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Pitahaya breed from seeds or cuttings
The dragon fruit is the fruit of a climbing cactus, which is native to the tropical regions of Central America and Asia. However, the cultivation of cactus plants is easy in this country, if you take some advice.
Former article Cultivation of dragon fruit plants succeeds easily Next article Enjoy fully matured dragon fruitsThe dragon fruit or Pitahaya is one of the cactus plants. The following types are available in Germany:
The Pitahayapflanzen are fast growing, require no elaborate care and reward the hobby gardener with beautiful flowers. On the fruits you will probably wait in our latitudes for a long time or in vain. Making the climbing cactus bloom, however, seems to be incentive enough to try to grow it.
Cultivation from seeds
The edible fruits contain numerous black seeds, from which new cactus plants can be grown. First, dissolve a few seeds of the fruit, spread them on a piece of kitchen paper and let it dry. In this way, the seeds can be more easily cleaned of the remnants of the pulp.
The collected seeds are now sprinkled in a pot with soil-sand mixture and lightly pressed. The germinating seeds are not covered with soil, kept warm, bright and evenly moist, possibly covered with a translucent plastic or glass dome.
For germination temperatures above 18 ° C are required, ideal are 22-25 ° C. The germination time is - depending on temperature - about one to three weeks. If the two cotyledons and the central wakeful shoot have become visible, you reduce the addition of water and isolate the plants when it becomes too narrow in the pot.
Cultivation from cuttings
Even easier to get the new dragon fruit plants by vegetative propagation. For this you need cuttings. As a cutting is a separated from each part of the plant leaf member. This is placed upright in a pot of substrate, placed in a bright and warm place and poured now and then. After a short while, the cuttings take root and start branching from below.
Tips & Tricks
Both the seeds of the Pitahaya and the cuttings can be purchased in the specialized trade, possibly in the tropical fruit specialized online shops.