Lychees: Finally a few fruit

I bought a lychee tree about 3-4 yrs ago. The first years is just spent growing. Last year it finally flowered and produced a few small fruit but we had a strong trop storm come through and blew off the fruit. Well, this year it bloomed again and fruited.
No storms thank goodness. Several fruits dropped off but a whole dozen stayed and are almost mature. I've waited so long it is almost a shame to eat them. Almost but not quite. LOL. I have this tree in the front yard and intend to get another for the back yard. Anyone else growing lychees?

Yes, here in 5b in a greenhouse! I have had 'Brewster' in a ground bed since last fall and just planted 'Sweet Heart' this spring. The Brewster set some fruit this spring but they dropped. No big deal this first year.

I've learned a few things online and from growing these interesting trees. First and foremost, NO WIND. The emerging foliage is unusually delicate and easily damaged. I had a fan blowing in the vicinity of my older tree and the first growth flush of new foliage just sort of dried up. What did emerge was tattered by the fan. I've read that it's the same with trees grow outdoors. Second PLENTY OF WATER. There is, in fact, a subset of lychees (Brewster is one) called water lychees based on their water need and tolerance. Third, DO NOT OVERFERTILIZE. This I learned from the guy at Pine Island Nursery. He told me that of all the plants they grow, this one is the most sensitive to overfertilization...the leaves develop a "burn" starting at the outside edge and sometimes the leaves can just brown up entirely.

So, with no fan, reduced fert, and plenty of water, I am enjoying a second, healthy growth flush on my tree.

Maybe you already know this, budgielover, but the timing of the winter chill in relation to the 10 week cycles of growth flushes is important. You have to get the 100-200 hours of chill at the right time to get the proper bud differentiation. Buds that break and grow on without having met the chill requirement will grow vegetatively and not develop blooms. There are tricks that you can use to time the growth flushes and meet the chill requirement: http://www.lycheesonline.com/HowToGetTreeToFruit.cfm

stressbaby: you are living my dream!
I live in NY and actually had the audacity to try and grow a lytchee tree in NY, by bringing it indoors for the winter, but as I do not have a sunroom- it slowly died indoors. From what I have read, litchees are just about the fussiest trees in the world and you have to get on your bended knees for several years before they will consider producing fruit. If i ever win the lottery, i will build a green house and grow litchee trees- litchees are far and away my favorite fruit, and though they are very popular AND ARE HEAVILY IMPORTED in the UK where I grew up, i have not had much luck finding a local supply in NY.
if you have photos of your greenhouse and litchee trees, id love to see.
what made you buy a litchee tree?

It's surprising how few people even know much less tasted a lychee. If you can find them in the store, they are very expensive. I have to settle for my handful this year and hope for more next year as it is a very small tree. I plan to get another one for the back yard as I don't want to risk moving this one.

i intend retiring in florida specifically so that i can grow litchees! am i crazy or what!

You won't stop with lychees. Be sure you go to zone 9-10. North Florida gets too cold for them.

budgie- you are very correct-

I would grow oranges, bananas, mangoes, pomegrantes, etc etc

They are fussy, that's a good word for it!

Here is some healthy new growth at the base of the spent bloom spike.

And here is new growth that has been damaged...it seems that if you so much as breathe on these emerging growth tips, they turn brown at the tips and eventually, many will fall off.

Healthy growth to the right, damaged growth to the left.

Fortunately I have many more healthy leaves with this growth flush. But still some shoots have done this. I use Neem sometimes for scale, and I wonder if that could be it. Budgie, any ideas?

This message was edited May 29, 2006 8:13 AM

Not sure but I can tell you they are very sensitive to some insect sprays. I had a mai quai pink lychee that I accidently got some malathian/volck mixture on and it kill the tree.
Neem is organic and should be safe but you never know. I won't spray mine with anything anymore except some very diluted Ivory dish detergent and water and rinse after an hour.
I did go heavy on the miracle grown this spring and my leaves browned about half way up so I stopped fertilizing. The new growth is fine. I'll go out shortly and take a picture.
Jan...

Ahhhh, one of my very favorite fruits ever since I ate fresh ones down in Naranja/Goulds (FL) 40 years ago where a friend had a whole grove of them. Sure wish I could have a GH and grow some!

Good luck with them.

Budgie, what you are saying about the Miracle Grow fits with what the Pine Island guy told me.

I've been laying off of the sprays as well. The Neem seemed to cause no harm at all until the buds broke and the growth flush began. I've got a little scale so I'll have to use something. My plan right now is to lay off sprays during the cycle of emerging growth and just use Neem during that foliage hardening off stage of the growth cycle.

SB

Here are some pics of my little tree. No picking allowed!LOL

closeup

the other fruit.

That's way cool.

To celebrate, there is the lychee martini: http://www.lycheesonline.com/lycheemartini.cfm

When your fruit is ripe, try one for me! :-D

budgie if you hear a noise out in your yard 2night- its probably me trying to steal your litchee fruit- that is the coolest pic i ever saw- congrats!

Be warned. I have 2 people watching 24 hrs a day. Names are Smith & Wesson. LOL

i am placing an advanced order of 100lbs of litchees once your trees start producing enough fruit to sell.

lol. I should be so lucky!

I tried to grow a lychee through last winter in my greenhouse but I killed it. They are sensitive to about everything. The biggest mistake was the greenhouse was too hot in October and that killed off most of the leaves. It kept alive through the winter and leafed out in the spring, but then showed the signs of overfertilization mentioned above and died. I didn't fertilize it much at all. It was also very sensitive to watering, in a way I never quite figured out. It didn't seem to like sudden changes in the wetness of its soil; so frequent light waterings "seemed" better than the drench and dry I use on the other plants. I feel it is possible to grow one in a greenhouse, but they require more attention than I can afford to give them so I am not replacing my dead one anytime soon. The other tropical trees I am growing are doing well: a mango, sapodilla, and a sugar apple. Both the mango and the sugar apple flowered this spring.

Scott

i'm no expert but since I am in Florida, I only covered at with a blanket when threatened with frost/freeze. Only gave occasional watering fall thru winter. When it bloomed, I increased the water supply as the temps rose.
I now water almost daily since it is fruiting. I'll continue the watering until the end of summer and then go back to occasional watering. I'm not giving any additional fertilizer anymore except for a top dressing of cow manure.

Scottfsmith, I'd like to know the details of your experience with the lychee tree. I'm hoping to learn something.

What temps were you keeping in October? Was your tree in a ground bed or in a container?

I water like budgie, a light watering daily. I've also laid off of all ferts, but just topdress with rotted horse manure occasionally.

SB

LYCHEE MARTINI

Enid P. Saldana of San Juan, Puerto Rico, writes: "I would love to get the recipe for the lychee Martini they serve at Kittichai, in New York City."

This summer, enjoy a vodka Martini with a real twist — lychee. The exotic sweetness of the fruit brightens the citrus flavors in this truly refreshing drink.

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 cup drained canned lychees (15 to 20, from a 16- to 20-oz can)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 oz (3/4 cup) vodka (preferably Skyy)
1 1/2 oz (3 tablespoons) Cointreau or other orange-flavored liqueur

Special equipment: a cocktail shaker

Heat sugar and water in a 1-quart saucepan over high heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved, then pour into a heatproof bowl set in a large bowl of ice and cold water. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until syrup is cold, about 3 minutes.

Purée lychees with sugar syrup and lemon juice in a blender until smooth, then force through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on solids and then discarding them. Fill cocktail shaker halfway with ice cubes and add lychee purée, vodka, and Cointreau. Shake 15 seconds and strain into Martini glasses.

Serves 2.
Gourmet
May 2006
Adapted from Kittichai, New York, NY

SAVED for future reference. Thanks Darius!

i have a lychee that i got from the dade county free tree give away. i guess i need to go check on it to see if it is fruiting.
that martini sounds yummy
budgie by the way how is the rangoon creeper doing?

Hi Cass,
It is doing great. Recovering nicely with lots of new growth. Can't wait for blooms.
2 of the begonias are doing good also. Alas, the others met their fate. :=(.
Im just tickled I finally got my RC I've wanted so long.
Jan...

SB, I should have mentioned that it got ridiculously hot, I had the door shut and the GH had no good fan. I didn't think it would ever get too hot for a tropical tree so I didn't think it would matter. I put a temp. gauge in after the tree showed signs of stress and it read 115F!!

Since this disaster I bought a new fan and a vent with a themometer controlling the fan on/off, and the greenhouse now stays as cool as the outside. The greenhouse was cool when the tree died off this spring, but it had only half a dozen leaves all winter from the hundreds it had when I got it, so it was on its last legs anyway.

Scott

Guess what I just ate!. (just 1) Yummy Yummy.
Now to go plant the seed while it's fresh. LOL

Rub it in, why don't you!

I bought two air-layered dwarf Emperor lychees in March that I'm currently keeping in 5 gallon containers. (I'm in 9b in the Orlando, FL area.) Both set fruit even though they are still pretty small trees, but all but one lone lychee dropped off. :(

I noticed some brown edges on the new leaves that started growing earlier this month. I had no idea that overfertilizing could cause this to happen, so thanks for all the good info on growing lychees. I haven't done much besides water daily so far, but the trees look pretty healthy and the new leaves are popping out every week now. I'm not sure if I want to put the trees in the ground or keep them in containers in case of freak cold weather or a future move to a different home.

My father has two lychee trees (don't know what type) growing in his backyard along with two or three longans, at least five papayas, an established navel orange, and five guavas. All of them have set fruit, though the lychees and longans are relatively young and small at around 8 feet.

Here's a pic of my two lychees the night I bought them from Jene's Tropicals:

I'll hve to run over to Jen's and see what she has. I'm only 10 minutes away if she's still in the same location.
Jan...

Well, so much for the healthy grow flush.

I went on vacation for a week. When I left I had dozens of new emerging leaves. I left clear instructions...water this tree daily...evidently, it didn't happen, because when I got back today, all of the leaves that had not emerged when I left had dried up and gone crispy. It wasn't sprays or wind. It could only have been insufficient water.

Rats. I am reassured by the fact that this second growth flush yielded 3 or 4 times more leaves that the first one.

And on the plus side, I did get to taste some lychees on vacation. ;-)

Funny you should mention that. I just ate one from my tree. At the rate of 1 per day, I have about 10 days left. LOL. My tree did just flush new leaves and they're doing great but I do water nearly daily right now. They seem to really like alot of water this time of the year.
Jan...