Can dragon fruit be planted directly with seeds?

Fire dragon fruit is a fruit of subtropical climate. People who have eaten dragon fruit know that the more common dragon fruit is white-hearted and red-hearted. The price of red dragon fruit is a little more expensive than that of white heart, but it tastes better and sweeter. Fire dragon fruit and yellow heart, yellow heart in the market is generally relatively rare.

Can dragon fruit be planted directly with seeds?

The seedlings of dragon fruit grown from seeds can generally be planted directly. Because the dragon fruit will not blossom and bear fruit until the length of the branch is more than 1 meter. Therefore, it is generally appropriate to use cutting seedlings or grafted seedlings for propagation and cultivation. Cuttings are easy to take root and are often used in production, but the growth and development of Huanglongguo cuttings is poor and the phenomenon of self-flowering incompatibility exists in the production of red flesh dragon fruit. Therefore, the above two varieties should use grafted seedlings to improve their quality and yield. Cuttings are generally selected to grow and enrich branches of about 15 cm long (tender stems are not suitable for use) in spring and summer. After drying in the sun for 1 to 2 days, the cuttings are placed in the shade for 5 to 7 days. After the wound is completely healed, the cuttings are inserted into loose sandy loam soil with a depth of about 2 cm and good air permeability. After 2 to 3 days, the cuttings are watered, and about 35 days after rooting, the grafted rootstocks can be transplanted. The yellow meat type dragon fruit can choose the measuring ruler with better affinity as the rootstock. Red meat type dragon fruit can choose white meat type dragon fruit as rootstock.

Growth habits of dragon fruit

Pitaya is a perennial vine plant of the genus Cactaceae, native to the Central American rainforest areas such as Brazil and Mexico in the Western Hemisphere, and is a typical tropical plant. Later, the French and Dutch were introduced into Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and Taiwan Province of China, and then improved and introduced into Hainan, Guangxi, Guangdong and other provinces by Taiwan. It is a new kind of fruit with good health effect.

Pitaya belongs to tropical and subtropical fruit, which is resistant to drought, high temperature and light. It is not strict with soil quality. Flat land, hillside and sandy land can be planted. The optimum soil pH value is 6m / m 7.5. It is best to choose land with rich organic matter and good drainage. The dragon fruit is not resistant to frost, and the areas where the winter temperature is lower than 0 ℃ are planted in a simple greenhouse.

Field management of dragon fruit

The dragon fruit begins to blossom and bear fruit 14 months after planting, and can blossom 15 times a year. April to November is the fruit-bearing period. The fruit matures 30-40 days after flowering, and the single fruit weighs 500-1000g. It produces more than 20 fruits per column in the second year after planting, and enters the full fruit period in the third year. The higher management level, the per unit yield can reach 2500kg/667m2. The main points of high-yield cultivation are as follows:

1. Apply thin fertilizer frequently. Due to the long harvest time of fruit, organic fertilizer should be re-applied every year, and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compound fertilizer should be applied evenly for a long time. Potassium and magnesium fertilizers should be added during flowering and fruiting period to promote sugar accumulation and improve fruit quality. Keep the soil moist during the fruiting period, and the tree plate is covered with grass or mushroom residue. When the weather is dry, 3mer will be irrigated once a day.

2. Pick the heart. When the branch grows to 1.3-1.4m long, it picks the heart, promotes the branch, and lets the branch droop naturally.

3. Intercropping and artificial pollination. When planting dragon fruit, it is necessary to plant about 10% of the white meat type dragon fruit. Mutual pollination among varieties can significantly improve the seed setting rate. In case of overcast and rainy weather, artificial pollination should be carried out. Pollination can be used to apply pollen directly to the stigma of female flowers before the flowers bloom in the evening or before the flowers are closed in the morning.

4. Prune the branches. After picking fruit every year, cut off the fruiting branches and let them send out new branches to ensure the yield in the coming year.

5. Pest control. Pitaya is easy to be harmed by snails and ants in seedling stage, and insecticides can be used to control it. In the season of high temperature and humidity, it is easy to infect diseases, such as partial branch necrosis and mildew spots, and can be controlled by strychnine, strong copper oxide and so on.

Common species of dragon fruit

1. Red flesh dragon fruit: the flesh of red dragon fruit is red or purplish red, and the fresh food quality is good. It is produced from May to November in Taiwan, Guangdong and Guangxi, and longer in Hainan. The red meat dragon fruit has poor self-pollination compatibility, low self-pollination rate, small fruit, poor marketability, needs white meat dragon fruit pollination, high fruit setting rate and large fruit. At present, the variety name of red meat dragon fruit is confused, there is no definite variety name, and all kinds of growers decide according to their own preferences.

2. White flesh dragon fruit: White meat dragon fruit red skin and white meat, fresh food quality is general, Taiwan, Guangdong, Guangxi production period is from June to October, self-pollination has good compatibility, high fruit rate, strong disease resistance, high yield, and can be processed into fruit juice, fruit powder and jam. At present, Vietnam No. 1 is the best variety of white meat dragon fruit, which is the main cultivated variety in Vietnam. It has strong adaptability, fast growth, large fruit and no thorns on the surface. The average weight of single fruit is 420g, the maximum is 1000 g. Soluble solids 18.1%, high yield, 16500-27500 kg per hectare.

3. Yellow flesh dragon fruit: yellow flesh dragon fruit yellow skin and white meat, good fresh food quality, large and fragrant flowers, 45-60 days from budding to flowering, 90-100 days from flowering to fruit ripening, and 110-150 days to mature in autumn and winter. The fruit does not crack, and it takes one month (winter) to change from green to yellow. after turning yellow, it can be hung on the tree, but it can be retained for more than a month without affecting its quality. it is the type of dragon fruit with the best quality and the best taste. With fragrance, the seeds in the pulp are large and soft, and the soluble solids are more than 18%, but the fruit is slightly smaller, generally about 200 grams. The main fruit production period (autumn and winter fruit) is around the Spring Festival, while the summer fruit is listed on the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Through the introduction of the above editor, we must have a general understanding of the cultivation of dragon fruit. Friends of fruit growers, if you want to grow dragon fruit with high yield and good taste, you must first understand the growth habits of dragon fruit. The second is to master the planting technology of dragon fruit in order to get twice the result with half the effort.