Especially the varieties belong to Hylocereus spp and Selenicereus spp of Cactaceae family and Hybrid varieties are commercially grown in various countries. Though all of them are commonly known as dragon fruit, Hylocereus undatus is specially mentioned as dragon fruit.  

Hylocereus undatus

It is treated as an ornamental plant.

Ripped fruit is nearly 1kg or higher than that.

Fruit skin is red. Pulp is white and transparent.

Stem has few thorns.

This is also known as Dragon Fruit, Pitaya and Strawberry Pear.

Hylocereus polyrhizus

The fruit is weighed nearly 1kg.

Skin is red and flesh is dark red.

Stem has many thorns.

Selenicereus megalanthus

 Ripped fruit skin is yellow and the flesh is white.

Also known as Yellow Pitaya.

In all above three species, very small, numerous and black seeds are embedded within the flesh.

As it belongs to Family Cactus, it resists for drought, poor soil conditions and law temperature.

But dry and temperate climate with 20- 30 ⁰C temperature is favorable for cultivation. Also 500-1500ml rainfall and rotating wet and dry climatic conditions are highly favorable. Though dragon fruit prefers sunlight, high temperature for long period of time is not favorable. In this situation shading should be provided.

Soil and Water

Well drained soil is necessary for dragon fruit cultivation. Plant is highly respond for organic matter and 10-30% sand level is favorable. Plant is well grown in sandy soil.

Preparation of ground

Need one post and supportive structure at the top for one plant. The life time of the plant is nearly 25-30 years; hence the durability of the post is very important.

The distance between two pits should be 2x2m, 2x3m or 3x3m and the length, width and depth of the pit should be subsequently 2x2x1 ft. To stand the post another deep pit should be prepared at the center of the first pit which is 1x1x1/2 ft in size. Height of the post should be 7 ½ ft and the diameter should be 4-6 inches. The post should be stand at the center of the small pit and for fixing it concrete should be applied until the small pit is totally filled (1/2 ft).

1. Supportive structure should be prepared with iron rods in 12mm sized. Two rods should be fixed perpendicularly to one another at the top of the post. A lorry or bus tire should be kept at the top for completing the stake.
2. Stake can be prepared by using a bicycle tire too. Here another iron rod should be applied around and inside the tire in addition to perpendicular two iron rods in fixing the tire to the concrete post.
3. Another way is concrete stake. It is more strong and reusable but need high cost for preparation.

Preparation of planting materials

Planting materials can be produced as follows,

1. Propagation from stem cuttings – Generally used this method for propagation.
2. Seed plants – Though seedlings can be produced by seeds it is not reliable for commercial cultivations. Reasons are long time duration for bearing fruits and inability to continue characters of mother plant.

Propagation from stem cuttings

Cuttings should be taken from selected mother plants which bearing fruits.

Those cuttings should be cut into 15-20cms length pieces and store in a dry place for 1-2 days before planting.

Then the cuttings should be planted in pots which filled with well drained pot filling. For pot filling mixture of dried cow dung, top soil and sand which mixed proportionally to 1:1:2 is favorable. To ensure rooting the pots should be kept at normal wet condition and under shading.

After the growth of shoots, stem cuttings are trained for the environment and then used for planting.

Planting Techniques

Planting

60*60*60 cms sized pits should be prepared in 2*2m distance for planting well rooted stem cuttings. Those pits should be filled with a mixtute of top soil, 10-15kgs of decomposed cow dung or compost and 100g of Super Phosphate. In any case of poor drainage in soil, 1-2 layers of small pieces of bricks can be applied at the bottom of the pit. Also sand can be additionally added to the filling mixture.

Training of plants

As the plant is grown upwards along the supportive structure, 5-6 ft height concrete or woden post should be stand closer to the plant. Upward growth of the plant should be facilitate by tightening the growing stem to the post. Aerial roots developed on the stem, bound the stem tightly to the post. The lateral shoots developed on upward growing stem should be limited and 2-3 main stems are allowed to grow. Hence the lateral shoots developed on upward growing main stems should be removed time to time.

A round metal frame with 2ft radius should be prepared at the top of the supportive post to maintain a balanced shrub. It will support for the spread of hanging shoots in a balanced way.

Flowering

The flower of dragon fruit blooms at night and it is off white in color. The appearance is similar to Epiphyllum flower and the fragrance helps for pest attraction. The flowering will initiate at April/ May in intermediate zone in Sri Lanka.

Due to the beauty of this flower, it is known as Queen of night, Moon flower and Nobal woman.

Selenicereus megalanthus

Fruiting

Fruits are matured 40-50 days after appearance of flower buds or 30-35 days after blooming of flowers. Fruiting period will continue up to November and during this period harvesting can be done for 5-6 times.

Outer cover of immature fruit is glowing green and with ripening it turns to red. 4-5 days after color changing is most preferred for harvesting, but in export purpose it is favorable to harvest a day after color changing. Average fruit weight in intermediate zone in our country is about 300-600g. Average yield per 1ha per year is nearly 10,000kgs.  

Fertilizer Application

As dragon fruit is a forest related plant belongs to family ‘Cactaceae’, fertilizer and water application is necessary other than for the cactaceae plants grown in drought conditions. It is a newly introduced plant for cultivation. Therefore fertilizer requirement is not yet recommended. But below fertilizer mixtures can be applied for better results.                

• Organic fertilizer

 Organic fertilizer content in soil is very important for growth and development of dragon fruit plant. Hence application of 15kgs of organic fertilizer per plant per year can be increased by 2kgs per year up to 20kgs maximum.

• Inorganic fertilizer

For vegetative stage before fruiting

Below fertilizer mixture can be applied from 1 month after planting and once for each four months period.

• Urea – 72g
• Super Phosphate – 88g
• Muriate of Potash – 40g

For bearing plants

In application of inorganic fertilizer for bearing plants, it is important to apply low amount of Nitrogen and high amount of Potash for obtaining ample yield. For this stage, below mentioned mixture can be applied per plant at a time before flowering (April) and at fruit developing stage (July/ August) as well as after harvesting (December).

• Urea – 50g
• Super Phosphate – 50g
• Muriate of Potash – 100g

Total amount of fertilizer applied per plant per year can be increased by 225g per year up to 1 ½ kgs maximum.

Water Management

To obtain an ample yield, irrigation is necessary in dry season. Also an irrigation system is necessary for dry zone.

Harvesting can be done after maximum maturity during 40-50 days of pollination.

In maturing, feather like structures in outer cover gradually becomes smaller. Fruits in that condition are ideal for harvesting. Using a secateur for harvesting is most preferable.

Preparation of yield and storage

The fruit can be stored for about 40 days at 5^oC and 90% HR. Fruit quality is rapidly reduced by storing at high temperature.

Pest and Diseases

 Comparatively a lesser amount of pest and disease attacks can be observed for dragon fruit. But the stem rot and brown patches are commonly recorded. As preventing measures,

• Planting in proper spacing
• Removal of unnecessary shoots
• Avoiding over irrigation
• Maintaining proper drainage in rainy season is very important.

Anthracnose

At the first stage brownish, oval shaped, moderately sunken lesions/ patches are appeared on thony ribs of the stem. Gradually those lesions are combined together turned to yellow and then rotten spreaded along the edges. Pathogenic fungi spores are spreaded for uninfected plants by rain and wind. Same fungicides recomended for controlling Antracnose in other cultivations can be used for dragon fruits too (Manab, Mancozab, Carbendaceam).

Stem canker

1mm sized, small, yellowish, moderately sunken spots are appeared on stem. Gradually it becomes 4mm sized larger spots and turn to red and then brown. Subsequently the stem started to rot and finally damaged areas become to thicker walled lesions. Infection can be damaged for the fruits too. The species with red colored flesh is highly susceptible for the disease. Infected parts should be removed and destroyed and diseased plants should not be used for propagation.

Damage from fruit fly

Fruits can be damaged by the attack of fruit fly. Recommended methods should be followed for controlling fruit fly in infected areas. For that covering of fruits, burring infected fruits in about 2ft depth or removal of infected fruits by covering with black polythene bags, using protein traps, using feramon traps (Methyl Euginol) can be done.

Also rippen fruits can be damaged by animals such as birds and ants. Those damages can be mostly avoided by covering friuts.