Hydroponic Dragonfruit?

[Pablo]

Does anyone know if it would be wise to grow dragonfruit hydroponically? My high school environmental science class has received a 10,000$ grant from lowes and they have tasked us to build a hydroponic system. My team is already done with construction, plumbing. and we just started adding plants this week. So far we have 3 tomato plants and 2 strawberries. We planted them this week and they aren't looking too good, my brother says they just need time to adjust but we'll see. So far we are the only group that has finished construction, we actually finished that 2 weeks ago, the other 4 teams are just getting started. We're sticking to plants with red produce. I thought dragonfruit would be a good idea to grow because its cool looking and I have a dragon fruit growing indoors and two cuttings outside that have already rooted.

 

[ApidAdi]

I have been growing some stuff hydroponically for a few years in a pumpless 5 gallon bucket. They always look sad for about a week before the roots are established in the new medium. They get especially sad if the plants were rootbound to begin with (looking at you, Home Depot).

I would not put dragon fruit into a hydroponic system. It being a cactus/succulent I can't see them acclimatizing well to the "wet all the time" environment. Also, this is a very long lived perennial. They can live and product for up to 30 years. I don't know how old the plant has to be before it'll flower and bear, but I suspect it will be at least a year or two based on how small the seeds and young plants are, the lifespan of the plant, and how large the fruit is.

 

[Rajesh Sethi]

Just curious, what do you put in water to feed the plants, I tried a miniature version of aquaponics with molly fish fry. After sometimes (1-2 months) leaves began to lose their bright green color.

 

[Pablo]

Just curious, what do you put in water to feed the plants, I tried a miniature version of aquaponics with molly fish fry. After sometimes (1-2 months) leaves began to lose their bright green color.

We use liquid fertilizer, I don't know what kind or brand it is or whether or not it's helping the plants but I can get it for you on Monday if you want and give you updates if it's working out. Were not finished yet but ours is solar powered.

 

[Rajesh Sethi]

solar powered.

I am too planning one for my mini fountain, facing little trouble with the current rating of pump and converting DC from Solar panel to AC to operate the pump.

I will be looking forward to your update about hydroponic and how stuff turn out in your case.

 

[Fernsdaddy]

Check with your local hydroponic store about what kind of fertilizer to use, as for the dragon fruit growing in water it will grow but in the end it will die from all the water, Dragon fruit like the feet on the dry side.