Lychee

[Guest]

Maybe lychee has a few different strains, may depend on the graft or seed? Some variations may do better in lower elevations too? All lychee may not fruit every year, some may fruit every other year? Bumper crops may depend on a variety of things to have happen, including good weather without much Wind, proper pruning, fertilizing, ect.
Our trees here in leilani seem to produce more lychee every year if we prune them back 8- 12" within two weeks after harvesting. We also hit them with fertilizers a couple times a year, once when they are flowering and again after the pruning stage. The wind is our biggest hurdle every year, as we tend to get windy weather in February when the lychee are in their flowering stages. Then the hard rains that carry mold or rot knock hundreds of little lychee off the trees in March. Birds, like The Cardinal or Minah can also enjoy the flavor of tree ripened lychee. Good luck.

[KeaauRich]

Our lychee in Orchidland also (at 500' elevation) also did well this year, and we didn't do squat to encourage it in any way...

[Frankie Stapleton]

Longtime growers here always said for lychee to fruit, you have to " beat up" the tree. That's where pruning and girdling come in. But lychee is so variable in its production of fruit that it has discouraged any but local commercialization. I finally cut down my tree as it kept getting bigger and bigger without producing fruit (too wet) and took up too much of my yard. Just FYI

[DoryGray]

That's so funny. In the 1970's, in Connecticut, I had a plum tree that was 5 years old. It never produced, so I went out & "beat up" the tree, kicking it, yelling at it. It was in the days of "talking to your plants", so I threatened it to produce or get cut down. Next spring there were loads of plums & it produced every year after that. True Story. I'll see if that works for my 5 year old lychee here that hasn't fruited yet.

[Midnight Rambler]

Ok, I'll give it a shot!

[pahoated]

Miracle Grow really is.

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