The Publix near my house on 50/Alafaya now is selling dragonfruit in the produce section @ $3.99 each. I'm not sure which variety it is but the flesh is white. The base flavor was good but overall wasn't sweet enough. I might try it in a smoothie.

They also had "Thai Guava". I didn't purchase it but maybe next time...

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Outta time!

Publix Supermarket in Rockledge/Viera is also selling the Red Dragonfruit (white inside) for $3.99 each. The fruit shape and size are just like a jumbo chicken egg that you would find in the supermarket.

That price makes the Dragonfruit, without a doubt the most expensive fruit in the world. They mentioned that the demand was high and was steadily increasing.

The Dragonfruit is experiencing the most meteoric rise in popularity in the least amount of time. Rockledge Gardens had few in 3-Gallon pots a few years ago but there was no takers.

I'm also starting to see it listed more in juice drinks (combos) as a "secondary" ingredient. Perhaps some marketing and the novelty of a new/cool name come into play.

It makes for a really cool vine to grow on a fence. Mr. Ho, my auto. mechanic, just built a really interesting trelis in front of his shop to expand his "vinery". Before he had it growing in an old 1/2 cut industrial drum with a big log in the middle for it to prop up against.

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Outta time!

atemoyas are kind of pricey at Publix too. Do dragonfruits come true from seed?

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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind
Dr. Suess

I bought a Dragon Fruit at Dong A Asian Market in Orlando on Monday and paid $4.50/lbs., that medium- sized fruit cost $2.50. I have not cut open to see whether the inside is white or red yet. Six weeks ago, I tried to plant the seeds and they came up as you can see from the attached pictures, don't know how long they'll take to get big to be transplanted. Will have to wait and see.

This instruction taken from the website "How to grow Dragon Fruit from seeds".

Sow the seeds in a gritty potting mix, water and cover the container or wrap in a polythene bag. A couple of weeks later the seedlings start to appear. This is a reminder that all cacti are true dicotyledons as the seedlings come up with two seed leaves, a bit like germinating beans. At this stage there is no evidence that they will develop into cacti, but these are the first and last leaves that will be produced.

As the seedlings develop, an angular spiny stem grows in the central growing point between the two leaves. The stem thickens and elongates and after several months the cotyledons shrivel and are shed. The seedlings can be potted on into individual pots and in principle could be grown on to a large plant and flowered to produce more fruit.



Edited: 08/19/2005 at 10:06 AM by Sawatdee

Jawaiian

What Publix is selling is CHERIMOYA (Annona cherimola) and not ATEMOYA (Annona squamosa X Annona cherimola). Those imported Cherimoyas from Chile at $4.99/lb are high priced too.

Thanks for the tips Sawatdee. I bought a dragonfruit at Publix in Cocoa Beach on the way to work today, so I'll give it a go.

Asit, you're right they were cherimoyas. I bought one two years ago and had 100% germination on the seeds, but winter time and neglect did them in.


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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind
Dr. Suess

I'd love to see them start selling breadfruit, barbados cherry and soursop!

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Outta time!

Not very sweet but good texture. Does yours look like this one Nugget?
Cultivar viewer Obviously some are better than others.
Rob


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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind
Dr. Suess

Edited: 08/19/2005 at 03:15 PM by jawaiian

Yes, I agree with the good texture. The inside of the one I bought looks like that one in the photo but the outside skin was a little more darker red and there were no green "dragon scales".

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Outta time!

Breadfruit is sold everyday, 365 days a year at Colonial Farmer's Market at the north-east corner of Rt 50 and Powers Drive
in Orlando.

Remember there's a jillion varieties of dragonfruit, and I would think the by far most common is red with a white interior. There's quite a few (most) which are inferior from a taste perspective (typically bland tasting), but nutritious. Lek, how did the fruit taste which produced your seedlings? I think there's a lot of variability from seed, but that also means you might end up with something interesting. My Giant Viet flowered Saturday night by the way, and I see a couple more flower buds on my yellow variety. The Giant Viet flower looked exactly like my yellow's flower.

Gary

Gary, the fruit that produced the seedlings tasted very good. I tried it at the Spice Park before I bought it, my husband didn't like it at first. I think after he acquired the taste and also refrigeration help improving the taste, he liked it. The flesh was fusia color and stained your hand when you cut open, had a slight sweet taste to it.

I think I've seen the market that Thaum. is referring to. It's near the fair grounds area, right?

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Outta time!

Here's a pic from my Giant Viet variety. I still have lots of cuttings and rooted plants of mostly american beauty, and some of the yellow variety. Look at tropicalfruitnursery.com dragonfruit viewer to see those types. I will be happy to trade for cuttings for something or sell (or trade) rooted plants.

Gary

Lek,

I wouldn't mind having a seedling or cutting from one if you end up with a spare. Also, don't let me forget I owe you a cutting from each of my two previously mentioned varieties.

Gary

Gary, I'd be happy to give you the seedling or cutting. I put some more seeds out yesterday from another variety I got from the store in Orlando, it had pink skin and light grayish color flesh. As a matter of fact, it looks like taro with seeds and the taste is very good.

Nugget
Colonial Farmer's Market is way way west of the Fairgrounds. More precisely, it is on Rt 50, one light east
of Hiawassee, and at the north-east corner of Powers & Rt 50.

A word of caution.
There is considerable amount of confusion/misunderstanding regarding the Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), a fruit made famous first by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall in their immortal classic "Mutiny On The Bounty". There is however another fruit of similar appearance, but less known and much rarer than the Breadfruit called the Breadnut (Brosimum alicastrum). Both come from the Mulberry family (Moraceae).

Here's a picture of Charles Novak's Breadfruit tree grow in a pot, in Plant City.

Edited: 08/23/2005 at 10:07 AM by Sawatdee