This year, the cold hit hard in our area, and the dragon fruit plant is not cold-hardy at all. In this article, I will tell you what to do to protect your dragon fruit cactus plant from cold in winter and what to do with a cold-damaged plant.
This is how your unprotected dragon fruit plant will look in severe cold or freeze:
This dragon fruit cactus plant looks brown, and some parts are mushy.
Yeah, you get it right. It's a goner. You can see there are a couple of fruits hanging there, and all of those are damaged due to the heavy cold.
This is my aunt's plant.
I suggest to her: "Next time, chop a couple of pieces off so you can save them. Because no, I definitely think that's a goner. If anything, there might be some green pieces at the base. But whatever is brown, mushy, or not green is probably completely gone."
Any temperature below 40 F can completely damage your dragon fruit plant if it's not protected.
You need to understand its ideal growing conditions first before you start growing it.
They perform the best when it's 65-80°F, and this is why we grow it in places like South Fl and Central Fl. But you know the climate hits hard sometimes.
It's not unusual to have a hard cold in winter in places like those.
What to do to protect your dragon fruit cactus plant in Winter
Check the weather forecast regularly and be ready for it in winter.
I have created this chart for other plants:
When to cover plants in winter - Chart - You can check this.
For dragon fruit, when the temp. goes below 34 F, just cover it or bring it inside (if possible bringing it in).
Some plants really enjoy a cold snap and even require it in a process called vernalization! While the dragon fruits don’t require this process, 33+ degrees will not harm them.
You can use bed sheets, too, if you wish.
DO NOT let the cold hit the plant directly.
If you have fruit bearing plant, then pick the fruits as early as possible.
Do not prune or trim in winter.
You can add some mulch to the ground to keep the soil warmer. Otherwise, the roots are going to die.
What to do with a cold-damaged or frost-bitten dragon fruit plant
You need to assess the damage first before taking any action.
If your plant looks like this, you can save it. Try to trim the mushy portions as early as possible.
For other plants, cold-damaged portions help to protect the rest of the plant from further damage, but this is not the same for the dragon fruit cactus.
One of my readers sent this to me this year and asked for a suggestion.
She said:
My dragon fruit took a hit from the frost as well. It looked great at first, but now it’s showing a lot of soft, browned, and discolored areas. I’m really tempted to prune them because I’m afraid it can keep spreading to the rest of the plant. Any tips are appreciated.
Any soft or brown will die off. It will continue to rot back.
I cut it off to try to stop it from spreading back. Try to save something to grow. Not sure yours are going to survive. They look like gonners.
I, too, got hit hard, even though they were double wrapped. It was too cold for too long. It takes months for growth. I cut off several sections at joints and just tossed them.
Note: Try physan 20, 1 tablespoon per gallon. Will help with rot.
This is how we can revive cold damaged dragon fruit plant in our garden.
