Fast Forward to Fall

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I didn't blog all summer because life has been busy with doctor appointments for various members of my family—nothing serious, just maintenance. As one gets older, a lot of maintenance is needed. I also had a milestone birthday in the summer. It takes a lot of energy and time to celebrate. We also lost Goldie, our 10-year-old hen, in a skirmish with a cat. So sad.

The heat, the endless hot summer days, kept me indoors most of the days except to check that the garden had not turned into a desert.

So, what's been going on in the garden?

The tree collards are growing leaps and bounds since we started having cooler nights and some cool days. I noticed that they don't grow much during the hot 100-degree days, but as soon as the day temperatures go down, up it grows — time to trim some leaves and branches and share with friends.

I moved the dragonfruit growing outside my window because it was burning from the 100-degree summer temperatures. It is now getting some dappled afternoon light from the Persimmon tree while it grows steadily against the chicken run. I have yet to see any flowers.

A couple of weeks ago, one of our newbie Master Gardeners told me about a dragonfruit he's growing. It has a beautiful white flower and he's trying to pollinate it but has not had any success. I realized that I didn't not know much about this plant beyond the fact that it's in the Cactus (Cactaceae) family and it needs trellis support.

I learned that the plant we know as dragonfruit belongs to two different genera: Stenocereus and Selenicereus (formerly Hylocereus).

I also learned that one type is the self-pollinating, meaning the female and male parts needed to create fruit are on the same plant (monecious). The other type of plant has either male or female flowers on the a plant (dioecious). Two different plants are needed in order get fruit from it.

I got my plant from a friend who doesn't do much with the plant beyond her husband watering it while she's on vacation; and they get fruit from it regularly.

-There is a lot of information online about this topic, but I found this site from the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources to be the most reliable. https://ucanr.edu/sites/sdsmallfarms/Pitahaya_Production_Videos_2/

The research goes on and I'll write more about it later.

Meanwhile, I'm ready to work in the garden again, as long as the day temperatures stay cool.

tree collards by davidsilver is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.