Red Pitaya, Strawberry Pear, Night-blooming Cereus, Queen of the Night, Honolulu

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GeoNate San Dimas, CA(Zone 9b) Oct 18, 2004

Red Pitaya, Strawberry Pear, Night-blooming Cereus, Queen of the Night, Honolulu Queen
Hylocereus undatus

Pitaya blooms and edible red "dragon fruit" that resulted after pollination.

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tazzy Sand Springs, OK(Zone 7a) Oct 19, 2004

Stunning

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GeoNate San Dimas, CA(Zone 9b) Oct 19, 2004

It was pretty impressive. I went outside and saw 18 blooms in a single evening. I posted another photo with a wider view of the cactus, but the reviewers must not have loaded it.

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Maxine Western, WI(Zone 4a) Oct 19, 2004

Absolutely GORGEOUS!!!

Now I can hardly wait for mine to bloom. I have never seen them before and then managed to trade for some.

Thanks for posting.

Maxine

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kareoke Greensburg, IN(Zone 6a) Oct 19, 2004

what a stunning plant, would love to get one, can they be started with cuttings, if so if you ever have any GeoNate I would like to put my name on it.

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Clare_CA Ventura, United States(Zone 10b) Oct 19, 2004

What a great plant. Does yours climb by air roots? What kind of support to you have there? Did you pollinate it yourself, or did pollination occur naturally. Sorry for all the questions. Thanks!

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hanna1 Castro Valley, CA(Zone 9a) Oct 20, 2004

Outstanding, what a beauty, how did you do that, lol????

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GeoNate San Dimas, CA(Zone 9b) Oct 21, 2004

My grandmother started a cutting in a small pot 25 years ago. She was under the impression that it would only get one bloom a year. And that's what it did... for a while. My grandparents would stay up nights waiting for the flower to open. Since then, the cactus has grown in a wild fashion and spread along the block wall, engulfing anything and everything. We have had to cut it back several times, because its natural habit is to reach for the trees. It began to take over the bottlebrush tree that can be seen in the photo. The original pot has turned over and very little dirt is left, so it likely gets most of its nutrients from the air, and roots that have attached to the wall. It wasn't until 5 or 6 years ago that it started to have multiple blooms throughout the year. It seems the older the plant gets the more blooms it produces. So much for the "single bloom a year" assumption! The other night I counted 18. The red "Dragon Fruit" in the photos have resulted from natural pollination of the flower. But I have decided to do it by hand with the hope of yielding more fruit. I've attached a couple pictures of the dragon fruit. They remind me of a kiwi, but taste more like a melon.
Sorry for the length of my post. Thank you for all of your responses.

Nate

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Clare_CA Ventura, United States(Zone 10b) Oct 21, 2004

Wonderful, Nate. Thanks for the history and for the description. You are very lucky to have such a special thing.

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