How much does it cost to invest in dragon fruit planting at the latest?

Dragon fruit is a tropical and subtropical fruit, also known as red dragon fruit, dragon pearl fruit, fairy honey fruit, etc. It is cultivated in Hainan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan, Taiwan, China and other places in our country. It is rich in nutrition and has unique effects, combining the advantages of fruit, flower buds, vegetables and medicine in one, and has extremely high cultivation value. Now let us take a look at how much it costs to invest in dragon fruit planting!

How much is the investment in dragon fruit planting?

The investment in dragon fruit planting is relatively not high. Taking planting one mu as an example, planting one mu of dragon fruit requires building 110 cement columns, generally 15 to 20 yuan each, totaling 2200 yuan. Generally, four seedlings are planted per column, requiring 440 seedlings. Ordinary red-fleshed varieties cost 3 to 5 yuan each, while the more expensive red crystal variety is estimated to cost 10 yuan per seedling. Calculated by ordinary red-fleshed varieties, it costs 2200 yuan, plus labor and fertilizer at 1200 yuan/mu, the initial investment is 5600 yuan/mu.

How much is the income from dragon fruit planting?

The average annual purchase price of dragon fruit is generally 5 to 6 yuan/jin for red-fleshed dragon fruit and 3 to 4 yuan/jin for white-fleshed dragon fruit. Calculated by a yield of 3000 to 4000 jin/mu for red-fleshed dragon fruit and 4000 to 5000 jin/mu for red-fleshed dragon fruit, the gross income from planting one mu of red-fleshed dragon fruit is 15000 yuan (calculated by the lowest yield and price, the same below), and the gross income from planting one mu of white-fleshed dragon fruit is 12000 yuan. After subtracting costs, the income from one mu of dragon fruit is around 10000 yuan.

What conditions are needed to grow dragon fruit?

1. Temperature: Dragon fruit is not afraid of high temperatures but is afraid of low temperatures. It requires an annual average temperature of no less than 18°C, an average January temperature of no less than 8°C, an extreme low temperature of -3°C with duration not exceeding 6 hours, and an optimum growth temperature of 25 to 35°C. Growth stops when the temperature is below 10°C or above 38°C.

2. Soil: Dragon fruit has extremely wide adaptability to soil and can grow well in mountainous land, dry land, semi-dry land, rocky mountain land, wasteland and waterlogged low-lying land, especially dragon fruit grafted with local night-blooming cereus, which has even wider adaptability.

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.

4. Light: Dragon fruit is a typical sun plant and likes warm direct sunlight. If the light duration is long and sunlight is sufficient, photosynthesis will be especially vigorous, the fleshy stems will be thick and deep green, and there will be many flowers, large fruits and high yield. Conversely, the fruit set will decrease significantly.

5. Fertilizer: Dragon fruit grows quickly, and the fertilizer needed throughout the entire growth cycle must be sufficient. In the early growth stage, enough nitrogen fertilizer should be supplied to help the plant grow tall and strong quickly. In the middle and late growth stages, balanced application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer should be increased to enhance the plant's photosynthesis.

Dragon fruit planting management techniques

1. Planting methods: There are many ways to plant dragon fruit. It can be grown climbing on walls or in sheds, but column-type cultivation is the most common. Its advantages are low production cost and high land utilization rate.

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

3. Light fertilizer applied frequently: Dragon fruit has a long harvest period. Organic fertilizer must be heavily applied every year, and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compound fertilizer should be applied in a balanced way over the long term. During flowering and fruiting, potassium and magnesium fertilizer should be supplemented. During the fruiting period, the soil should be kept moist, and the tree disk should be covered with grass or mushroom residue.

4. Pinching and pruning: When the branches of dragon fruit grow to 1.3 to 1.4 m long, pinch off the growing tips to promote branching and let the branches droop naturally. After harvesting fruit each year, cut off the branches that have already borne fruit and let them send out new branches again to ensure the yield for the coming year.

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

6. Artificial pollination: When planting dragon fruit, artificial pollination should be carried out in rainy weather. Pollination can be done in the evening when the flowers open or in the early morning before the flowers close, using a writing brush to directly apply pollen to the stigma of the female flower.

7. Pest and disease control: Dragon fruit has fewer pests and diseases. Seedlings are easily harmed by snails and ants, which can be controlled with insecticides. In hot and humid seasons, it is prone to diseases, with partial necrosis of branches and mold spots, which can be controlled with triadimefon, strong copper oxide, etc.