How to Grow Dragon Fruit From an Unrooted Cutting

Select a stem whose entire length from the base to the tip is 6 inches to 15 inches. Cut it close to the soil surface with a sharp knife at a 45-degree angle. Collect the cutting in the morning in any season. If possible, take the stem after the donor plant produces its fruit crop.

Set the cutting in the shade in a dry location for the wound to callus. That normally takes one week. The University of Florida Extension and the World Agroforestry Centre both recommend treating the cut end with fungicide to prevent an infection. That step is optional and it should reflect your preference regarding pesticide use.

Fill a planter with potting mix. Irrigate it thoroughly until excess water drips out of the drainage holes. Set the pot aside.

Moisten the cut end of the dragon fruit stem. Insert it in rooting hormone for a few seconds, allowing time for the powder to stick to the wet surface.

Plant the hormone-treated section of the stem in the potting mix you prepared in step 3. Water the cutting at planting. Maintain the soil moist. The first roots appear within two weeks. It takes four to six months for the root system to become strong for transplanting outdoors.

Install a sturdy arbor trellis in a planting site that offers full sun or where the shade is light. The University of Florida says that the support for this cactus vine has to “withstand several hundred pounds of stem weight.”

Transplant the dragon fruit plant when it is 4 to 6 months old. Place it in a hole as deep and wide as the plant’s pot. Align the hole with the center of the trellis. Prune all lateral branches and tie the main stem to the support at planting. Use a fastener made of soft cloth. Wire and thin string cut into the cactus flesh.

Slice off the tip of the main stem when it reaches the top of the trellis. The pruning encourages new side branches to grow. Tie new lateral stems to the trellis as they become long enough to reach it.

Prune dead, broken and diseased stems. In addition, thin the branches to allow sunlight to reach all plant parts. Remove those that grow so long that they bend and drag on the ground.

Feed the dragon fruit vine one month after transplanting and every two months thereafter. Give it ¼ pound of a 6-6-6 fertilizer with added magnesium. Keep the product from touching the plant’s stem and water thoroughly after every feeding. In addition, supplement trace minerals applied as a foliar spray March through September. Use it according to the frequency listed on the manufacturer’s label.

Build a mulch ring with manure or compost around the base of the plant for its first year in the ground. Place the organic matter 1 foot from the dragon fruit to keep it from coming in contact with its stems. In subsequent years, mulch with wood chips or shredded bark 2 to 6 inches deep.

Harvest the ripe dragon fruit with hand shears, cutting the stem at the level of the fruit surface. Store it at room temperature for up to five days. Keep the fruit for as many as three or four weeks by placing them in plastic bags inside the refrigerator.