Monday, January 4, 2016

Dragon Fruit Fruiting Results from 2015

The results described here are compilation of data from the table published at https://fruitsandgardening.blogspot.com/2016/01/dragon-fruit-flowers-and-fruits-2015.html


Variety codes


8S - 8S, Sugar Dragon
AB - American Beauty
D - Delight
G2 - Thomson G2
HC - Halley's Comet
PG - Physical Graffiti
PP - Pink Panther
VG - Vietnamese Giant
VR - Valdivia Roja

Bagging fruits after pollination


This year I wanted to find out if bagging the flowers after pollination improved the fertilization success. I garden in CA Central Valley, and too often our summer nights here can be dry and windy. Paul Thomson in his book mentioned that success of fertilization depends on air humidity.  I covered some flowers with one gallon Ziploc bags with cut corners and foil attached to the bag as shown in the pictures below.  The bag stayed on the flower for about a week. This was my attempt to increase humidity around flower during pollen tube development.


























Bagging flowers did not improve fertilization


After following the fate of 142 flowers, I came to the conclusion that bagging flowers after pollination did not improve the fertilization rate. Fertilization success was quite high for both, the covered with bags (84%), and not covered flowers (90%). The fertilization success data is in the table below.

  # bagged flowers % fertilization for bagged # not bagged flowers % fertilization for not bagged All flowers % fertilization for all flowers
Fertilized 54 84 70 90 124 87
Failed 10   8   18  
Total 64   78   142  


Bagging flowers did not improve fruit weight


Since I collected the weight data for each fruit, I also wanted to check if bagging improved the fruit weight.  Average weight for bagged and not bagged fruits per each variety is in the table below. It does not seem that bagging helped to increase the fruit weight.  Three varieties showed higher weight when bagged, and three varieties had better weight when not bagged.  See the numbers in red font in the table.

variety average weight, not bagged # of not bagged fruits average waight, bagged  # of bagged fruits average weight for all total number of fruits 
8S 117 27 97 20 107 47
AB 0 0 337 2 337 2
D 233 6 292 5 263 11
G2 0 0 295 6 295 6
HC 378 5 0 0 378 5
PG 264 19 240 10 252 29
PP 141 4 125 5 133 9
VG 315 7 385 3 350 10
VR 230 2 256 2 243 4
70 53 123




Flower to fruit time


And the last table here shows the time from flower to fruit for each variety.  I only used data for the first 100 fruits from flowers opened up to Sept 2. The fruit development during late fall was sub-optimal and required more days than during summer weather.  The fruits were typically picked 5-6 days after fruit color change.

variety days from flower  to fruit # fruits
8S 49 31
AB 51 1
D 45 9
G2 47 6
HC 47 4
PG 46 29
PP 48 9
VG 44 7
VR 50 4

Friday, January 1, 2016

Dragon Fruit Flowers and Fruits 2015, table with all

8S - 8S, Sugar Dragon
AB - American Beauty
D - Delight
G2 - Thomson G2
HC - Halley Comet
PG - Physical Graffiti
PP - Pink Panther
VG - Vietnamese Giant
VR - Valdivia Roja



flower variety/plant ID date flower opened polination time pollen used cover bag removed made to fruit weight in gr days to maturity  
1 G2-1 5/31/2015 10:00 PM PG plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/7/2015 7/19/2015 470 49  
2 PG-1 5/31/2015 10:00 PM G2 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/7/2015 7/12/2015 469 42  
3 G2-1 6/3/2015 10:40 PM PG from 5/31 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/10/2015 7/23/2015 173 50  
4 G2-1 6/3/2015 10:40 PM PG from 5/31 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/10/2015 7/23/2015 61 50  
5 8S-2 6/5/2015 10:30 PM G2 from 6/3 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/12/2015 7/23/2015 73 48  
6 8S-1 6/6/2015 10:30 PM G2 from 6/3 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/13/2015 7/21/2015 66 45  
7 8S-1 6/6/2015 10:30 PM G2 from 6/3 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/13/2015 7/19/2015 31 43  
8 8S-2 6/6/2015 10:30 PM G2 from 6/3 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/13/2015 Failed      
9 8S-1 6/7/2015 10:10 PM G2 plastig bag, cut corners, with foil 6/14/2015 Failed      
10 G2-1 6/7/2015 10:10 PM 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/14/2015 7/27/2015 135 50  
11 8S-1 6/8/2015 10:40 PM G2 from 6/7 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/14/2015 Failed      
12 8S-1 6/9/2015 10:10 PM G2 from 6/7 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/16/2015 7/28/2015 131 49  
13 PG-1 6/12/2015 10:10 PM 8S from 6/9 and G2 from 6/7 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/17/2015 7/24/2015 232 42  
14 PG-1 6/13/2015 10:40 PM 8S from 6/9 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/20/2015 Failed      
15 PG-1 6/13/2015 10:40 PM 8S from 6/9 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/20/2015 Failed      
16 8S-1 6/17/2015 10:40 PM self plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 6/29/2015 8/4/2015 104 48  
17 8S-1 6/21/2015 10:50 PM self plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 7/1/2015 8/3/2015 43 43  
18 8S-2 6/24/2015 8:30 AM next morning self plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 7/1/2015 8/11/2015 65 48  
19 8S-2 6/24/2015 8:30 AM next morning self plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 7/1/2015 8/11/2015 81 48  
20 8S-3 6/27/2015 11:00 PM self plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 7/7/2015 8/13/2015 78 47  
21 8S-3 7/1/2015 11:50 PM self plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 7/7/2015 Failed      
22 8S-3 7/13/2015 10:30 PM self plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 7/20/2015 8/31/2015 156 49  
23 PG-2 7/14/2015 10:30 PM frozen 8S none N/A 8/28/2015 188 45  
24 8S-3 7/16/2015 10:30 PM self plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 7/23/2015 9/2/2015 119 48  
25 PG-2 7/17/2015 10:50 PM 8S from 7/16 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 7/27/2015 8/30/2015 206 44  
26 8S-2 7/21/2015 10:30 PM self plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 7/27/2015 9/5/2015 119 46  
27 AB-1 7/22/2015 10:30 PM 8S from 7/21 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 7/28/2015 9/11/2015 389 51  
28 HC-1 8/1/2015 10:40 PM frozen 8S and AB from 7/22 none N/A 9/19/2015 223 49  
29 PG-1 8/2/2015 10:40 PM frozen 8S and AB from 7/22 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/8/2015 9/18/2015 171 47  
30 PG-1 8/2/2015 10:40 PM frozen 8S and AB from 7/22 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/8/2015 9/18/2015 158 47  
31 D-1 8/3/2015 11:10 PM PG from 8/2 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/8/2015 9/13/2015 427 41  
32 8S-1 8/4/2015 10:40 PM self and VG plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/8/2015 9/19/2015 133 46  
33 VG-1 8/4/2015 10:40 PM self and 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/10/2015 9/14/2015 336 41  
34 PG-1 8/4/2015 11:00 PM VG and 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/10/2015 9/15/2015 235 42  
35 PG-1 8/4/2015 11:00 PM VG and 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/10/2015 9/17/2015 238 44  
36 D-1 8/4/2015 11:10 PM VG and 8S none N/A 9/14/2015 423 41  
37 HC-1 8/4/2015 11:10 PM VG and 8S none N/A 9/16/2015 552 43  
38 PG-2 8/4/2015 11:10 PM VG and 8S none N/A 9/13/2015 231 40  
39 D-1 8/4/2015 10:00 AM next morning VG and 8S none N/A 9/16/2015 146 43  
40 8S-1 8/5/2015 10:30 PM VG and 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/10/2015 9/20/2015 101 46  
41 G2-1 8/5/2015 10:30 PM VG and 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/11/2015 9/14/2015 501 40  
42 VG-1 8/5/2015 10:30 PM VG and 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/10/2015 9/15/2015 293 41  
43 PG-1 8/5/2015 10:30 PM VG and 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/10/2015 9/19/2015 247 45  
44 PG-1 8/5/2015 10:30 PM VG and 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/14/2015 9/19/2015 235 45  
45 PG-1 8/5/2015 10:30 PM VG and 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/14/2015 9/19/2015 205 45  
46 PG-2 8/5/2015 10:30 PM VG and 8S none N/A 9/11/2015 260 37  
47 PG-2 8/5/2015 10:30 PM VG and 8S none N/A 9/15/2015 262 41  
48 PG-1 8/6/2015 10:00 PM VG and 8S none N/A 9/22/2015 273 47  
49 PG-2 8/6/2015 10:00 PM VG and 8S none N/A 9/22/2015 314 47  
50 8S-1 8/6/2015 10:00 PM VG and 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/8/2015 9/23/2015 111 48  
51 PP-1 8/6/2015 10:00 PM VG and 8S none N/A 9/22/2015 122 47  
52 PP-1 8/6/2015 10:00 PM VG and 8S none N/A 9/21/2015 144 46  
53 PG-2 8/6/2015 10:00 PM VG and 8S none N/A 9/20/2015 335 45  
54 PG-2 8/6/2015 10:00 PM VG and 8S none N/A 9/22/2015 364 47  
55 HC-1 8/7/2015 10:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A failed      
56 D-1 8/7/2015 10:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/23/2015 137 47  
57 PG-1 8/7/2015 10:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/23/2015 197 47  
58 PG-2 8/7/2015 10:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/23/2015 250 47  
59 PG-3 8/7/2015 10:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/26/2015 64 50  
60 PG-3 8/7/2015 10:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/26/2015 340 50  
61 8S-1 8/7/2015 10:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/26/2015 60 50  
62 PG-1 8/8/2015 10:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/26/2015 176 49  
63 8S-1 8/8/2015 10:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/26/2015 114 49  
64 PG-3 8/8/2015 10:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/26/2015 307 49  
65 PG-3 8/8/2015 10:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/26/2015 210 49  
66 PG-3 8/8/2015 10:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/26/2015 266 49  
67 PG-3 8/8/2015 10:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/26/2015 360 49  
68 PG-3 8/8/2015 11:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/26/2015 227 49  
69 HC-1 8/8/2015 11:00 PM mostly fresh 8S none N/A 9/28/2015 200 51  
70 8S-2 8/8/2015 11:00 PM self none N/A 10/2/2015 102 55  
71 VR-1 8/9/2015 12:00 AM fresh VR and 8S none N/A 9/27/2015 236 49  
72 HC-1 8/9/2015 12:00 AM fresh VR and 8S none N/A 9/23/2015 420 45  
73 8S-1 8/9/2015 12:00 AM fresh VR and 8S none N/A 9/27/2015 113 49  
74 PP-1 8/9/2015 12:00 AM fresh VR and 8S none N/A 9/27/2015 120 49  
75 PG-3 8/9/2015 12:00 AM fresh VR and 8S none N/A 9/27/2015 394 49  
76 D-1 8/10/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/14/2015 9/25/2015 257 46  
77 D-1 8/10/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/14/2015 9/26/2015 282 47  
78 8S-2 8/10/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/14/2015 9/28/2015 121 49  
79 PP-1 8/10/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/14/2015 9/26/2015 141 47  
80 D-1 8/11/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/15/2015 9/27/2015 209 47  
81 D-1 8/11/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/15/2015 9/27/2015 284 47  
82 VR-1 8/11/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/18/2015 9/28/2015 262 48  
83 VR-1 8/11/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/18/2015 9/29/2015 249 49  
84 8S-1 8/11/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/18/2015 9/29/2015 111 49  
85 8S-2 8/11/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/18/2015 9/29/2015 135 49  
86 PP-1 8/11/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/14/2015 9/27/2015 138 47  
87 PP-1 8/11/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/15/2015 9/28/2015 167 48  
88 8S-3 8/12/2015 10:30 PM fresh 8S none N/A 10/5/2015 133 54  
89 8S-3 8/12/2015 10:30 PM fresh 8S none N/A 10/6/2015 106 55  
90 D-1 8/12/2015 10:30 PM fresh 8S none N/A 9/30/2015 179 49  
91 VR-1 8/12/2015 10:30 PM fresh 8S none N/A 10/4/2015 224 53  
92 PP-1 8/12/2015 10:30 PM fresh 8S none N/A 9/28/2015 178 47  
93 8S-2 8/12/2015 10:30 PM fresh 8S none N/A 9/30/2015 109 49  
94 8S-2 8/12/2015 10:30 PM fresh 8S none N/A 9/30/2015 105 49  
95 8S-1 8/12/2015 10:30 PM fresh 8S none N/A 10/2/2015 128 51  
96 8S-3 8/13/2015 10:30 PM fresh 8S none N/A 10/5/2015 146 53  
97 8S-3 8/13/2015 10:30 PM fresh 8S none N/A 10/6/2015 135 54  
98 8S-1 8/13/2015 10:30 PM fresh 8S none N/A Failed      
99 8S-1 8/13/2015 10:30 PM fresh 8S none N/A 10/2/2015 98 50  
100 8S-1 8/14/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil N/A Failed      
101 8S-1 8/14/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil N/A Failed      
102 8S-1 8/14/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil N/A the entire branch broke      
103 PP-1 8/14/2015 11:00 PM fresh 8S plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/20/2015 10/2/2015 132 49  
104 PP-1 8/16/2015 10:00 PM 8S from 8/14 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/22/2015 10/6/2015 48 51  
105 VG-2 8/17/2015 10:30 PM self and 8S from 8/14 plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 8/23/2015 9/28/2015 527 42  
106 8S-2 8/26/2015 forgot to pollinate   none   Failed      
107 8S-3 8/27/2015 8:30 AM next morning self none N/A 10/22/2015 132 56  
108 8S-3 8/29/2015 10:00 PM self none N/A 10/22/2015 167 54  
109 VG-2 8/29/2015 10:00 PM self and 8S none N/A 10/14/2015 359 46  
110 VG-2 8/30/2015 11:00 PM self none N/A 10/15/2015 337 46  
111 VG-2 8/30/2015 11:00 PM self none N/A 10/13/2015 404 44  
112 VG-2 8/31/2015 11:30 PM self and 8S from 8/29 none N/A 10/15/2015 361 45  
113 G2-1 9/2/2015 9:40 PM 8S from 8/29 and VG from 8/31 plastig bag, cut corners, with foil 9/7/2015 10/16/2015 429 44  
114 D-2 9/7/2015 9:00 PM and 7:00 AM VG and G2 few days old plastig bag, cut corners, with foil 9/13/2015 Failed      
115 8S-4 9/8/2015 9:45 PM self plastig bag, cut corners, with foil 9/14/2015 11/7/2015 67 60  
116 8S-4 9/8/2015 9:45 PM self plastig bag, cut corners, with foil 9/14/2015 10/30/2015 90 52  
117 8S-4 9/9/2015 10:40 PM self none N/A 11/15/2015 87 67  
118 8S-4 9/9/2015 10:40 PM self none N/A 11/15/2015 85 67  
119 8S-5 9/9/2015 10:40 PM self none N/A 11/7/2015 64 59  
120 8S-2 9/9/2015 10:40 PM self none N/A 10/30/2015 70 51  
121 AB-1 9/9/2015 10:40 PM 8S none N/A Failed      
122 8S-4 9/11/2015 10:30 PM self and previous 8S none N/A 11/15/2015 124 65  
123 AB-1 9/13/2015 10:30 PM 8S from last week plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 9/18/2015 12/5/2015 285 83  
124 AB-1 9/18/2015 11:00 PM 8S from last week plastic bag, cut corners, with foil 9/25/2015 Failed      
125 VG-2 9/19/2015 10:00 PM self none N/A 11/21/2015 255 63  
126 VG-2 9/19/2015 10:00 PM self none N/A 11/27/2015 211 69  
127 VG-2 9/19/2015 10:00 PM self none N/A 11/23/2015 275 65  
128 8S-4 9/21/2015 11:00 PM self none N/A 12/5/2015 86 75 not ready
129 HC-1 9/21/2015 11:00 PM 8S and VG none N/A 11/23/2015 494 63  
130 8S-1 9/23/2015 11:00 PM self none N/A Failed      
131 8S-1 9/23/2015 11:00 PM self none N/A 12/20/2015 167 88  
132 HC-1 9/23/2015 11:00 PM 8S none N/A Failed      
133 8S-1 9/25/2015 11:00 PM self none N/A 12/25/2015 128 91  
134 D-2 9/25/2015 11:00 PM 8S none N/A 12/31/2015 274 97 not ready
135 8S-2 9/26/2015 11:00 PM self none N/A 12/15/2015 148 80  
136 8S-2 9/26/2015 11:00 PM self none N/A 12/25/2015 159 90  
137 8S-2 9/26/2015 11:00 PM self none N/A 12/31/2015 137 96 good fruit
138 D-2 9/27/2015 10:30 PM 8S from 9/26 none N/A 12/15/2015 238 79 not ready
139 AB-1 10/1/2015 11:00 PM 8S from 9/26 none N/A Failed      
140 8S-1 10/11/2015 12:00 AM self none N/A Failed      
141 8S-1 10/11/2015 12:00 AM self none N/A 12/31/2015 110 81 not ready
142 8S-1 10/13/2015 10:00 PM self none N/A 12/31/2015 133 79 not ready
                25202    

Cuttings sale in June of 2024

Update: No shipping after June 27, 2024 and until the winter sale. The orders placed after June 27 need to be picked up in person.  This pos...