Hi everyone-
Last month I bought a Dragon Fruit at my local grocery co-op. When I cut it open it had magenta on the inside as well as the outside. It was beautiful, and it was very tasty. I saved some seeds, and have now sprouted them both using the Deno method on the kitchen counter, and in pots in seed starting mix in the window- they sprout easily and rapidly, both fresh and after drying (I have some if anyone wants any).
Now I have to figure out how to keep them alive in our chilly gloomy winter.
They seem to be a close relative to Epiphyllums (Orchid Cactus or epiphytic Forest Cactus) and I have some Epiphyllum in my house that do well. I did a bit of web searching, there are several species of Dragon Fruit, and now hybrids so I don't know what exactly I have. Probably some kind of Hylocereus. Does anyone know-are these the same as the houseplant called Night Blooming Cereus or Queen of the Night?
The seeds were interesting, each one is encased in a gelatinous clear coat, it took a while to dry, and it stuck to whatever it was in contact with, but once I had scraped the seeds off, they were fine.
D&D- if Dragon Fruit seems just too big for a houseplant, you might check out the genus Epiphyllum- many of them do make good houseplants, and the blooms are spectacular. Since these are forest cacti that grow on trees, they are pretty good houseplants, unlike cacti which may want more light than we have in WA and MI.
