Delight

Delight is another Paul Thomson selection made in San Diego County in the early 1980s and distributed through the California Rare Fruit Growers; Spicy Exotics identifies it as possibly Thomson's 3-S seedling, a Hylocereus undatus by H. guatemalensis cross. UC Cooperative Extension singled it out as the cultivar best suited to backyard cultivation, noting that its medium fruit size is ideal for marketing and that it performs well in full sun. It sits in an unusual and useful spot among the Thomson hybrids: most of them are self-sterile, but Delight is listed as self-pollinating by UC-adjacent sources, Cal Poly Pomona and Gardener's Path alike, which makes it a rare combination of hybrid eating quality and single-plant fruit set. A minority of growers report weak set without hand pollination, so a second cultivar nearby is still worth having. Its pale, almost pinkish-white flesh also makes it visually distinct from the magenta crowd.