When a dragon fruit plant turns yellow, it is often because it is being stressed by something in its environment. Finding a solution to a problem starts with figuring out what caused it.
Too much sun, stem rot, too much water, disease, and pests are all common reasons why dragon fruit plants turn yellow.
In this article, we’ll talk about why dragon fruit plants turn yellow and how to fix each problem. So, what’s wrong with your dragon fruit plant?
A lot of sun
The dragon fruit plant is a type of cactus, so it does best in places with little rain and a lot of sun. However, this plant can get too much sun. Dragon fruits do best in a climate that is halfway between tropical and temperate, where they can get the right amount of sun and cold.
When it’s over 100 degrees Fahrenheit outside, the plant can get sunburned and go through “summer stress”.
If you squeeze a branch of the plant, you can tell if it has been getting too much sun. If the branch feels firm, there is probably still water in it. If the branch feels dry and breaks, it may be getting too much sun and needs water.
Covering the plant with burlap or a shade cloth can help protect it from the sun. A shade cloth can block out up to 75% of the sun’s rays. This could change the sweetness of the fruit or the amount of fruit that grows. The dragon fruit plant can also be treated with plant guard or sunscreen. This sunscreen is made of organic paint powder and plant oils, which, when put on a plant, protect it from the extreme heat. If the plant is in a pot or other container, you can move it to a cooler area of your home and water it to help it get better.
You can also plant the dragon fruit in a place with lots of big trees that will give it enough shade to keep it from getting too hot. Younger plants are also more likely to be hurt than older ones. The dragon fruit plant gets stronger and can handle more heat as it gets older. This makes it less likely to turn yellow from too much sun.
Stem rot
Stem rot is another common reason why dragon fruit plants turn yellow. Dragon fruit plants with stem rot are more likely to get sick, have smaller fruits, grow more slowly, get sunburned more easily, and can’t handle drought as well.
Stem rot is usually caused by fungi, and tropical countries have a lot of them because they like heat and humidity. There is a chance that the spores are already on a healthy plant. They may have gotten there because contaminated tools or insects moved them there.
These spores are ready to attack when the time is right. They do this when the plant’s defenses are not strong. It is hard to tell which plants are infected, especially if they look healthy. The best way to keep stem rot from happening is to stop any chance of infection from happening. Make sure your plant is getting enough food and is in good shape.
Most of the time, bacteria called Erwinia carotovora and Xamthomonas campestris are to blame for stem rot, which turns the dragon fruit yellow.
It has also been seen that plants that don’t get enough nitrogen and calcium are more likely to get soft stem rot. Most of the time, these infections start in hurt parts of the plant and spread from there. It can start with a sunburn or a fungus-caused spot.
Stem rot can be fixed by cutting off the dead stems. Remember that these diseases are spread by tools that are already infected, so make sure to sterilize all the tools you use after each cut, so you don’t give the disease to other plants. You can kill any pathogens on the tool by soaking it in a solution of alcohol or bleach (10% bleach), or by running the blade over a flame.
Copper fungicides, like copper sulfate, can be sprayed on the affected areas to help stop stem rot when it is still in its early stages. The copper fungicide won’t cure the stem rot, but it can stop it from getting worse.
Whitewashing the plant is another way to keep it from getting stem rot. This is done by painting the vulnerable parts of the plant with a solution that has a fixing agent, an insecticide, a fungicide, and lime. This solution stops illness from happening in the first place.
Overwatering
When you water your dragon fruit plant too much, it can cause the roots to rot. Your plant’s roots turn brown or black and get weaker. The system in the roots that moves nutrients stops working, which is another reason why your pitahaya plant might be turning yellow.
Don’t give your dragon fruit plant too much water, because that can cause the tiny particles in the green branches to burst and turn yellow. All the extra water also makes bacteria and fungi more likely to attack the plant.
If you use too much fertilizer, it can weaken the roots even more. To make the soil perfect for your plant, you need soil that drains well, just the right amount of fertilizer, and just the right amount of water.
Pests
Pests can also be a problem for dragon fruit plants. Botryosphaeria dothidea is thought to be spread by plant pests that drink the plant’s sap, like the leaf-footed Leptoglossus. Fruit flies, beetles, and ants are some other bugs that might attack your pitaya plant.
Cold: personal experience
We planted a dragon fruit orchard on 10 acres in 2014. We had a huge harvest last year, so we are very happy. We’ve been dealing with leaves turning yellow for a month, and it happened so quickly that we don’t know what we did wrong. It was likely because it was cold. Over 200 of my dragonfruit turned yellow. I am waiting to see if it recovers.
Chlorosis was the first thing that happened to my dragon fruit. It stopped being green and started to turn white and shrink. After two weeks of getting warmer, it began to turn yellow.
I won’t cut the branch as long as it doesn’t start to rot. There wasn’t much damage and I got to see if it can recover from the cold weather and how long it takes.
My dragon fruit also turns yellow due to the lack of iron in the soil. I just add some iron fertilizer. One plant turn completely yellow. Since then, it hasn’t turned yellow. I just add a little more iron fertilizer after a big harvest from one plant. About two months after I picked all the fruit off of it, it started to turn yellow.
Another opinion
Our colleague also has an opinion on this matter. It may well come in handy in your search for a solution. I am publishing here, with his permission, some of our correspondence:
I, too, faced a similar problem. So, I looked into it and found several sites that could help. To be honest, they are all wrong, so I decided to admit our mistakes and get back to our normal routine, which we haven’t been able to do because dragon fruit plantations have been growing. Finally, we’re getting back to our normal schedule, and it’s all fixed. In a week, all the yellowing turned green, and the yellowing stopped. So, what kind of false information did I get, and why?
- Water won’t turn yellow because there’s too much of it. (holding on to water may lead to).
- Is there not enough magnesium in the soil? (absolutely not).
- Too much sunlight? (Not at all)
So, why do the leaves on a dragon fruit turn yellow? From what I’ve seen, the yellowing is caused by a type of gram-negative bacteria called Entrobacter. This is especially true at the bottom of the leaves. So, we found out what was wrong, and since we hadn’t had problems like this before, what had been stopping us? …we’ve been using a foliar spray regularly since we planted, and we haven’t had any or very few problems like this. So, if you notice that the leaves of your pitahaya are turning yellow, my best advice is to spray bordeaux fungicide. What is this? Check out what’s on Google.
Since we planted our dragon fruits to sell them, we used to spray them once a month with a mixture of copper sulfate, slaked lime, and water to stop this from happening. This is one of the best ways we’ve seen to stop leaves from turning yellow. I saw the result, so I thought I’d share this information with other people to help them. You could also spray the leaves with a mixture of fungicides and bactericides to get a strong effect. If you use Bordeaux spray regularly, your plants will get all the nutrients and protection they need (fungicide, bactericide, calcium, magnesium).
Conclusion
When dragon fruit plants turn yellow, it’s a sign that they are stressed out by things in their environment, which need to be found and fixed as soon as possible.
Too much sun, stem rot, too much water, disease, and pests are the most common things that cause pitaya plants to turn yellow.
It’s important to be able to quickly and correctly figure out what’s wrong with your dragon fruit, because that can affect how many fruits you get.
How do you fix yellow dragon fruit:
