Dragon Fruit

This will be the last flowering this year and got a lot. I pollinated six flowers on 1 Sep, twenty one on 2 Sep and six more on 3 Sep. I hope my pollination was successful. 

My neighbor sent me this picture of the Dragon Fruit at 11:30 pm. This picture is not clear, but she said there were more blooming than this picture shows and they were so beautiful and smelled wonderful. She said she actually woke up another neighbor to see them. Anyway, it has been almost two weeks since I pollinated them and it looks like they all made it. That means I will have 33 Dragon Fruit ready for picking the beginning on October.

Dragon Fruit

This Dragon Fruit plant has tons of flowers. After this picture I thinned them out. I only want one or two fruit per branch, so removed the smallest flowers. Also, I found a fruit on the plant that is growing well. I did not pollinate it, so something was able to successfully pollinate it. Wow!

Dragon Fruit

My Dragon Fruit plant has many flowers and this one will blossom tonight; however, I do not have any pollen to pollinate it with so will lose this one. There are more that will blossom them day after nd the next day; unfortunately, we will be hit by a typhoon tomorrow, so not sure I will be able to pollinate them either. Bad timing!

Dragon Fruit

There are so many Dragon Fruit flowers. I have thinned them out and have to remove a few more. As previously mentioned, I do not want more than two flowers per branch. One is best, but no more than two.

Dragon Fruit

I decided to pick all the fruit on the plant two days ago. I thought there were 13 fruit, but actually there were 14. Though they do not look large in this picture, they are all a pretty decent size.

The largest fruit weighed 510 grams (1.1 lbs).

I selected this one to try.

Absolutely beautiful.

The skin is thick and pliable, so very easy to remove.

Just slice and enjoy. This fruit was sweet and very juicy.

Dragon Fruit

Well, it has been 30 days exactly since I pollinated these Dragon Fruit and they are ready to pick.

The fruit can be left on the plant a few extra days, but there is the possibility that pests, like bats or birds, will damage them, but more likely they will start to slit open.

There are 13 fruit on the plant. I lost all six when the plant first blossomed, because I could not find pollen. I lost another three during this blossom due to rain. In the end I got these 13 and should get another 10-20 in August.

I thought I was going to have and wait until the end of August or September for the next batch of fruit, but the plant is already starting to bud. There are buds all over. I might get two more harvests this year. 

Dragon Fruit

I pollinated these Dragon Fruit on June 21 and 22 and some are starting to turn red. It typically takes 30 days from the time of pollination to harvest. 

Dragon Fruit

I pollinated these Dragon Fruit flowers a week ago and they are still green, which means I successfully pollinated them. If not they would have turned yellow in 3 or four days.

I thought I would have to wait until August or September for more flower buds, but I just found these two. I suspect this plant will produce more fruit than expected.

Dragon Fruit

The rest of the Dragon Fruit flowers bloomed tonight and I could pollinate them. There were ten flowers tonight and four last night. I do not see any more flowers, but I expect this plant to produce more buds the end of July or early August.

 

Dragon Fruit

This plant produced six flowers earlier, but I was unable to find pollen and lost them; however, I was able to find pollen today and was able to cross pollinate them. If successfully, these will mature in 30 days. There are about 10 more flowers on the plant. I have a lot of pollen so will keep some in the refrigerator and freeze the rest. Pollen will stay fresh in the refrigerator for about 48 hours and can remain viable in the freezer for about two years. Dragon Fruit plants flower between May and September, so after these fruit mature the plant will flower once more in late July or August, so will be able to get more fruit at that time. 

Dragon Fruit

I removed many Dragon Fruit buds. I left one or two on each branch, but there are still many flowers left.

Dragon Fruit

My Dragon Fruit plant is going crazy and producing so many flower buds. It has already produced six flowers, but I could not find pollen to cross pollinate them and they died. Anyway, I need to remove some of these buds. Normally, I do not allow more than two flowers per branch. Since I have so many branches with buds this year, I think I will only keep one bud per branch. That way I will get larger fruit. I've found the bud at the tip or end of the branch is best to keep since the plant seems to send all its nutrients there. I'll experiment. 

Dragon Fruit

Dragon Fruit are starting to flower. Dragon Fruit typically flower from May to September. My challenge this early will be to find pollen from another plant to cross-pollinate from. I got cuttings from another plant that I am now propagating, but they will not be ready to produce flowers this year; however, next year I should not have an issue.

Dragon Fruit

The folks at the Community Center gave me these two cuttings about two months ago, because I need another plant for cross-pollination. I have them in water to grow roots, but one of the plants is already starting to grow new branches. They grow quickly. If I can get them in the soil soon, they will probably flower this July or August.

Dragon Fruit

 

These were the last four Dragon Fruit of the season. I got fruit three times this year. On average these fruit are small, but just as tasty. I gave two to my neighbor, ate one and froze the other for smoothies. 

Dragon Fruit

When I left for vacation two weeks ago there were two green Dragon Fruit on the plant. They were due to ripen just before my return, but I was hoping they would last and the bats would not eat them. Well, they made it with a little damage, and they were delicious. 

They were quite large too. I only had a few on the plant, so the plant could put a lot of energy into them.

Just before I left I pollinated seven flowers and three made it. The fruit is already developed and should be ready to pick in about two weeks. Remember, it takes Dragon Fruit 30 days to mature from the day it is pollinated with a 3-5 day variance. This is the third time this season they produced fruit. As mentioned before, Dragon Fruit blossom for a five month period each year. In my region that is typically between May and September, but this year it was June to October. 

Dragon Fruit

 

I just got my second harvest of Dragon Fruit for the season. A few were quite large.

The fruit are beautiful inside, sweet and delicious. They are so easy to peel, so a delight to eat.

There are 10-15 flowers on the plant, so it looks like I will get a third harvest this year.

The day I picked the fruit.

Four days before I picked the fruit.

About a week before I picked the fruit.

The day after I pollinated the flowers, which was about 30 days before I picked the fruit.

Dragon Fruit

I pollinated 12-13 flowers, but some where a day late. In the end I have 7 fruit that made it.

Dragon Fruit

As I mentioned in a previous post, Dragon Fruit produce five months a year. In my region, from May to September. I just picked the last fruit about 10 days ago and the plant is now starting to flower again. 

Dragon Fruit

I picked the last of the Dragon Fruit and gave most to my friends. Dragon Fruit have a five month growing season from May to September, but I do not see any new buds. Perhaps now that I've picked these it might start to blossom again. Stay tuned!