Introduction to Lychee Growing Tips, Techniques, Ideas, and Secrets – Lychee is that the sole member of the genus Litchi within the Sapindaceae. it’s a tropical tree native to the Guangdong and Fujian provinces of southeastern China.
A Guide for Lychee Growing Tips, Techniques, Hints, Ideas, and Secrets
Lychee is a tropical broadleaf evergreen tree and that is native to China, where it grows in a warm and wet climate. Although grown commercially for its fruit, in landscapes it’s often used as a tree or a specimen angiospermous tree.
The tree bears small, dimpled, fleshy fruit with a lightweight and perfumed flavor. The surface of the fruit features a rough, pink-red skin that’s inedible and therefore the inside flesh is obvious to white and sweet. The brown seed inside the fruit is very poisonous and will be discarded. The fruit is typically eaten fresh or frozen and may be made into sauces, jam, puree, or preserves.
The Overview Table of Lychee is Given Below
| Botanical Name | Litchi chinensis |
| Common Names | Lychee and litchi |
| Plant Type | Broadleaf evergreen fruit tree |
| Mature Size | 30 to 100 ft. tall outdoors and 10 ft. indoors |
| Sun Exposure | Full sun |
| Soil Type | Moist, fertile and well-drained soil |
| Soil pH | Acidic that is 5 to 5.5 |
| Bloom Time | Early spring |
| Flower Colour | White, yellow, and green |
Soil Preparation Tips for Growing Lychee Tree
- What soil is best for growing lychee trees?
A beautiful specimen tree with its shiny leaves and attractive fruit, lychee thrives in deep, fertile, and well-draining soil. They like acidic soil of pH 5.0 to 5.5. When growing lychee trees, you need to make certain to plant them in a protected area.
Lychee doesn’t like alkaline soils, so amending garden soil with pine bark or even pine needles could also be necessary. If you’re trying to grow it as a potted plant, then use slightly acidic potting soil.
Important Secrets for Growing Lychee Tree
Re-pot every spring. Lychee trees can grow fast in a single year, so make certain to upgrade to larger pots. Every spring, you need to purchase an outsized container and punctiliously transfer the soil and tree. Do that until your tree gets as big as you would like.
- Choose a pot with drainage holes at the bottom.
- Cover the rock bottom of the new pot with soil.
- Water your lychee plant to loosen the roots, and then pull and rock very carefully to avoid breaking roots.
- Place your plant within the new pot and then canopy it with dirt.
- Water immediately after replanting it.
Trim your lychee tree to stay it from getting too big. When left alone, lychee trees can rise to 10 feet or 3.0 m tall. Once your plant is that the right size for your house or patio, then remove excess foliage to stay it that way. Strip off leaves and cut wayward branches.
- To keep your tree from getting any taller, you need to cut leaves and branches from the highest. The tree will compensate by glowing lower and even bushier.
- Try to supply a rounded shape, which is very traditional for lychee trees.
- You might not have got to prune your tree for the primary few years.
Keep the lychee tree in full sun. While shade won’t kill a lychee tree, it’ll completely stop it from growing. Your plant is going to be content and productive near a window that receives tons of sunshine. 12 hours of full light is suitable, even more preferable.
Water consistently throughout the year. Dry soil is very harmful to lychee plans, so make certain to water every other day. Keep the soil damp, but not waterlogged. Drowning the roots also will hinder the growth.
Treat any pests that appear. Lychee trees can play host to aphids, mealy bugs, mites, and even other pests. Search for tiny webs, curling leaves, or a white powdery substance. If you see any sign of infestation, then treat as soon as possible to stop the insects from spreading from one area of the plant to a different.
Remove insets by hand and stop affected leaves or branches. If the pests persist, you’ll need to use insecticidal soap or essential oils. Only use commercial insecticides as a final resort.
Pests might not be a problem unless you retain your lychee plant outside within the spring and summer.
Tips for Growing Lychee Tree in a Container
The lychee tree is a flowering and fruiting tree that will grow as tall as 30 to 40 feet or 9 to 12 m. it’s native to southern China and wishes a warm climate to grow. The fruit, which is a drupe and grows in clusters. All may be a pink and bumpy shell encasing the edible part. The white, almost transparent interior is juicy and even delicious.
Because lychee is a tropical tree, it isn’t an option for several gardens. However, although these trees are often quite very large outdoors, it’s possible to grow lychee in pots. You need to be ready to find a young tree at a nursery, but you’ll also need to start a tree from the seeds. Just save them from the fruit you eat and then grow seedlings in a warm and moist location.
When ready, transfer your small tree to a bigger container and then supply all the proper conditions to assist it to grow:
Lots of water: Lychee needs much water to thrive. Don’t lapse on watering your tree either. There’s no winter dormant period for lychee, so keep watering it regularly year-round. Lychee also likes humid air, so spritz the leaves often.
Ample sunlight: confirm your lychee tree features a spot where it can get the maximum amount of sunlight possible. Rotate your container-grown lychee to form sure it gets even light too.
Acidic soil: For the simplest results, your tree needs acidic soil. A pH of between 5.0 and 5.5 is best. The soil should also drain well.
Occasional fertilizer: Your tree also will enjoy occasional light fertilizing. Use a weak liquid fertilizer.
Potted lychee trees got to be kept warm. If you’ve got a greenhouse, that’s the simplest place for it within the colder months. If not, make certain you’ve got a warm spot for it within the house.
Lychee isn’t the foremost ideal plant for an inside container, and you’ll need to find that your tree never develops fruit. For fruiting to occur, it helps to permit the plant to spend spring and summer outdoors where proper pollination can happen. Just make certain to maneuver the plant back inside before the return of cool temps.
Tips for Growing Lychee from Seed
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Buy lychee fruit from a grocery or farmer’s market. Choose a couple of the stunning round fruits and save the brown seeds inside. Lychee fruit is going to be available during the standard lychee season, usually throughout May, June, and July within the hemisphere.
Make sure the fruit you get is very fresh and completely ripe. The skin is going to be red, almost purple, and therefore the bumps will flatten thanks to the quantity of juice and sugar inside.
Large seeds germinate better than smaller seeds.
Seeds are only good for a couple of days once they’ve been far away from the fruit, so plant them directly. Don’t buy lychee fruit until you’re ready.
Buy seeds online if you can’t find fresh fruit. There are many online retailers which will ship you lychee seeds that are ready for planting. Just remember that seeds taken from fresh fruit have a better germination rate.
Clean the seed with water and paper towels. Enjoy the delicious snack first, then clean off all remnants of fruit and you’ll need to have a gorgeous burgundy seed that’s able to become a tree. Get the seed wet, then roll it gently around within the towel. This may remove any lingering debris.
Soak the seed at room temperature and water for 3 days. To extend the prospect of germination, fill a cup or bowl with water and submerge the seed completely. After a couple of days, the brownish husk will begin to crack. Fill a little pot with slightly acidic soil. Find a container you won’t mind seeing a day and fill it with dirt which will promote healthy growth. Ideally, the soil needs to have a pH between 5.0 and 5.5. This usually imitates the soil of the lychee tree’s original tropical habitat.
Any soil meant for azaleas or gardenias would be an honest match.
Bury the seed near the surface. Push the lychee seed carefully into the soil. The right depth for a lychee seed is roughly 1 inch or 2.5 cm, any deeper or shallower might lessen the chances of a tree growing.
You need to store your newly planted lychee seed in a well-shaded place. Keep your pot far away from direct sunlight to stay the seed from overheating during the germination process. A table or nightstand would work well.
The temperature of the space should be between 21°C and 29°C.
Water your lychee seed every other day. While being sure to not overdo it, water your lychee sprout often and well. Standing water might drown the seed, but don’t let it dry out.
You need to move the plant to a sunny area when it sprouts. When little green leaves poke through the highest layer of soil, it’s time to maneuver the pot into the daylight. Direct is best. Your little lychee will enjoy the heat and it’ll grow quickly.
A newly sprouted seedling is going to be comfortable in a small container until it reaches 7 inches or 18 cm and 8 inches or 20 cm tall. When growth slows, usually after 1 year, it is time to upgrade to a bigger pot.
Lychee Tree Watering Tips
- How often does one need to water a lychee tree?
Lychees shouldn’t be in standing water, because it will stunt their growth. Newly planted trees should be watered two to three times every week during the primary weeks of planting but are often reduced once the tree is established. Prune mature trees to assist control their size and shape.
- Do lychees need tons of water?
Always water very well after planting to settle the soil around the roots. Once established, water deeply once hebdomadally.
Lychee Tree Pruning Techniques
- When should I prune my lychee tree?
Do not remove lower tree branches because they’re going to help shade beneath the tree canopy and they even reduce weed growth and these branches may flower and fruit. Pruning should be administered immediately after harvest to permit regrowth and maturation of the latest shoots and leaves before the onset of cool/cold winter temperatures.
- How to prune a lychee tree?
Annual lychee tree pruning is completed because the fruit is being harvested, or shortly thereafter. Because the clusters of ripened fruits are harvested, lychee growers simply nip about 4 inches or 10 cm of the branch tip that bore the fruit. This pruning practice on lychee trees ensures that a replacement fruiting branch tip will form within the same spot for the subsequent crop.
When to prune lychee is vital for ensuring an honest plant. In controlled tests, growers determined that pruning a lychee tree at harvest or within a fortnight of the harvest will create a wonderfully timed, excellent plant. During this test, when lychee tree pruning was done several weeks after harvesting the fruit, the subsequent plant bore fruit inconsistently.
Lychee Tree Fertilizing Ideas
Apply a complete fertilizer with a ratio of 1-2-1 after the first flush of growth hardens in the first year when the new leaves turn a darker green and therefore the tender shoots turn hard.
Fertilize after every subsequent flush of growth. Use 1 pound of fertilizer for the whole first year. Increase to 1.5 pounds within the second year and a couple of .5 pounds within the third year. Apply fertilizer evenly beneath the tree’s drip line.
Stop fertilizing after the third year of growth, to organize for the tree to enter a fruit-bearing stage.
Fertilize with a half-strength application of 10-5-20 fertilizer after the harvest of the primary fruit. Don’t fertilize again until the fruit has set for the second harvest of fruit.
Fertilize during the second fruiting with a half-strength application of 10-5-20 fertilizer when fruits are the dimensions of peas.
Continue fertilizing within the following years, once after harvesting and once when fruits are pea-sized. In total annually, apply approximately 1 pound of fertilizer for every inch of trunk diameter, measured at a height of 4 feet above the bottom.
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Lychee Tree Pests and Diseases Controlling Secrets
Mites (leaf curl mites, red spider mite mites, etc.): you’ll need to normally spray mites with Neem oil or insecticidal soap to eradicate them.
Citrus aphid: Spray citrus and other aphids with Neem oil or insecticidal soap if they become a drag. A blast of water on the tree can help knock out them off too.
Caterpillars: You need to spray caterpillars with dormant oil in late winter to smother eggs before they hatch. You’ll also need to spray affected lychee trees with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), a present bacteria.
Fruit-piercing moth: the simplest thanks to combat fruit-piercing moths is to reap lychee fruit as early as possible. Devour rotten and fallen fruit. If the tree is little, cover it with netting.
Leaf eating beetles or Japanese beetles, green beetles, etc.: Spray beetles with a permethrin-based insecticide.
Most of the common lychee tree diseases are usually caused by fungal pathogens. Generally, in fruiting plants or edibles, it’s best to use preventative fungicide applications in early spring. The way to manage lychee diseases, of course, depends on the precise disease, but many fungal diseases can’t be controlled by fungicides once they need produced symptoms.
Anthracnose: This is a type of fungal disease is caused by the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum loeosporioides. It can infect and cause symptoms within the foliage and fruit of the tree. Also referred to as pepper spot disease, symptoms of anthracnose on lychee fruit include small tan black raised lesions and/or a white fuzzy mycelium coating on the fruit. Foliage may display pink spores or even dark, sunken lesions.
Stem Canker: Caused by the pathogen Botryosphaeria sp., little potato usually attacks the terminal branches of lychee trees. It causes oval or irregular-shaped, sunken lesions on the branches, which can cause the bark to crack open. Preventative fungal applications can help manage the disease and infected branches are often pruned out, but make certain to sterilize your pruners.
Pink Limb Blight: This is another type of fungal disease is caused by the pathogen Erythricium salmonicolor. Symptoms are pink to white lesions on and even under the tree’s bark. Because the lesions grow, they’re going to girdle the limb, causing damage to the system. Infected limbs will wilt, drop foliage and fruit, and die down. Preventative fungicides can help with pink limb blight, also as pruning out infected tissues.
Algal Leaf Spot: even this is caused by the fungal pathogen Cephaleuros virescens. The symptoms include greenish-grey to rust red, watery, and irregularly shaped lesions on the foliage and new shoots of lychee trees. It also can infect branches and bark. Algal leaf spot is usually controlled easily by lime Sulphur sprays.
Mushroom Root Rot: This disease is typically only dragged in locations where lychee trees are grown amongst oak trees. This disease nearly always goes unnoticed until it’s killed the tree by rotting its roots away. Symptoms of mushroom plant disease mostly happen under the soil, until the general wilting and overtime of the tree occurs.
Lychee Harvesting Techniques
Wait for the fruit to show red. It can take a lychee tree anywhere from 5 to 25 years to supply fruit, something which may be suffering from climate, soil quality, and therefore the amount of obtainable sun. twiddling my thumbs and you’ll start seeing produce of your very own.
- If the fruit is nice without an excessive amount of acidity, it’s able to pick.
- The diameter of ripe lychee should be a minimum of 1 inch or 2.5 cm.
- Not all fruit on one tree will ripen at an equivalent rate.
- You need to avoid brown fruits, as these are past their prime.
- Cut fruit on the brink of the branch. Lychee grows in bunches, almost like grapes, and you’ll need to cut the whole collection. Trim as close as you’ll need to the massive branch the bunch hangs from.
- Don’t worry about taking a couple of leaves with the fruit, the tree will recover.
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