How to Plant Dragon Fruit Cuttings

Dragon fruit cuttings ready to be planted

You may have seen these exotic looking fruit selling for a good amount of money at your local grocery or specialty produce store.  You might think that something that costs that much money would be difficult to grow, but they are not.  Dragon fruit, given the right conditions, are very easy to grow.  They grow from both seed and cuttings.  I am gowing to share our method of how to grow dragon fruit from cuttings.

Dragon fruit cutting size
Acquire a cutting or a segment of a main plant.  The best cutting size is appoximately between 6 and 18 inches although shorter and larger cuttings have been succesfully rooted.  Once cut from the main plant, you will want to let the fresh cut dry out and heal for a minimum of 3 days before planting.  This will help prevent the new cutting from rotting when placed in the mix.
Potting mix to grow dragon fruit cuttings

There are many ways to grow your own dragon fruit from cuttings, but the easiest way is place them in a well draining potting mix.  I mix my own using a potting mix recipe from Gary Matsuoka at Laguna Hills Nursery.  When I need a quick bagged potting mix I usually Kellogg Organic Palm, Cactus, and Citrus mix.  Wet the potting mix to the point where it is moist but not soaking wet.  If you take a handful of potting mix and squeeze it and water drips out, then the mix is too wet and your dragon fruit cuttigns have a higher risk of rotting.

potting dragon fruit cuttings

I usually start my dragon fruit cuttings in a small, 1 gallon pot.  Place your new dragon fruit cutting in the potting mix no more than an inch or 2 below mix level. Lightly tamp down the soil to make firm contact between the pottign mix and the cutting.  Depending on your climate and conditions you may need to water your newly planted cuttign every day or 2 or every week or 2 to keep that damp moinsture level.  It is ok if the top of the potting mix looks dry, but you want the inch or 2 below the surface to be damp.

If you notice some browning on the bottom of your cutting after a few days or weeks, not to worry.  Just remove the cutting and cut away that portion, cutting into the healthy portion of the cutting and place it back in the pot after waiting another minimum of 3 days to help that new wound heal.

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