{"id":71092,"date":"2024-03-22T14:37:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T07:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alternatech.net\/?p=71092"},"modified":"2024-03-22T14:37:02","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T07:37:02","slug":"propagating-dragon-fruit-from-cuttings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/propagating-dragon-fruit-from-cuttings\/","title":{"rendered":"Propagating Dragon Fruit From Cuttings"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Propagating Dragon Fruit From Cuttings\n</h2><p>Dragon fruit, or pitaya, is a cactus fruit that tastes delicious, is nutritious, and grows well in warm-winter climates (it doesn\u2019t like temperatures below 40\u00b0 F). We\u2019ve wanted to grow it for years, but haven\u2019t had room to trellis it up a wall, because it requires support. The other day while walking past a meandering dragon fruit plant, however, we couldn\u2019t resist taking a cutting or two.\n</p><p>Dragon fruit, like many cacti, is easy to propagate. Simply trim the end and plop it in soil. But there are a few specifics to note along the way. Here\u2019s the breakdown.\n</p><p><img fetchpriority='\"high\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"alignnone' size-full wp-image-71098 src="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/alternatech.net%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/03%5C/48-1.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"1024\"' height='\"768\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/48-1.jpg' https: sizes='\"(max-width:'>\n</p><h4>Trim the Ends\n</h4><p>Dragon fruit grows in segments, so it\u2019s easy to take a cutting at one of the narrow points along a segment. But new roots don\u2019t grow well from the narrow, woody end. Cut the end off to create more surface area along the tender part of the plant.\n</p><p><img decoding='\"async\"' class='\"alignnone' size-full wp-image-71093 src="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/alternatech.net%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/03%5C/49-1.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"1024\"' height='\"768\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/49-1.jpg' https: sizes='\"(max-width:'> <img decoding='\"async\"' class='\"alignnone' size-full wp-image-71094 src="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/alternatech.net%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/03%5C/50-1.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"1024\"' height='\"768\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/50-1.jpg' https: sizes='\"(max-width:'>\n</p><p>Cut at least 1-2 inches off the bottom of each piece. Discard this part.\n</p><h4>Prepare your Pots\n</h4><p>While it\u2019s well-known that cactus prefers \u201ccactus mix\u201d potting soil with plenty of sand, dragon fruit actually likes regular ol\u2019 potting soil. You may want to add a little more sand or perelite to your mix, but any sandy loam potting soil will do.\n</p><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"alignnone' size-full wp-image-71095 src="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/alternatech.net%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/03%5C/51.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"1024\"' height='\"768\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/51.jpg' https: sizes='\"(max-width:'>\n</p><p>Two of our cuttings were fairly long, longer than the advised size of 5-6 inches. We decided to leave them long to see how it worked. We trimmed two smaller segments that were on the short side (about 3\u2033) as well (one of which had a root forming already). We\u2019ll see which does best.\n</p><h4>Potting the Dragon Fruit\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"alignnone' size-full wp-image-71096 src="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/alternatech.net%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/03%5C/52-1.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"1024\"' height='\"768\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/52-1.jpg' https: sizes='\"(max-width:'>\n</p><p>Dig a hole in the middle of your pot and place the cutting 2 to 3 inches deep. Backfill the soil and compress it slightly to keep the cutting upright.\n</p><h4>Water the Baby Dragon Fruit\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"alignnone' size-full wp-image-71097 src="%5C%22https:%5C/%5C/alternatech.net%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2024%5C/03%5C/53-1.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"1024\"' height='\"768\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/53-1.jpg' https: sizes='\"(max-width:'>\n</p><p>Water enough to moisten the soil but not saturate it. Remember, these are cactus plants. They don\u2019t need a lot of water.\n</p><h4>Then What?\n</h4><p>Place the cuttings in partial shade so they can take root without stress. It may take a few weeks for them to begin generating roots. Root growth is obvious when you start to see new top growth as well.\n</p><p>Once these develop roots, we\u2019ll transplant them to larger pots next to a wall with a trellis\u2026once we figure out where. Ah, the sign of a true Gardenerd\u2013acquiring plants before you know where to put them!\n</p><p>We\u2019ll post updates as they grow. Stay tuned.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"</p><p>Propagating Dragon Fruit From Cuttings Dragon fruit, or pitaya, is a cactus fruit that tastes delicious, is nutritious, and grows well in warm-winter climates (it doesn\u2019t like temperatures below 40\u00b0 F). We\u2019ve wanted to grow it for years, but haven\u2019t had room to trellis it up a wall, because it requires support. The other day\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":71099,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Propagating Dragon Fruit From Cuttings","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[781],"tags":[787],"class_list":{"0":"post-71092","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gardening","8":"tag-gardening"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/54-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}</p>