Hybridizing Dragon Fruit

Guide 9 of 16 · Free, no signup

Training and pruning

How do you prune and train dragon fruit?

Pruning is absolutely essential for maintaining the shape, size, and productivity of dragon fruit plants. Failure to prune a dragon for an extended period of time can lead to undergrowth that will prevent flowering, and without proper airflow pathogen and disease risk goes up considerably as well.

Failure to prune a dragon over an extended period can also lead to catastrophic failure as well. A neglected dragon that isn't pruned regularly can grow to be hundreds of pounds. This can cause your trellis to eventually fail, and if you have one growing on a fence, it can cause the entire thing to eventually topple over, causing incredible damage!

Pruning timing and technique

For optimal results:

  1. When to prune: After the last harvest, typically in October-November.
  2. Main stem: Remove branches growing up the main stem (undergrowth).
  3. Old growth: Selectively remove older branches from underneath that get no sunlight, or any that are diseased, or malformed.
  4. Clean cuts: Cut branches back to the original stem. Cut at a 45 degree angle to allow moisture to roll off the healed wound. Cutting north facing helps reduce sun exposure.
  5. Canopy management: For a medium size dragon: Allow 5 branches to grow off the main stem and only 3 sub-branches on each of those. Remove the rest.
  6. Maintenance pruning: Continue pruning to maintain fruit production and size for May-June flowering.

For many home growers the old "1-5-3" method is going to be a good way to guide your pruning. It's easy to follow and will keep your dragon efficient and modest in size. You start by having: ONE main stem, with FIVE branches that will finally have THREE sub-branches each.

For a large size dragon, however, the method is very different. You want to prune for symmetry and balance. As a dragon puts on weight with more and more branches, it's incredibly important to make sure the growth does not start to accumulate on one side, as this can cause a critical failure of your support structure. It's far more important to make sure the weight is evenly distributed across the base of support to ensure maximum stability.

Branch selection

When deciding which branches to prune:

  1. Color guide: Choose thinner, lighter green branches for pruning. Leave the fatter, darker green branches, which are usually more mature and can bear fruits. Trim any branches that are diseased or malformed, as well.
  2. Inducing branching: Cut the bit off the tip of the branch to encourage more branching behavior. This superficial injury wakes up the plant and kick-starts the branching process.
  3. Frequency: Young plants may need pruning once or twice per growing season, while more mature plants may require multiple prunings.