How to Grow Cactus for Food

When searching for food plants for your garden, you may not think about cactus right away. Certain cacti produce fruit that is not only edible, however, but juicy and sweet as well. Prickly pear and dragonfruit cacti produce small, bright pink, bulbous fruits. Prickly pear fruits have a smooth, slightly spiny skin, while dragonfruits feature scaled lobes that fade from bright pink to neon green at the tips. While both cacti require similar environments and take time to mature, the fruits of your labor will be juicy and delicious.

Small plastic pot
Cactus planting soil
Dragonfruit or prickly pear seeds
Water
Flood tray
Plastic wrap

Instructions

- 1
  Fill a 4-inch plastic pot with cactus potting soil. This soil is usually a mix of soil and sand or loam and vermiculite. It needs to be loose, dry and crumbly so it drains well.
- 2
  Moisten the soil with about a cup of water. Place the pot on a flood tray; empty the flood tray if any of the water drains through.
- 3
  Poke your finger down into the center of the pot. Drop a dragonfruit or prickly pear seed into the soil and cover it. Add another tablespoon or two of water to the soil.
- 4
  Cover the pot with plastic wrap to retain warmth and moisture. Mature cacti don't need much moisture, but sprouting seeds need a small, constant water supply.
- 5
  Place the pot in a sunny window. The pot should get at least six hours of daily sunlight. The temperature around the pot should be 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 6
  Remove the plastic wrap when the cactus sprouts. Water the sprout once every two weeks with about a cup of water. Empty the flood tray immediately.
- 7
  Wait 12 to 24 months for your prickly pear or dragonfruit cactus to mature. When flower buds appear, watch for blooming. This will probably happen at night, so keep a close watch.
- 8
  Gently place pollen from the flowers' stamens on the flowers' centers, using your finger to pollinate them. This should produce fruit.

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