What are the latest growing requirements for dragon fruit? A detailed guide
Dragon fruit is a perennial climbing succulent of the genus Hylocereus in the cactus family. It is a tropical and subtropical fruit that likes light but tolerates shade, tolerates heat and drought, likes fertilizer but tolerates poor soil, grows rapidly in warm, humid and well-lit environments, can withstand low temperatures of 0°C and high temperatures of 40°C, and can adapt to many types of soil. Let us take a look below at what the growing requirements for dragon fruit are!
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 growing region requires an annual average temperature of no less than 18°C, an average January temperature of no less than 8°C, and an extreme low temperature of -3°C lasting no more than 6 hours. The optimum growing temperature range is 25-35°C. Below 10°C and above 38°C, growth stops, and the plant resists stress through the brief dormancy characteristic of plants.
Soil
Dragon fruit is a plant with very vigorous vitality and extremely broad adaptability to soil. It can grow well in mountainous land, dry land, semi-dry land, rocky mountain land, wasteland, and waterlogged low-lying land, especially dragon fruit grafted onto local Hylocereus undatus, which has even broader adaptability. Although dragon fruit is widely adaptable, 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, at a pH of 7.0-7.8. Therefore, for soil that has been fertilized with chemical fertilizers many times, it is recommended to use plant ash, lime, freshwater mussel shell powder, etc. to make the soil slightly alkaline.
Water
Dragon fruit is a drought-tolerant plant, but its growth requires fairly abundant water. If the dragon fruit growing area lacks water for a long time, dragon fruit growth will 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 plant needs a relatively large amount of water, especially during the fruit expansion period, when the water requirement is greatest. It is best to keep the soil water-holding capacity at 50-80%. Likewise, if there is too much water in the soil, especially if oxygen is lacking, the roots will easily rot, and if flooding lasts more than half a day, the plant will die.
Light
Dragon fruit is a typical sun plant and likes warm, direct sunlight. If over a period of time the light duration is long and the sunlight is sufficient, photosynthesis will be especially vigorous, the fleshy stems will be thick and deep green, and there will be many flowers and large fruits with a high yield. Conversely, the amount of fruit produced will decrease noticeably. Therefore, it should be planted on open wasteland, especially on sunny slopes. The optimum light intensity is above 8000 lux. Light conditions below 2500 lux have a clear effect on nutrient accumulation. For relatively old and mature branch segments, concentrated high-intensity direct sunlight over too long a time means the accumulated heat cannot dissipate, which will cause sunburn on some dragon fruit branches.
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 is fine. Therefore, when planting dragon fruit, a pillar is generally set up beside the plant. It can be a concrete pillar, a wooden stake, or a wire mesh or wire for training.
Fertilizer
In the early stage of dragon fruit cultivation, 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 a 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 tall and strong quickly and produce more branches. In the middle and late stages of plant growth, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers should be applied in a more balanced way to increase the plant's photosynthesis, promote early flowering, and increase the protein and vitamin content in the fruit.