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Richard starts with ... I have purchases a couple of Dragonfruit plants. I am looking at creating a pole. Have had a quick look through some other topics and found a few snippets about using either concrete or pvc to create a pole and put hessian onto it so the plant can grip on to it. Have dug some spare 90mm PVC stormwater pipe 0.5m into the ground and 1.5m above and I using T sections and right angles to create a .5m square on top with a centre line. With the hessian was interested if anyone knew the best way of attaching that to the pipe in a non toxic way. Was thinking maybe a glue or clips fastened perhaps. Any ideas? Also interested if anyone has a better design that might be worth looking at. Cheers | About the Author Richard12 Robina 9th March 2011 11:07am #UserID: 5021 Posts: 9 View All Richard12's Edible Fruit Trees |
About the Author Richard12 Robina 10th March 2011 11:24am #UserID: 5021 Posts: 9 View All Richard12's Edible Fruit Trees |
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About the Author JohnI Melbourne 10th March 2011 12:01pm #UserID: 1975 Posts: 248 View All JohnI's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Wayne says... Richard Be aware that the storm water pipe will break down after a year or two without a good paint job and it will probably collapse before that from the weight. I see you are in Robina so go get some iron bark/wattle or any local hardwood tree trunk. Say about 2.4m long and 100/125mm diameter. Dig it in 600mm and place a cross on top. I used treated poles and it was a mistake | About the Author Wayne Mackay QLD 10th March 2011 6:05pm #UserID: 338 Posts: 908 View All Wayne's Edible Fruit Trees |
About the Author JohnMc1 10th March 2011 6:25pm #UserID: 2743 Posts: 2043 View All JohnMc1's Edible Fruit Trees |
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speedy says... Pitaya get very heavy when mature, nearly imposible to lift back up if they collapse their support. they can get to 100's of kgs when mature. remember they're a cactus ie they love water and once they store it they dont want to give it up. I'd be going for a very strong support, like Wayne said , a hardwood tree trunk. I'd even go 150-200mm dia just to be sure. just letting you know that before it's too late. | About the Author Speedy Northern Vic. 10th March 2011 7:33pm #UserID: 2305 Posts: 250 View All Speedy's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Original Post was last edited: 10th March 2011 7:37pm | |
amanda says... I have seen poles used in a commercial orchard and they were hardwood (as above) and also had an iron ring/s at the top (horizontal) - a bit like training weeping trees? So the cactus climbed up and then "umbrelled" out over the ring/s and drooped down. It was all heavy duty as the guys say above... Sorry - hard to explain. If I can find more info/pics I will post. Nice to see u still around Speedy - hope u survived the flooding ok etc.. :) Edit - here is a quick link from googling "dragon fruit trellis" ...(maybe try googling "growing dragon fruit" etc..?) http://www.gardenguides.com/85945-build-trellis-dragonfruit.html | About the Author amanda19 Geraldton. Mid West WA 10th March 2011 11:35pm #UserID: 2309 Posts: 4607 View All amanda19's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Original Post was last edited: 10th March 2011 11:43pm | |
Richard says... Hi, Cheers for the information, yeh the PVC pipe doesn't seem rigid enough. Put it in and and won't last. I thought about link several together to make more rigid and brace perhaps. Problem I find with timber is Termites are prolific in the gold coast so the timber will get hammered and the treated pine will be too toxic with the dragon fruit sending roots into it. Maybe a certain hardwood less likely to be attacked by termites. sounds like not a bad idea. Hi Amanda, couldn't get that link to work for the trellis design. Work ok for you? | About the Author Richard12 Robina 11th March 2011 11:19am #UserID: 5021 Posts: 9 View All Richard12's Edible Fruit Trees |
Elke says... The link worked for me... Also, I have read a lot about the air roots that they through out on a yahoo group, I think personally that you can use treated pine. The air roots are not feeding the plant. Good luck, I used PVC for my plants in pots and so far so good, but they are very young and I probably have to change this as soon as I transfer them to the ground. I saw a terrific DF plant at Port Macquary the other day, in full fruit (20+). | About the Author Elke Sydney 11th March 2011 12:22pm #UserID: 1432 Posts: 8 View All Elke's Edible Fruit Trees |
amanda says... Can u lightly cement the posts in? Maybe then the termites can't get to them....? Wayne was a builder - he might know :) They would then have to come to/up the post via their tunnel things - u would see them then.. I just googled "dragon fruit trellis" ... and chose that link - there were a few. | About the Author amanda19 Geraldton. Mid West WA 11th March 2011 5:32pm #UserID: 2309 Posts: 4607 View All amanda19's Edible Fruit Trees |
About the Author Theposterformerlyknownas Brisbane 11th March 2011 8:24pm #UserID: 3270 Posts: 1552 View All Theposterformerlyknownas's Edible Fruit Trees |
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John Mc says... The main concern here is getting the hole deep enough so it won't fall over. Even larger posts will fall over if they're not in the ground far enough. As long as the material you are using is very strong, similar to hardwood spec's. A commercial plantation about an hours drive north from my place uses s/h 100 x 50mm hardwood joists only. Bigger is always better of course, if you can get larger spec easily then it's definately the way to go, it will take longer to rot out as well, but 100 x 50 hardwood is very easily obtainable and cheap. I wouldn't clamp two pieces together to get a bigger spec because it gives the termites an easy path up the middle. Wayne recommends 600mm deep, no less. | About the Author JohnMc1 12th March 2011 12:01am #UserID: 2743 Posts: 2043 View All JohnMc1's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Original Post was last edited: 12th March 2011 12:03am | |
About the Author Wayne Mackay QLD 12th March 2011 2:13am #UserID: 338 Posts: 908 View All Wayne's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Brendan says... Hi Richard, You could concrete in a piece of 4" (100mm) PVC,(say 2400 to 2700mm long), 600mm deep, then fill the PVC with concrete, then drop/force a 12 or 19mm piece of galv. threaded rod down inside the concrete filled PVC, leaving it ~ 150 above the top. When it's set, say 48hours, bolt some timber on top to make a T shape. That won't rot, fall over etc. Or put two PVC posts in as above, then join them together with a piece of solid timber. | About the Author Brendan Mackay, Q 12th March 2011 9:42am #UserID: 1947 Posts: 1722 View All Brendan's Edible Fruit Trees |
About the Author Richard12 Robina 14th March 2011 8:55am #UserID: 5021 Posts: 9 View All Richard12's Edible Fruit Trees |
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About the Author 22nd January 2012 5:00pm #UserID: 0 Posts: View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
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BJ says... It depends on your tree. if its a big tree it will put all its energy into growth and not fruit well, and will bring down the tree before you get a good crop. If its a smaller tree, it may work, if you cut it back as it will be vigorous if shaded by the host tree. they get fruit fly, so best to keep them within the range of control. a rogue df plant in my fathers rainforest patch has covered a huge old fig tree and regularly brings down large limbs. they often bring down big gums when drought or water stressed. | About the Author Theposterformerlyknownas Brisbane 22nd January 2012 8:27pm #UserID: 3270 Posts: 1552 View All Theposterformerlyknownas's Edible Fruit Trees |
About the Author 22nd January 2012 10:55pm #UserID: 0 Posts: View All 's Edible Fruit Trees |
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PaulGC says... Ancient forum thread I know, but my two cents - I see some say you should not use treated pine. I used a 100mm treated pine post with black builders plastic from bunnings wrapped around it followed by old shade cloth wrapped around it (for the roots to grab). I used a staple gun to attach that and made a simple frame on top. I used a bag of quick set bag of concrete in the hole with about 1800 of the post above ground. Got a couple of delicious fruit in the first season just about to put a couple more posts in. This time I will just put a another round post on top between the two poles for them to grow over. | About the Author PaulGC Gold Coast 22nd May 2019 12:36pm #UserID: 20340 Posts: 1 View All PaulGC's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Original Post was last edited: 22nd May 2019 5:23pm | |
davewastech1 says... I read that a dragonfruit can live for 20 to 30 years - so you may want your support to be durable. Regarding treated pine - if it's CCA (copper chrome arsenic) I'm not too sure I'd want to plant edible foods too close to suck up arsenic that leaches into soil) In Vietnam (world's biggest producer) the farmers use a square section concrete post. I presume it has steel reinforcing. | About the Author davewastech1 WILLOUGHBY EAST,2068,NSW 19th June 2020 9:53am #UserID: 21898 Posts: 33 View All davewastech1's Edible Fruit Trees |