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Now that the German chemical company, Bayer, bought Monsanto my shirt may become a collectors item. Monsanto's name only exists as court cases over Round Up these days.
It is pretty simple as long as the gardener understands the needs of the plant. Plants know exactly what they are doing but they are stuck with the situation gardeners place them in.
GreenGardenGuy1 I purchased yellow seeds off internet last year and placed them in damp paper towel and plastic bag. They did not grow after a week or two, they developed mildew,and I tossed them....a waste of money and,time..Because you made it look so easy,Iam going to try again using your method..wish me luck zone 9 hot!!!.
It is easy but I never use paper towels or plastic bags. Trying to get the seedlings from the towel into the soil where they need to grow is more work than I am willing to put up with. My general rule about gardening and life in general is "If your working too hard you're probably doing it wrong.
I have the same one on my car. It is magnetic and people in Puna keep stealing it. The message is spreading by the same idea Abbey Hoffman had when he titled his writing, Steal This Book.
I have dozens of videos about dragon fruit, with and with out the shirt. greengardenguy/dragon fruit in the youtube search box will turn up a cluster. Aloha
I just discovered this video! Have already grown seedlings to the transplanting size, but looking at all those thorns? I was hesitant eeks! Thank you for your knowledgeable demonstration and narrative. Now I can go ahead, even tho maybe Florida may be kinda? hot for them. Thanks.
The thorns are kind they seldom poke, but I have no fear of cacti. Yes, Florida is hot fr Selenicereus megalanthus but the Hylocereus undatus types seem okay there.
Look for the Desert King, Frankie's Red and the Yellow Dragon fruit from Ecuador. They are a cut above the usual red skin with white or purple fleshed types.
thanks Bill...i just received my yellow Dragon fruit seeds and just pitted them...just wait for my Frankie's red seeds from you...so excited going to be able to get some fruits in a few yrs...hopefully...LOL!
These cacti grow to several hundred pounds. You will need some big containers and a very sunny window. The yellow dragon fruit would be best for this. It blooms years ahead of the others, like some shade and fruits twice each year.
Now that Monsanto has been bought by Bayer and they dropped the name I will need a new t shirt. This one will get framed as an artifact of a by gone age.
I love the shirt! Also great video! You're a great gardener and was wondering if you would recommended these for my vivarium? I have a 60 gallon that I'll be doing a video on soon. It will have the fennix 24/7 plus light fixture on and misting system I built, diy of course on a timer. Any suggestions? How tall don they grow?
I don't do a lot a lot with artificial growing systems. Artificial soil mediums is about as close as I come. While living in the frozen north I did do a stint with artificial lights for a few years. Mostly greenhouse culture is as far from the earth as I get. For the most part I am a "Dirt Gardener". Since we have to train the cactus to a trellis for fruit, how you train and what shape is very flexible. When it comes to what you should grow, that depends on what you eat or use. Since indoor growing systems are expensive & only produce small amounts of crop what you grow should be high value, high yield, fast harvest and something that is much better fresh. I would also consider something that doesn't require pollination. If you have a fruiting plant indoors you will have to pollinate it yourself. Lettuce, salad greens, Cannabis, & fresh herbs are probably the best bets.
Over the years I have done many videos on dragon fruit. The easiest way to find them is paste " greengardenguy1/dragon fruit " into the youtube search box. I just checked and found 26 videos on the subject. Aloha
It has become a collectors item. Now that Bayer bought Monsanto they are dissolving the name because they figure it is connected to bad business. I'll have to frame my shirt as a record of a by gone age.
I bought some dragon fruit seeds online and have them wrapped up snuggly in their pores now. Thank you for the walkthrough. Let's see if I can accomplish the impossible and get them to grow in Missouri lol
Nice video! followed bc of the shirt hahaha. I've seen someone else germinate the seeds on a wet paper towel too. I'm about to try my first dragonfruit seeds
Wet paper towel would only be used when you need an exact germination count. Otherwise there is no advantage to this and it makes the seed much harder to handle. They produce a sticky goop and are best planted where they are intended to grow.
Great video!! I plan to start some of these for the series called Grocery Store Growing that I have going on my channel right now! If you are getting the seeds from the fresh fruit should I allow them to dry on a paper towel to make them less gooey? Or are they the type of seed that can’t be allowed to dry?
I love getting mail but it never hurts when looking for information to use the youtube search box. Type greengardenguy1/dragonfruit or any other topic into the box. I just came up with 18 videos on the subject that I've done over the years. I had no idea I did so many! Here is one video about saving the seeds and second about planting them. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EykYlJvjGoI.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NMakDsFqi-8.html As for drying dragon fruit seeds it is optional. They will store for a short period in the dry state but planting them in the wet state works just fine. If you are not planing to store the seed plant it right out of the fruit. You are a lucky man to have found yellow dragon fruit in the market if you live in the mainland USA. Usually only the inferior red and pick are found that way.
GreenGardenGuy1 thanks for the info! No the one I have from the store are just the white flesh variety. I was just meaning I want to order some plants for the yellow variety. Not that lucky to get the yellow in the store haha! I’m using the white flesh just to do a video on how to start the plants from seed. I had good idea of what to do but there’s always the small details I like to find before I do anything. I definitely enjoy your dragon fruit videos!
Hello again! Not long after we talked believe it or not I found yellow dragon fruit in our HEB grocery store and you are right they are much better than the other kinds! I planted the seeds from multiple individuals and now I have 100+ healthy dragon fruit plants. You said in this video that these should’ve been separated sooner. What size would you say is good to transplant?
Hi , first thank you for the great explanation in your channel they helped me a lot , so Dragon fruit seedlings will have the same quality as the mother tree they aren't like Apples that will give us an unknown quality ? did I get that right ?
I have not grown and fruited every type of dragon fruit being grown but the dozen or so that I have grown all come so true to the seed that I can't distinguish any differences. There are a few inter species cross out there that are probably more genetically unstable but all the species plants and the species cultivar selections are very true to type. There has been very little human intervention in the DNA of this crops so it tends to breed true as in nature.
I sell the seeds on my website and have a fresh crop. www.greengardenservice.net Dragon fruit are cacti and they all have spines on the branches. If you are wondering how I handle them with out getting stuck, it's a zen thing. The plants know I am their friend so they seldom harm me. Cacti like dogs will bite on occasion though.
I live in Kula over on Maui (a leeward-type weather pattern) and would love to pick up some Ecuador Palora cuttings, and possibly some other varieties that have a high Brix and are self-pollinating. Too old to get up at midnight and wander around with a flashlight, and pollen on a cue tip. Seems nobody on Maui is focusing on varietal types and just calling every variety by their color of fruit. BTW, do DF like to have their roots constrained as they mature?
The name game with dragon fruit is messed up anyway. I have Pink Panther, Sugar Dragon and S-8 here that appear to all be the same plant under different names. It is also called Voodoo Child. Good luck with the name thing. A lot of what I have was brought in from seeds. Is Desert King still Desert King when seed grown? Maybe. Dragon fruit are epiphytic cacti, not terrestrial. They often start are ground level but eventually live in the trees. All Selenicereus types are very epiphytic. The root system often dies away at ground level after a few years. I grow this type with coconut fiber wrapped on the posts to hold air roots. Hylocereus types are more terrestrial but still make air roots. Restricting root growth on any plant is counter productive to yield and development. It stunts the plants. In the case of dragon fruit they will just send out more roots in the air. I can get cuttings to Maui. Use my email greengardenservice@yahoo.com
The easiest way to do that is to type greengardenguy1/dragon fruit into the youtube search box. I have 26 videos on dragon fruit on this channel. Many show the fruit of the yellow dragon fruit. Here is a link to a popular one. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-gbeV4ZGSC30.html
No, it isn't common. I had a case of bags to use up. They do not stand well on their own. I dropped them in pots so they would stand but kept the pots at sales time.
Thank you. My friends and relative keep me well supplied with interesting and beautiful shirt ware. I now have a brand new Monsanto shirt for tourists to wear and get their picture taken with both of us as a momento of Hawaii vacations. Bill
Nutricote 16-16-16. This is the industrial grade of Osmocote that can be found on nursery shelves. I buy Nutricote for the wholesale greenhouse suppliers.
How could I get some of yellow seeds , it looks delicious , just ate the pink and would like to grow. Awesome channel by the way thank you for the information
You are in luck. I just harvested a fresh batch of seeds and just posted them on my seeds sales page. Go to www.greengardenservice.net and click the "Sales page" button on the left.
The dragon fruit know everything there is to know about growing and staying alive. It is only gardeners that sometime block their progress. Great gardeners know when to stand back, set the right conditions and let nature take it's course.
I have purchased your yellow dragon fruit seeds. I am looking forward to the day they arrive. I live in Houston, TX, and I am in zone 9 so I should be able to grow these fruits. Would you happen to have any specific advice for starting the seeds, the environment best for them, ect?
Other than they are really easy, don't bury the seeds and keep them where it is bright and warm, no not too much else to say about it. In CA I used my green house with a heater mat set at 75. Here in HI I just spread them over the top of the soil, water and wait 7 days. Here is a video about the seed. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NMakDsFqi-8.html
Okay, that’s totally fine. I’m just glad you got my purchase and they are coming. Thank you so much, I really do love your channel, and you are the only person I can trust when it comes to yellow dragon fruits. I bought some once, only .70 cents for 100! Too good to be true? Yes because not only were they the same size as Hylocereus Undatus seeds, none of them germinated. But really, I thank you very much.
Thanks for the feed back. The Selenicereus seed is the largest of all the dragon fruit seeds I have run across yet. About twice the size of Hylocereus. If planted on the surface and covered with saran as I showed then kept in a warm location germination takes place in 7 to 14 days. I get two crops from these plants every year so my seeds are never older than 6 months.
I’ve tried twice to start seeds I got from a Dragon Fruit I bought at the market and from seeds I order from China. I did it just like you showed! We live in Arizona so I used saran wrap over the top a have them near a window with plenty of light and got zero sprouts? Any suggestions? Ps. We lived on Maui for 32 years, my Grand daughter has a thriving Dragon Fruit crop on her farm in Kula and every time we visit she always brings me a big bag of fruit, love dragon fruit on my morning cereal!
Other than surface planting there is no special procedure for planting dragon fruit. It is an easy crop from seeds. I will safely assume seed purchased from China was likely too old or mishandled. The stuff you removed from market fruit is also questionable depending on you skill with seed extraction and handling. It is a remote possibility they over irradiated the fruit before shipping but not likely. So...use a seed starting mix and not a potting soil, do not fertilize until after growth begins, when you cover with saran make sure the pot is out of direct light or it becomes a solar cooker. Otherwise try buying seed from my website. It is alive. www.greengardenservice.net
When do they start growing the prickly bits? I have planted the white and pink variations. I used the paper towel germination method, after 2 weeks a plant sprouted (the two leaves) so i tranfered it to the soil. But after 4 weeks in the soil nothing happened, they aren't even growing 😔
Germination in a paper towel or in soil should take the same amount of time provided temperature, moisture and light are the same. If the paper towel sprouted but the seeds in soil did not then you have only three guesses. One, the conditions in the soil are different, like too cold or too wet. Two, the soil medium you are using is the problem. I use mostly seed starting mixes for this sort of work not potting soil or native soil. Potting soils and native soils can often be lethal to sensitive seedlings. Three, I am going to make a guess that the seeds were covered with soil. They need light to germinate this may be why your paper towel worked, the seed had light.
In nature the dragon fruit grows over a large area of the Central America and the Caribbean. This region contains many different types of soils. From my observation the plant will grow on any soil that has fast drainage. Because they are epiphytic cacti they will eventually lose most contact with the earth and cover their support with roots in the air. In CA I grew them on alluvial silt loam. The man i got the seed from grew on A'a & pahoehoe lava. Here in HI I grow on volcanic ash soil. In container I use Pro-Mix HP.
Hello I have a problem not necessarily about dragon fruit. But I'm growing cherries on one of my trees I just put the video up couple days ago. It has large numbers of new cherries but very few leaves this was shocking because I have the same tree next to it and it has more leaves and it's just same type of cherry tree. how is it that one tree have lots of cherries and few leaves?
I watched you video and the tree seems health. My guess is the one that decided to fruit put so much energy into produce that it is behind on leaf production. It will catch up with the fruitless tree in time. It is possible the the tree with the heavy crop had a better dose of phosphorus in the soil that promoted a heavy bloom.
I have never heard of a day neutral dragon fruit. All varieties that I have grown respond to day length to induce flowers. Most flower once a year but in Hawaii the Yellow Dragon Fruit., Selenicereus megalanthus, blooms twice each year, producing two crops.
I imagine the fruit is somewhere here in Hawaii but it hasn't made it's self known. Considering the sour flavor of the fruit use a supplement is about it's highest purpose. If anyone has seed i would try my hand at growing it. As a C vitamin fruit the Manoa Sweet form of Acerola can actually be eaten from the hand. I do grow that plant.
If you live in Hawaii and the plant was a year old or older cutting then the time to harvest is about 5 to 7 years. If you live anywhere else other than very southern CA or South Florida the cactus will not be hardy and will require a greenhouse or a very sheltered micro climate in order to fruit.
Are Desert King faster growing and hardier than Palora? Do they taste just as sweet? Do the seeds stay true to the parent, or no? Do you sell desert king seeds?
It is a very different fruit from Palora so taste is personal. I have never made direct comparisons between the two as far as growth is concerned. We can't test hardiness here, it never gets cold enough for that. I have grown Desert King against the open pollinated Selenicereus megalanthus and at my altitude desert king is slower to fruit. At the shore line it fruits in about the same season. It appears to like heat. Yes the seeds remain true to type. I am currently sold out of seeds. I have cuttings in the nursery if you live in HI. Cacti export from the Islands to the Mainland is prohibited by the USDA.
It depends a lot on the variety and the growing conditions. Under the local Hawaiian conditions the Yellow dragon fruit can start producing in around 2 years from seeds. The Pink types take 5 or 6 here. I have an 8 year old red here from a cutting and it has never made a flower.
i read somewhere that its the size of the plant that determines if it fruits. that the plant has to weigh over 10lb or so. although, im sure hours of sunlight probably play into it also.
If you are referring specifically to the Yellow Dragon fruit then the information you read was not correct. When growing this plant from cuttings I often have 12 month old cuttings fruiting in one gallon nursery pots. Age, season and whether the cacti is dangling or not determine flowering. Cacti that do not have their branches stressed by free floating in air usually don't fruit. I believe the carbohydrate build up is what causes this. A high phosphorous fertilizer will also push flowers if applied at the right time of year.
I knew if I said nothing some one would notice this. Plastic gallon pots are fairly expensive here. Many growers use grow bags instead because of the cost difference. I have started using grow bags inside the pots so when some one wants to buy the plant I just lift the bag out and save the container. I use the pots to hold the bags up straight on the table.
Since cacti do not die this way naturally they must have been aided in their expiration by the growers actions. The soil media could be the trouble. I use inert media to grow cacti. Combinations of pumice, perlite, pine bark, coconut coir and milled sphagnum work really well. A seed starting mix is okay or a professional growers media like Pro-Mix HP is good. Do not use native soil, black peat or manure in the media. Over watering is another possible cause. Soil should be dry 1/3 of the way down the pot before watering. The fertilizer could cause the trouble. I use a very tiny dose of time release like Nutricote or Osmocote. The loss was likely cause by one or all three of these issues.
I really didn't use or discuss plastic bags in this video. I did cover the top of the pot with a sheet of Saran though. This is the food wrap sold on rolls under the brand name Saran.
You can grow more than one in a pot but I can't think of a good reason why. These plants grow very large, I wouldn't crowd them. It would only reduce yields.
@@sonicgen20 No you won't get more fruit you will just get two trunks. The vertical trunks do not yield fruit. It is the downward hanging branches from the head that produce. Since there is only so much roof for branches in the head the only advantage to having two trunks would be security in case you lost one. If often place one variety on one side of the post and a second different type on the other side to increase diversity and expand the season of picking.
Usually I am one of the few people on earth that sells seed for this tree. Today I am out of seeds because the Koa trees had a crop failure last year. I will have seed again in Sept. 2024. I list it at www.greengardenservice.net @@davidroberts9037
There are different types of dragon fruit and they take shorter or longer periods to fruit production. The yellow type is one of the fastest. I have managed fruit in 3 to 4 years from seeds. Some of the others and take 7 to 10 years.
I have become fascinated with these plants and i have enjoyed your information. when do you remove the plastic bags and where is a good place to buy assirted kinds of seed.i.would really like to have different kinds.thank you
If the seed is fresh the saran is removed after about 7 days as first seeds germinate. Leaving it in place much longer will usually develop mold. I sell other types when I have them. Right now I have just two. Later in the year I may have an additional.
GreenGardenGuy1 culd you send a message when you have some the ones i planted are doing good.do i take them outside for morning sun and how moist should i keep them.they are about an inch tall now
My suggestion is to find a location for your plants and leave them there. In nature plants do not have legs so walking around is a really strange thing for them to do. The only time I ever move a plant is while restocking the nursery or correcting a poorly selected location.
Hello. I congratulate you on such a detailed video, straight to the point, with all the necessary handling. I just discovered your channel. I have one question left: how old are the plants that you handled? from seed to a gallon in its different stages. From now on, very grateful. From Argentina, and with the help of a translator, greetings!
I always put away my watch and throw out my calendar when working with plants. Metering time by human sense in the horticultural world is stressful at best. I never do it so I have few good answers for people to whom this matters. Conditions and growers skill effect these figures. Hawaii is a paradise for plant growers so my time figures on this Island are likely shorter than most other environments. Seeds usually germinate in 7 to 21 days. I usually transplant at about six months. From that point it will depend on what variety of dragon fruit as to how long it takes to get fruit. With Selenicereus megalanthus I usually spend about 2 years from a seed waiting for fruit. On Hylocereus undatus it usually takes 5 to 6 years from a seed. There is no standard time.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Thank you very much for your quick and detailed response. I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The climate here is slightly colder than in the subtropics, with the "advantage" of the city's own heat bubble. A friend identified this variety (the one I am growing) as Golden Israel. If the information is useful. I very much agree with your appreciation regarding the timing of the plants according to the climate. I have several subtropical fruit species that, although they endure the winter in my area, delay their development (passion fruit is one). Muchas gracias nuevamente😊👍
@@PauLa-ll5ny Dragon Fruit is a tropical plant. I grew it in the subtropical area of coastal California and it froze every winter with out protection. A friend in the same area could get crops by using a greenhouse.
Ah..The force of the cactus be strong with my fingers young Jedi! I could go through a lot of BS about how cacti sense fear or threat like dogs and will bite but I think years of experience is probably the reason I can do this. Perhaps being a guitarist helps? Sensitive fingers. My best suggestion is use a glove. You can also use chop sticks on very sharp cacti . On large heavy cacti wrapping them in newspaper helps a lot.
I noticed some varieties are much more "spiky" the Zamorano one I have has longer more abundant needles. they are even closer spaced. compared to Makisupa, and a couple Vietnamese ones I have. I do have to transplant that Zamurano soon, has two fruit on it, in a 1/2 gallon pot. it's amazing where these things can grow. anyway thanks for the tips ( no pun intended ) , will give it a try. oh wait, there is no "try", there is only do or do not. my Jedi training has a long way to go.
Thanks for the comment. I actually do believe that some people can handle plants with no injury where others hurt themselves constantly. I lived for quite awhile in the Sonoran Desert and learned to move through the landscape with out disturbing anything. I believe i learned how to hold cactus there. Thanks for the memory.
Hi Bill, as it takes a long time to get fruit from the seeds, I would like to know after growing dragon plant from seeds, when can I make cuttings from the plant to get fruit quickly via cutting
@@GreenGardenGuy1 thanks Bill for your response, when can I take the decision to make cuttings?? if After period of time so what is the ideal age to begin cutting, or if after maturity so how can I know that the plant is already mature enough to begin take cuttings??
@@elrefe2930 You can begin to make cuttings as soon as the plants are large enough to handle. I wait until the first time I have to prune the cacti. If you start cutting the plants earlier than that you will likely delay fruiting.
@@elrefe2930 The age of the plant doesn't matter. Size of the material is the important issue. Tiny bits are less likely to take compared to larger pieces.
Hi, how is the range of weather to be germinated in ? The degree of of heat must be from which degree to which ? . .For example from 10 to 40 degree celiceuos Thanks alot
While living in California I used to sprout dragon fruit seeds over a heater mat set for 75 degrees f. It would usually get them up and growing in less than 14 days. Here in Hawaii I sprout the seeds sitting on the nursery table under ambient conditions. The winter planted seeds sprouts with weather temperature between 55 f and 75 f. Summer seed comes up in 7 to 14 days at temperatures between 65 f and 85 f.
No, you are pretty much stuck with Opuntia cacti for fruit if you live in zone 7. Dragon fruit would be better spots in zone 9 to zone 13. They are tropical in nature. Opuntia make some of the second best cactus fruit on earth.
hey bill....which passion fruit is better tasting besides the yellow one? which do u recommend is the better tasting one out of the bright pink/red Dragon fruit...the white flesh or the red flesh one?
You said "passion fruit" in the first sentence but I suspect you meant dragon fruit. I actually have no favorites in the Hylocereus group of dragon fruit. The main reason I started growing the Selenicereus was because I didn't like the others. If I was to choose I would go with the red fleshed type ( Hylocereus costariensis) because the purple color has some antioxidants and the color carries a plum like flavor. In the species fruit there isn't enough sugar to make this flavor stand out but when the fruit is crossed with Selenicereus megalanthus to create Desert King or Frankie's Red then it produces some of the best dragon fruit on earth.
Desert King is sold out for a while until I can get a seed crop off my crops. I do have seeds for Frankie's Red seeds. So no on Desert King but yes on Frankie's Red.
Sorry, I never use a calendar to judge transplanting times. I use my eyes. These plants were large enough to handle but not over grown. Maybe 8 to twelves months from seed to transplant.
First I meditate for half an hour. Once I have reached a proper state of Zen reflection I lift the cactus with my bare hands and the spines move aside out of compassion for my foolishness. The first time I ever saw a cactus I was 7. I petted it and it gave me a few hundred needles. Ever since then cacti and I have a truce, they know I love them. The key is pressure. Too little the fall too much they bite.
If you live in the Hawaiian Island it is legal for me to ship dragon fruit. Off Island the USDA prohibits the shipment of cacti from Hawaii to the mainland. I do sell the seeds for this plant though. they are under the seed sales button of my website www.greengardenservice.net
In the field i use a variety of different fertilizers depending on price, availability and what I am trying to accomplish. In the nursery I use Nutricote 180. It is available in 50 pound sacks from wholesale nursery supply firms and farm fertilizer stores. If 50 pounds is too much then try buying the 14-14-14 Osmocote in the local retail nursery. It comes in smaller packages.
Since you are discussing a different cacti the conditions for it's growth would not be the same. Pipe organ is a desert cacti and has completely different growing conditions. It really depends on how fast the seedlings can produce a deep root. Dragon fruit do it in days but other cacti take months. Best I can tell you is use your judgement. Too much moisture is harder on many cacti than little water and heat can be. This is a true hot desert plant so it won't be like growing tomatoes.
Most cactus seed is pretty easy but some have heavy dormancy requirements. Rot, mold and weak early roots are the tree things that can mess it up. Keep plenty of light and air, don't over water and stabilize the seedlings so the roots can take hold if they are slow. Some cacti seedlings require a fine sand mulch to hold them up or water will displace them.
