Happy Easter's Day!!!
This morning I visited the Dragon Fruit Farm, located at Lim Chu Kang, at the far northwestern part of Singapore, and learnt the growth process of this nutritious fruit.
Dragon fruit or Pitahaya is a climbing cactus vine that grows well in dry areas. As the flower of the plant only bloom at night, thus the plant is also known as "moonflower" or "lady of the night". In one year, the plants can have up to six fruiting cycles. It can be propagated by seed or by stem cuttings.
The dragon fruit is normally eaten raw with sour plum powder or served as juice. The fruit is known to be rich in vitamin C, aid in digestion, improve eye-sight and prevent hypertension. The seeds of the fruit are supposed to help in controlling blood glucose levels in people with diabetes.
Now, we shall go through the growing process of the dragon fruit. The first stage is the growth of the flower bud. The bud will grow bigger till 30cm or more.
The second stage is the blooming of the flower within a night. This normally takes place around the 1st or 15th day of the lunar calendar month of the growth cycle. (No photo available, as my visit to the farm was in the morning.)
The third stage is preparation to bear fruit after the flower bloom. The petals of the flower will eventually dry up.
This morning I visited the Dragon Fruit Farm, located at Lim Chu Kang, at the far northwestern part of Singapore, and learnt the growth process of this nutritious fruit.
Dragon fruit or Pitahaya is a climbing cactus vine that grows well in dry areas. As the flower of the plant only bloom at night, thus the plant is also known as "moonflower" or "lady of the night". In one year, the plants can have up to six fruiting cycles. It can be propagated by seed or by stem cuttings.
The dragon fruit is normally eaten raw with sour plum powder or served as juice. The fruit is known to be rich in vitamin C, aid in digestion, improve eye-sight and prevent hypertension. The seeds of the fruit are supposed to help in controlling blood glucose levels in people with diabetes.
Now, we shall go through the growing process of the dragon fruit. The first stage is the growth of the flower bud. The bud will grow bigger till 30cm or more.
The second stage is the blooming of the flower within a night. This normally takes place around the 1st or 15th day of the lunar calendar month of the growth cycle. (No photo available, as my visit to the farm was in the morning.)
The third stage is preparation to bear fruit after the flower bloom. The petals of the flower will eventually dry up.
The fourth stage is the development of the fruit. At this stage, the outer skin of the fruit is still in its green colour.
The last stage is to wait for the fruit to get ripe and the outer skin will be changed to red. The whole growth process of the fruit will take about 45 to 50 days.
For more information on the farm, you may like to check out their website www.springorchard.com.sg.
No comments:
Post a Comment