In My Garden: Dragon Fruit!

There is a lot of concern with water usage now in both home gardens and commercial growers, and rightly so. Finding fruiting plants that use less water is becoming something more and more people want to talk about. Surprisingly there are a number of fruiting plants that can help fill that need. This will be the first of several blogs I am going to write on the subject.

Dragon fruit, or pitaya, is a relatively new fruit people are trying. It's a cactus and requires little watering, fertilizer, or insect control. Like many fruits there are a large number of cultivars with differing sizes and tastes. They can be grown almost anywhere in Southern California and in most types of soil. Ask your nursery for specific information on varieties they are selling.

I got several cuttings at a local California Rare Fruit Growers Society meeting several years ago and just stuck them in the ground. Last year I got my first fruit. My plants flower throughout the whole summer and the bees love them. The flowers are short lived, but incredible (I have included a photo below of one of the flowers). My fruit is the red variety, the inside is a deep magenta reddish purple with a very refreshingly mild sweetness and black edible seeds, something akin to kiwi fruit. Delicious. I am definitely a fan of dragon fruit. 

The plants need support to grow on, just like grapes. They can also be grown on a fence. They are rich in antioxidants, Vitamin C and B, the good fatty acids, carotene and protein. They also contain calcium, iron and phosphorus. 

Above: My dragon fruit plants growning along my fence. See the red fruits on the right?

Above: A dragon fruit flower. This will turn into the fruit you see in the picture below.

Above: Dragon fruit on the vine. 

Above: A ripe dragon fruit just picked.