The cultivation and management techniques of pitaya mainly include: field planting, temperature management, water and fertilizer management, coring, intercropping and artificial pollination, pruning branches, pest control and harvesting.

1. Planting of pitaya.

The best time for greenhouse planting is April to May every year. Pitaya is planted with supporting cement columns according to the hole spacing of 2×3 meters, and each cement column is planted with one plant in each of its four directions. Note: Pitaya is a shallow-rooted plant, so it can't be planted deeply, and there is no need to dig a fruit pit. Just put a whole fruit bowl on the flat ground and plant it about 3 cm deep, and keep the soil moist at the initial stage, and the survival rate can reach 1%.

2. Temperature management of pitaya planting.

the optimum growth temperature of pitaya is 2 ~ 3℃. For more mature branches, concentrated high-intensity sunlight irradiation, if the time is too long, the accumulated temperature can not be distributed, which may lead to burns in this part. Pay attention to control the room temperature in a suitable range, and the temperature of the shed at night in winter is not lower than 8℃; In summer, it is not necessary to remove the plastic film, but it is necessary to let out the wind and maintain good ventilation conditions. Note: pitaya is vulnerable to freezing injury in winter in northern China. Based on the cost of 2 yuan per plant of pitaya seedlings and the yield of more than 2 fruits per plant, and the price of 3 ~ 4 yuan in the north, if one plant is frozen, it will lose 8 ~ 1 yuan/plant, and if the cost of water and fertilizer management is added, the loss can reach 2 yuan/plant. Therefore, northern China should pay attention to the freezing injury of pitaya to basically maintain the suitable growth temperature of pitaya.

3. Water and fertilizer management of pitaya planting.

The soil should be kept moist at the initial stage of pitaya planting, otherwise it is not conducive to growth. After the seedlings germinate, they are fertilized 5-6 times a year, mainly with nitrogen fertilizer. Because of its shallow root system, it is advisable to apply fertilizer a few times to prevent roots from burning and rotting.

4, pruning of pitaya planting

(1) topping. When the branches grow to 1.3 ~ 1.4 meters long, pick the core. Picking the core can promote branching and make the branches droop naturally.

(2) Prune branches. The length of fruiting branches of pitaya is generally more than 1.5 meters, and it is in the reproductive growth period from April to November. The middle and upper branches and drooping branches are the easiest to bear fruit. Generally, 5 branches are cultivated per plant, and about 3 branches will bear fruit in each batch, and the other 2 branches will be used as unfixed vegetative branches.

5. Interplanting and artificial pollination of pitaya.

when planting pitaya, about 1% white meat pitaya should be interplanted. Cross-pollination among varieties can obviously improve the seed setting rate. In case of rainy weather, artificial pollination should be carried out. Pollen can be directly applied to the stigma of female flowers with a brush before the flowers bloom in the evening or are not closed in the morning. When the flowers are completely open, 1 ~ 2 ppm gibberellin can be used to smear the flower base, and the fruit setting rate will be higher.