Thursday, April 10, 2014

Mickey's Mini Garden, The Dragon Fruit Souvenir

In all the years of going to Walt Disney World parks probably one of the best souvenirs that we've ever taken away has to be something that's actually alive and still is after three years.  What I'm referring to is the Dragon Fruit plant that my son Quinn used some of his souvenir money for at the Land in Epcot.

Right across from the travel desk at the entrance to Soarin' is a small store kiosk.  They always have these really cool clear boxes of what looks like clear gel with a little small plants sprout, that is for sale.  Each plant is cloned from one original plant behind the scenes in the Land building.  Each one goes for about $10.00, at least at the time we bought it, and there were a lot of varieties.  Most of these plants are found in the greenhouse.  They have a binder at the counter that has each of the plants that are for sale on an info sheet so you can get details before you buy your plant.  Quinn really liked the idea of the  dragon fruit plant, so that's what he got. 
 
One time when we were on the tour of the greenhouse we saw how they created the cloned plants to use for these cool "Mini-Gardens".  The one of the container is a borrowed pic to show what it looks like.  Our pic did not make it due to a bad camera at the time.  Thanks to the Main Street Gazette.
 
Another good side effect of the nutrition gel that's packed around the plant fragment is that it gives you some time until you need to transplant the plant.  We did not actually transplant it until about three months later.  It survived fine.  Quinn did the transplanting and I watched and all seemed well and the plant took off from the beginning.  It's a really weird plant in that it grows in a lot of different ways and kind of reminds me of an Aloe Vera plant.  We follow the directions, indirect sunlight, water, fertilizer and after a year and 1/2 it was about four or 5 inches tall with three or four off shoots.
Last year we went back to WDW and went on the tour of the greenhouse in the Land again.  Quinn had taken pictures of his plant on his phone and brought them with us.(Could not find them for this post, will keep looking)  In the course of the tour, because he had told our tour guide and showed him the pictures he made it a point two crossed paths with the Cast Member that was responsible for creating those souvenirs.  Quinn was very proud to show her his pictures of the dragon fruit plant.  She actually seemed impressed and then went further to say that most people's plants don't really last more than a year.  She were really made Quinn's day with that comment.


So it's a little over three years later since we've planted the dragon fruit plant and it has grown incredibly.  Unfortunately it has grown horizontally and we're still trying to figure out how to keep it in check.  It seems very fragile where the branches connect so we try not to move it around too much and that's why it has gotten a little out of control.  The girl at Epcot told us that once we make it 5 years the plant should begin to flower.  Once it does then we need to do some research about self pollinating so the plant can eventually grow fruit.

Just to give you an idea of what a dragon fruit, fruit looks like, here is one we got at the store the other day and as for the taste and consistency goes, it tastes like a pear and felt like eating a kiwi.  A very good experience all around.  We discovered the secret of eating kiwi this year and that you cut it in half and use a spoon to spoon out the fruit.  No more messy peeling of the kiwi.  Same process worked well for the dragon fruit.  We can't wait until our plant gives us fruit like this.  Although I am not holding my breath. 

Have you ever bought a Mickey's Mini-Garden while at WDW?  If so please leave a comment and let me know how it went the last time we were down, a much sure if it was that they were just out of them, but there were no fruit plants and I can't remember the exact name, but it was a fern that the leaves closed when you touched it.  Very cool.  So let us know if you tried any of the plants.

19 comments:

Quattro Due said...

So happy to see your post. We bought the same thing in Fed 2013. Our plant is about 6 inches at this point. We have it tied to a stick so it grows up. But totally agree it is VERY delicate.

Quattro Due said...

Glad to read your post. We bought the same thin in Feb 2013. Our plant is about 6 inches. We have it tied to a stick with dental floss to make sure it does not fall over. I agree it is very delicate.

Anonymous said...

Just got back on Monday from our Disney vacation and bought one of these for the first time after doing the behind the seeds tour on Sunday... hope it all works out! :)

Anonymous said...

Just got back on Monday from our Disney vacation and bought one of these for the first time after doing the behind the seeds tour on Sunday... hope it all works out! :)

Anonymous said...

Cool! We are doing a science fair experiment with the three dragon fruit plants we purchased as inspired by our Behind the Seeds tour. We're going to grow each of them using a different color light - white (for the control), red (long wavelength), and green (because our guide said the plant will not absorb green light since it reflects that color.) (We wish we had a fourth so we could use blue, but we only got three and can't order it online. :-( )

When you said you left the plant in the container for three months, did you take the lid off or do anything with it? Or did you just leave it in the jar right out of the box for three months?

Thanks for the help! You're doing a great job!!

Maz said...

We did not crack the seal on the plastic container for three months. And it turned out fine.
Good luck with yours!

Anonymous said...

Its been a month since I got mine... not grown all that much... not sure if I should transplant it or if im just being impatient! Really want it to grow big and strong! :-) lol

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Anonymous said...

I got one in late September 2012 and it really just started taking off last year. I know that I need to transplant it (it's in a too small terra cotta right now) but overall, it seems relatively hardy!

Anonymous said...

I was just browsing the net to see how to go about growing this thing! We got a couple 3 years ago but they died when we tried to replant them. In December we got a dragon fruit and a redwood tree and now im afraid to replant them. Did you just take it out of the container with the goop around it and plant it? Or wash the goop off?!

Maz said...

We did wash the goo off. Planted in dirt and it took off. Our biggest problem are the branches that grew out of the main trunk. Very fragile. I will do an update post very soon. Drop any other questions here.

Anonymous said...

Talked to a lady from the Behind the Seeds tour and they said to leave it in the jar until it will outgrow the jar. Got mine January of this year, and 5 months later it has three little arms. Planning on keeping it in the jar until it outgrows the jar.

LauraT said...

We bought 2 of the dragon fruit mini gardens in May 2013. I left it in the jar for about a year (I emailed Disney and was told to leave it in the jar until it grew enough that it was almost touching the jar). It didn't grow very much at all for the first approx 9 months in the jar. I then planted them in pots and both have taken off. The bigger of the 2 plants is about 24" tall. I just re-potted them into a larger pot. From what I've read, you need to stake them to grow vertically. I live in OR so I have the pots outside during the summer but bring them inside the rest of the year. I should also mention that I'm horrible at growing plants so I'm so proud that they are still alive and growing.

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Anonymous said...

Just got back from WDW/Epcot last week. Bought a Kalanchoe plant and it started growing so fast just in its little container I felt I'd better transplant it before it outgrew it's confines. Just did the transplanting last night and this morning it looks great. These are such great souvenirs I'm thinking about getting a Redwood next. The Disney online merchandise service wouldn't do a mail order last year when I contacted them about these because they wouldn't deal with anything that had multiple varieties that would require a specific choice to be made. Maybe I should have been more specific in my request. I'll try again. I might try one of those shopping services sometimes provided by locals who regularly visit the parks and pick stuff up for you and send them for a fee. We'll see how it goes.

Danielle said...

Does anyone know if I can buy one of these online?
I have one but it didn't turn out so well I was hoping I can buy another

Unknown said...

We bought our dragon fruit souvenir this past July and was told to leave plant in container until it outgrows it, then transplant. About a week ago the gel became liquid and two segments are lying in the liquid. Should I proceed in transplanting it or leave until it grows more?

nycpkjai said...

Went to WDW at the end of June and returned on July 2. Started planting this a week after, following the directions as best I could. Haven't seen any growth yet, hoping to see something soon!

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