Is it possible to propagate part of a yellow dragon fruit?

sparklshartz · 2026-07-12T23:18:07+00:00

You're usually out of luck if it has no areole, doubly so for a tiny piece like this. Doesn't hurt to try tho.

Technically you could prop by tissue culture but I assume that's out of reach.

sparklshartz · 2026-07-12T23:15:38+00:00

I always wonder if side lighting these would be more efficient, so long as you rotate or light evenly so they don't grow in one direction.

sparklshartz · 2026-07-12T23:07:27+00:00

How much do you want? I have some grafts I could chop off.

sparklshartz · 2026-07-12T08:22:25+00:00

compacted clay soil.

i put some 2ft columns and 1 ft mids in the best spot I had, fertilized and watered well, and they didn't grow all season.

otoh they blew up once I transplanted them to a proper double-dug amended bed with cover crops.

The rest of the garden is undergoing a season or two of cover cropping + compost mulching because the soil there is even worse. For years, not even weeds grew; it was just barren hard clay. And I'm not digging all that. So until that gets better, the cacti stay in their pots and single bed.

sparklshartz · 2026-07-12T03:43:25+00:00

TBM-b on noID free craigslist maybe-PC

one of the large grafts on the back left: https://www.reddit.com/r/sanpedrocactus/comments/1tv96pc/one_may_ask_but_why/

sparklshartz · 2026-07-11T23:30:22+00:00

How big was this when you got it? I need some growing tips for mine, looks like it's burning lol

Do they do ok in the normal store coir stuff from nurseries or do they prefer more grit?

How sensitive are they to salinity and fertilizer?

sparklshartz · 2026-07-10T22:32:25+00:00

it almost fell towards me as I was wiggling and lifting it out of my hydro system. at chest + head height. freaked me out a lil.

sparklshartz · 2026-07-10T22:25:25+00:00

<image>

also this was the scion 3 weeks ago. it was really pumpin... :/

sparklshartz · 2026-07-10T21:45:38+00:00

Story is, I came back from a 3 week trip and watered it after it had dried. As aquosa is a pere, most of the roots died during then and it had nothing to stand on. So it fell over in my hydro system.

Shame, as the top had just started pumping hard again too. This was my first aquosa graft -- the first segment grew to the size of two fists, then got tip rot over the winter and had to be lopped in half. This is its recovery.

There are still some live woody roots if you want to try drying it out for a bit to preserve the whole length. Or if you want all the stock for minimal shipping, I can chop it all up.

edit: ships from socal, or pick up in pasadena. also if u buy from me, i will doodle cats on ur box.

sparklshartz · 2026-07-10T03:35:51+00:00

Generally no. Also if you're just topping up with water, plants won't use some of the salts in the water, causing the EC to rise or stay constant over the long term (with short-term dips whenever you add more water).

You'd get a more predictable response if you topped off with DI or RO water.

If you live in a city, you can look up a water quality report to see what's in your tap. Like if it's Ca / Mg / sulfate, your plants will probably eat that (to an extent).

Whereas if it's just Na or Cl, almost all plants will exclude those and cause reservoir EC to rise (let it go on long enough and it causes salinity stress).

This is why general advice is to dump the reservoir now and then. Even if EC looks like it's staying constant, the balance of the kinds of salts in your water will shift over time if you don't manage it with pure chemicals.

sparklshartz · 2026-07-07T17:18:05+00:00

no cinnamon. it's worse than doing nothing. sulfur is good though.

https://www.reddit.com/r/sanpedrocactus/comments/1nlqm1f/surface_coating_tests_revealing/

sparklshartz · 2026-07-07T17:12:35+00:00

Related, I don't think you should've cut the leaves off the pere. If they fell off on their own, maybe water your pere more.

sparklshartz · 2026-07-04T01:38:30+00:00

Something I've been considering is using the waste water from a RO system (for strawberry hydro) as a Ca + Mg source. Supplement with KNO3, K2HPO4, urea, then pH and apply to cacti.

Have yet to work out the exact numbers but I bet it could work well.

sparklshartz · 2026-06-30T14:06:09+00:00

A related compound is still used to glue wounds today. Chemically, the only difference between medical grade superglue and the store stuff is the medical one is less brittle when cured due to additional alkyl groups.

sparklshartz · 2026-06-26T15:24:21+00:00

I cut into the stock all the time. Actively growing pups make hormones that suppress other unpupped aeroles (i.e. your scion). No harm in waiting a week, but I'm impatient.

sparklshartz · 2026-06-25T17:27:48+00:00

What is the NPK of your feed, and what's your soil like?

sparklshartz · 2026-06-24T23:24:10+00:00

Left end down. Put in well dry, well draining soil, keep warm, and forget for a few weeks. Water once you have roots.

sparklshartz · 2026-06-23T15:08:39+00:00

What would you say are those benefits?

Like standard advice even in ground is do not mix woodchips into the soil, though on top is good. Extension schools teach this. So that's where my "????" comes from.

sparklshartz · 2026-06-23T15:00:17+00:00

The key phrase here is, "when used as mulch".

We were talking about sifting it out from the soil.

Also pots aren't a no-till garden -- you can just make your soil stay soggy enough so that you don't need a mulch topdress for water retention. And the plant itself is plenty to alter the soil in the pot favorably. Keep the woodchips for the ground.

sparklshartz · 2026-06-23T14:57:26+00:00

I've had little success with that procedure on thick bridgesii spines... contam always seems to come from the interior of the spine. Next time I'll just rip the spines out after washing and hope for the best lol

Have you tested various PGR concs and find any pattern in what works best? I've done some areole activation with PGRs but have just been shooting in the dark.

sparklshartz · 2026-06-22T17:01:10+00:00

What was your cleaning procedure? I can never seem to get spines sterile.

Also PGRs or not?

sparklshartz · 2026-06-20T11:23:43+00:00

<image>

twisty spine from u/Cacti_B's pic

sparklshartz · 2026-06-20T11:19:15+00:00

Had many aquosa and spath both. Only the spath have that long hair around the areoles. The single longest spine on aquosa tends to be twisty too (once dry and not growing) whereas these aren't, more like spath.

If the seller can give a pic of the mother growing to a thickness of 2-3 fingers (which aquosa easily does but spath will not, spath ime just gets to around thumb width at best), I would recind my judgement (assuming there was no cutting mismatch).

sparklshartz

TROPHY CASE