American Beauty Dragon Fruit

Hylocereus undatus 'American Beauty'

fruit

American Beauty is a popular self-fertile dragon fruit (pitaya), a climbing tropical cactus grown for its spectacular flowers and vivid fruit. Large, fragrant white blooms open for a single night, and where the cactus is self-fertile like this one a single plant can set fruit without a partner. The bright magenta, scaly fruit splits to reveal sweet, deep-red flesh flecked with tiny crunchy seeds, mild and refreshing like a cross between kiwi and pear. The plant is a fast, sprawling, leafless cactus that climbs by aerial roots and makes a striking living sculpture on a stout post or trellis in any frost-free garden.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Lemongrass: A clumping aromatic that shares the same hot, dry, well-drained conditions and helps deter some pests at the base of the post
• Sweet Potato: A groundcover that shades the soil and reduces weeds around the widely spaced posts
• Marigold: Helps suppress nematodes in the sandy soils dragon fruit prefers

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts. Tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Stem canker →

  A fungal disease causing sunken stem spots - keep airflow, avoid overhead watering, and cut out and destroy infected segments with clean tools

• Stem and fruit rot →

  Strikes in wet, poorly drained sites - plant in raised, sharply drained beds and keep the crown and stems dry

• Mealybugs →

  Hide in stem grooves and on fruit - blast off with water, dab with alcohol, or treat with horticultural oil and control the ants that tend them

• Slugs and snails →

  Chew young stems and ripe fruit - hand-pick at night, use barriers, and keep mulch pulled back from the base

🌾 Harvest & storage

Stem cuttings often fruit just 6 to 9 months after planting, with the ripening season running roughly June through November and several flushes a year. The fruit is ready about 30 to 50 days after flowering, when the skin is fully colored and the little leafy scales (bracts) begin to wither; ripe fruit gives slightly to a gentle squeeze. Cut it free with clippers - it does not get sweeter after picking. Fruit keeps several days at room temperature or a few weeks bagged in the refrigerator.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

About 60 calories per 100 g with roughly 3 g fiber, 25 mg vitamin C, calcium, iron, and (in the red-fleshed types) betalain antioxidants that give the brilliant color. Low in calories and refreshing, dragon fruit is eaten fresh, cubed into fruit bowls, or blended into smoothies.