HOW To PROTECT Your DRAGON FRUIT During The COLD WINTER / TIPS & TRICKS / What I Have LEARNED
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
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Great video on an important topic! With dragonfruit's growing popularity, one of the most important factors in furthering its spread is going to be figuring out how to push the zone to grow them in areas with colder winter climates. I'd love to see a second part to this video that evaluates the best varieties for cold weather. Your previous video on cold hardy dragon fruit with the evaluation from the UCCE was very helpful, but it would be nice if you could do an updated version with any new information you've learned. Specifically, it would be nice to rank individual varieties based on the following characteristics:
1) Dry cold tolerance: ability to withstand low temperatures without being wet. (under a tarp or in dry winter regions)
2) Wet cold tolerance: resistance to rot on above-ground portions of the stem in consistent winter rain or wet conditions
3) Crown rot resistance: resistance to rot on portions of the stem that are buried or have close contact with cold wet substrate
4) Rust Tolerance: susceptibility and severity of rust damage
5) New growth hardiness: ability of newer summer/fall growth to survive winter cold/wet conditions without getting damaged or rotting
6) Cool weather growth: ability of the plant to produce new growth during colder weather.
7) Overall growth rate: vigor of the plant's growth throughout the entire year (some cold hardy varieties are slower during the growing season)
8) Overall fruit rating: Is the fruit worth growing? If not, does it have value as a rootstock?
These are a lot of factors to consider, and it might be better to split up into multiple videos or consider for long-term evaluation of each variety. I think the cool weather growth category is particularly important for those growing in different zones. It not only applies to areas with colder winters, but it's a main factor in areas with cooler summer temperatures as well. Some varieties are extremely fast growing, but only take off and push new growth when temperatures get consistently hot during the summer and fall. In cool summer areas that never reach the appropriate temperature threshold, that same vigorous variety could be outperformed by a variety that produces slow growth but begins growing at a lower temperature threshold. In effect it lengthens the growing season in areas that don't get the heat needed to see the boost in growth in many varieties. Even if you live in an area with hot summers, observing the growth patterns of a plant during the winter could indicate how it would perform in cooler summers outside of your region. I've heard varieties like Townsend Pink, Soeul Kitchen and Connie Gee may be good candidates for cool weather growers, but I haven't acquired those yet so I can't comment directly on how the perform. Maybe going back to look at your fastest overall growers (darkstar, bruni etc) and considering how they all perform in cold weather would be helpful too.
What you mean by colder winter. Like a zone 8b or something
@@Toomuchbullshitt By cold winter, I meant anything that would require protection for a dragonfruit plant to survive or thrive. It's not an exact measurement because there are so many variables involved: the genetics of the specific variety, the local microclimate, the consecutive days of cold weather, etc. 8b would definitely count as cold for a dragon fruit since it can dip down to 15 degrees below freezing, and I assume many if not most of the current dragonfruit would die at those temperatures. The thing with zone pushing is that it needs constant experimentation with expected failures to see what works and what doesn't, but it's better to compile data first so you have a good starting point to conduct your experiments from. For example, Frankie's Red is very sensitive and would most likely die at that temperature, but El Grullo is cold hardy and would have a better chance at surviving. If you start experimenting with known tolerant varieties like El Grullo, you're more likely to find a solution faster than if you have to weed out all the sensitive varieties. Getting them to survive down to 8b seems pretty low to me, but might be possible through experimentation and hybridization with hardier varieties and species. By growing from seed in your own climate and allowing the more sensitive plants to die, you'll naturally select for plants that are better suited to your growing conditions- but using parents that already have the genes for hardiness might help you get the genetics you're looking for that much quicker.
Great idea! I've been repotting many plants this season, so the data is skewed due to the disruption of their roots during dormancy. I'll do videos based off your recommendation next winter. Mature plants act very different compared to cuttings without extensive root systems. The wrong Maria Rosa (Maria Fucsia), Tricia, and Hana have been exploding wit new growth tis winter, It's surprising!
Or even colder with a greenhouse!
I have noticed that Armando is more sensitive than the UCNR data suggests. Also, a few other varieties are hardier than the data suggests...
Great tips! Like the blanket.
Thanks so much!
Thank you for the tips
Thanks for watching.
Thanks
Anytime.
I root all my cuttings in water on a heating mat as well. I change the water every 3 or 4 days.
That works well too
I'm in Southeastern Louisiana growing 11 different species of dragon fruit. This week will be the first week that we see temperatures around and below freezing. It will probably be the only time it happens this year. It was 81° for Christmas
Spicy Exotics nursery in lafayette Louisiana grows and sells a lot of different dragon fruit species. It’s in zone 9a-b.
Nice! Do you have them in a greenhouse our outdoors?
Yes i know someone that knows the fellow that runs spicey. I have mine in 40 gallon pots in a greenhouse. They have been putting on nice growth over the last two months.
I really want to expand the dragon fruit market here locally and in the BATON ROUGE /NEW ORLEANS areas.
The weather here has been so warm! Been a very warm winter in Alabama. 😿
Awesome! Hopefully you will have some winter growth
Winters will only be getting warmer and warmer every year
Thanks Paul
Thanks for watching.
Love the tips. And the vids always useful to here others garden ideas
Thanks for watching
I understand, but I live in Florida, however next week we get a very early cold spell. But not below 39. Also doesn't stay cold. My natural Mystic red grew all last year to having mature size stems a then flowers but no fruit. Any ideas why? Suppliers to lowes don't return calls, wholesale only. Disappointing to wait 9-10 months and fertilizer wasted to no set fruit. I hand pollinated also. I have no other mature varieties to get pollen or flowers. It was brutally hot and no rain but made flowers a long time in 2023.
What zone are you in, and what temps do you get down to? What part of what state?
I find that water plus cold is bad news
Yes! Especially if the root system isn't expansive. I haven't watered my outdoor dragons since October.