolerates shade, tolerates heat and drought, likes fertilizer and tolerates poor soil, and grows rapidly in a warm, humid environment with sufficient light, so what conditions are needed to grow dragon fruit? None of these 6 can be missing!

1. Temperature

Temperature is almost the decisive factor for dragon fruit. Its place of origin is the tropical region, which makes dragon fruit a typical tropical and subtropical fruit. It is not afraid of high temperatures but is very afraid of low temperatures. The planting area requires an annual average temperature of no less than 18°C, an average temperature in January of no less than 8°C, and an extreme low temperature of -3°C with a duration of no more than 6 hours. The most suitable growth temperature range is 25-35°C. Growth stops when the temperature is below 10°C or above 38°C, and it resists stress through the brief dormancy unique to plants.

2. Soil

Dragon fruit is a plant with very strong vitality and extremely wide adaptability to soil. It can grow well in mountainous land, dry land, semi-dry land, rocky mountain land, wasteland, and waterlogged low-lying land. This is especially true for dragon fruit grafted onto local Hylocereus undatus, which has even wider adaptability. Although dragon fruit has wide adaptability, it still has a soil pH environment most suitable for its growth. Generally speaking, dragon fruit grows best in neutral or slightly alkaline soil, that is, a pH value between 7.0 and 7.8. Therefore, for soil that has been fertilized with chemical fertilizers many times, it is recommended to use plant ash, lime, river mussel shell powder, etc. to carry out slight alkalization treatment of the soil.

3. Water

Dragon fruit is a drought-tolerant plant, but its growth requires relatively abundant water. If the dragon fruit planting site lacks water for a long time, it will cause dragon fruit growth to stagnate, and even the original thick fleshy stems will slowly wither. From May to November each year, dragon fruit is in its flowering and fruiting period. At this time, the dragon fruit plants need a relatively large amount of water, especially during the fruit expansion period when the water demand is greatest. It is best to keep the water holding capacity in the soil at 50-80%. Likewise, if there is too much water in the soil, especially if oxygen is lacking, the roots are prone to rot, and the plant will die if submerged for more than half a day.

4. Light

Dragon fruit is a typical sun plant and likes warm, direct sunlight. If there is a long period of light and sufficient sunlight, photosynthesis will be especially vigorous, the fleshy stems will be thick and deep green, and there will be many flowers, large fruit, and high yield. Conversely, the amount of fruit will decrease significantly. Therefore, it should be planted in open wasteland, especially on sunny slopes. The most suitable light intensity is above 8000 lux. Light conditions below 2500 lux have an obvious impact on nutrient accumulation. For relatively old mature branch segments, concentrated high-intensity direct sunlight, if it lasts too long, will cause the accumulated heat to fail to dissipate, leading to sunburn on some dragon fruit branches.

5. Support

Dragon fruit is a vine plant, and its growth needs to attach to a certain support. There are no strict requirements for the choice of support material, as long as the support has a certain hardness and is vertical, it will do. Therefore, when planting dragon fruit, a support is generally set up beside the plant. It can be a cement post, a wooden stake, or an iron net or wire for training.

6. Fertilizer

In the early stage of dragon fruit planting, compared with many traditional fruits, the amount of fertilizer used is small, but this does not mean that dragon fruit does not need various nutrients. On the contrary, because dragon fruit grows quickly and has high yield per mu, the fertilizer needed throughout the entire growth cycle must be sufficient. In the early growth stage, sufficient nitrogen fertilizer should be supplied to help the plant grow taller and stronger quickly and produce more branches. In the middle and late stages of plant growth, balanced application of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers should be increased to enhance the plant's photosynthesis, promote early flowering, and increase the protein and vitamin content in the fruit, etc.

The above is Tutuliu.com's introduction to the conditions for growing dragon fruit. Friends who are interested in growing it can refer to it.