Dragonfruit plants

[Rhino1]

We always have interesting plant things going on here but I never think to take a pic or post something up.
Our dragonfruit are in full swing at the moment, so thought I would share some pics, I love to eat the fruit but the flowers are equally amazing.
First pic is ripe and developing fruit. Second pic is a flower almost 30cm across.

 

[Poonjab]

Nice fruit

 

[The Snark]

What color is the meat of the fruit?

 

[Rhino1]

What color is the meat of the fruit?

White flesh with tiny black seeds, the seeds are like the consistency of kiwi fruit seeds.

 

[The Snark]

White flesh with tiny black seeds, the seeds are like the consistency of kiwi fruit seeds.

Yumm. Dragon fruit delux: Sliced or scooped into bite size pieces then dip in a sauce of amaretto heavily laced with vanilla.

 

[Smotzer]

I always loved their flowers!! Thanks for sharing awesome plant!

 

[Rhino1]

I found another one this afternoon along our front fence, it seems to be really quick from when they flower to when the fruit is ripe.
Amazing contrast of colour.

 

[aphono]

How would you describe the taste? Dragonfruit are a semi regular presence in the markets around here. Tried them a couple times but never liked the taste. Not sure if they were unripe, wrong variety or..?

Semi relatedly, I grow the Cereus sp. "Peruvian apple cactus". Delicious fruit. Not sure how to describe the taste.. it's an ambigious "reminds of a light exotic tropical fruit of some kind" taste. The occasional fruit may have an addition of a slight floral hint- personally not a fan of that but others enjoy it. The texture is interesting, biting into them reminds me of the "real" Hawaiian shaved ice(Uluani's in Maui- so good!) texture wise. The flesh dissolves rapidly in the mouth however the tiny seeds continue give a similar shaved ice "crunch". It's an odd and pleasing experience.

 

[The Snark]

Peak ripeness the white and yellow fruits have a sweet-sour flavor with a slight vanilla tinge. The red I haven't noticed the vanilla. The purple tend to be more sour and I haven't tried the blue yet.

 

[schmiggle]

Gorgeous flowers! 12" across how do you grow them (light, soil, water, etc)? Can you post pics of the whole plants?

 

[The Snark]

They are succulent/cacti like and grow in a vine like fashion. Around here they often serve double duty, laced through fences. The fences support the plant and the plant with little narsty spines inhibits trespassers.

 

[aphono]

Peak ripeness the white and yellow fruits have a sweet-sour flavor with a slight vanilla tinge. The red I haven't noticed the vanilla. The purple tend to be more sour and I haven't tried the blue yet.

Appreciate this. I'd have described the purple ones as sour. Would love to try the yellows and whites sometimes- intriguing flavor description!

 

[The Snark]

OH. A something I've been told. While the plants can be readily cultivated in rows as vines and watered and fertilized they can grow pretty quick, the preferred method for the tastiest sweetest fruit is during fruiting to treat them with a more arid desert like environment. This forces them to mature more slowly and develop more sugars.

 

[Rhino1]

Gorgeous flowers! 12" across how do you grow them (light, soil, water, etc)? Can you post pics of the whole plants?

Yeah no problem, it's dark here now but will get a pic up when I can. @The Snark gave a good description.
I don't do anything special or even water them but they do need structure or support. The valley I live in is semi tropical surrounded by rainforest, very rich and fertile slightly acidic volcanic soil.
They are so simple to propagate and I have heaps in pots that are way overdue to be planted, if you happened to live close by I would give you as many as you wanted. We also have the yellow ones but none have flowered/fruited this season.

 

[The Snark]

I saw a tragedy a while back. A family had a huge area, like maybe 3 acres or more, of mature dragonfruit plants. Concrete fence posts with cables strung between for the vines, all neatly done with irrigation ditches and frequently weeded. They sold the fruit on the side of the highways for a couple of years. Then apparently there was a family dispute, rumor mill but very common here. The stall on the side of the road was trashed, the people gone, and within a week all the vines were dead. Herbicide no doubt. I'm shocked when something that callous occurs.