Dragonfruit and Cactus Pear

Dragon fruit cuttings

Dragon Fruit is a delicious and very nutritious cacti fruit, with highly ornamental dinner plate-sized flowers!

The plant is a fast-growing, climbing vine type of cactus that grows readily from cuttings, and easily grows on posts, trees, fences, concrete walls, screens, shade cloth, chook houses, trellises etc.

It flowers and fruits every full moon for 4 –9 months of the year- depending on variety and climatic zone.

Our cuttings are approx. 30 cm long and ready to plant.

Planting Instructions

Plant directly into the ground or in pots – burying the bottom of the cuttings 6 – 8 cm into the soil. Water weekly until established. Full sun to semi shade.

Note: all of our varieties are self pollinating except for Jade Red and Aussie Gold; these two superb eating and highly ornamental varieties require hand pollination – a quick & simple process.

Hand pollination instructions

Dragon fruit vines flower around the full moon, opening at night and closing by mid morning. They do this repeatedly for a few days.

Non self pollinating varieties require pollen from a different variety in order to set fruit (cross pollination).

Sometimes insects such as bees do this naturally – however the more pollen used, the bigger the fruit. Hand pollination results in much larger fruit.

To hand pollinate/cross-pollinate non self-pollinating dragon fruit varieties such as Jade Red and Aussie Gold: In the morning when the flowers are still open, using your fingers, simply break off a clump of the pollen strands (pollen head, anther, stamen) from one variety and place it on top of the pollen receptacle (pistal, stigma, ovary) in the center of the flowers of the variety to be hand-pollinated!

4 weeks later you will have large ripe fruit!

Cactus Pear – aka Indian Figs

Cactus pear are large-fruited, prickle-free fruit of the prickle free / spineless forms of Opuntia ficus-indica inermis. These plants are legal in ALL Australian states and are commercially grown for their delicious fruits and the young leaf pads which are used widely in Mexico, Spain and southern USA as a delicious and nutritious vegetable which is very much like Okra.

Cactus Pear – 5 varieties

We offer leaf pads that are ready to plant for several varieties. These delicious sweet fruit have a cooling melon like quality and are ideal for eating fresh or making juices in the Summer months. They are very heavy fruiters.

All of our varieties are Opuntia ficus-indica inermis hybrids, and don’t have prickles. Some varieties have very small itchy fur spots on the fruit which are easily removed by rubbing or washing off under a tap or hose or simply peeling the skin off or cutting fruits in half and scooping out flesh with a spoon.

Cactus Pear – 4 varietes

These very sweet fruit are excellent eating; as are the tender young leaf pads, cooked, or raw in salads. The flavor of the fruit varies with each variety. The intensely colored fruits are highly nutritious and extremely rich in rare phyto pigments ( plant food colors) which have many health benefits.

Cactus Pear – red

Cactus pear – Growing advice

Upon receiving your plants, simply plant the bottom /cut end of leaf pad cutting straight into the ground (or pots with well drained potting mix) – plant 3 inches / 8 cm deep in full sun, water once per week until established.

DO NOT MULCH until plant has grown a few new leaves.