Here's a picture of some of my Rambutan seedlings I started in Sep of 2009. They're still around and have grown no more than 3 ft. They seem to be a lot cold hardy. I have left them out in some cold weather. Some died and some are still alive.

Nice! My rambutan on the big island are around 15 to 20 ft tall air layered and is producing so much fruit. For some reason one of the trees produces fruit through out the year, there's always a couple bunches always ripe on th tree here and there!!

Bananafan- If you have a big green house maybe. Down in south Florida they have, but I've only seen nursery that have done it successfully. Even then it's a difficult process, being ultra tropical, overly sensitive to even the sightly temp drop and requiring high humidity. Anyways your plants look healthy, who knows you might be the lucky one to beat the odds.

Hawiia- I'm still jealous of you and can't wait to see the pictures on your granpa's farm.

Hawaii,

Would you consider selling me an air layered piece from your ever-bearing Rambutan?

Thanks,
Sol

Solfire, unfortunately the time an process to get papers and certificates from my dep of ag is too much if a hassle for me, sorry!! I'm sure you could get a air layer from someone on the forum that lives on the mainland, it would e way easier!!
HawaiiFruitGrower

Soaht, haha thanks! In about a month I will have pictures for all if you to see!!

Soaht, you're right. Rambutans for us in the subtropical here unfortunately is too much of a stretch to keep. I will have a greenhouse soon this year. Hopefully, the greenhouse can provide some humidity and heat for the summer. In the Winter, I'll probably use a propane heater ... Sometimes I think I'm waisting my time, but because I really like these plants, I'm just going to keep them alive as much as I can until they give up their souls.

That said, I always enjoy seeing others able to grow their Rambutans successfully here.

Hi! did you know that the best rambutan is not a rambutan? It is called the Pulasan. It is closely related to and tastes like rambutan. Flesh is sweeter. Flesh detaches completely from seed-- better eating quality. Seed are edible: Tastes like almonds. The skin is not of strands, but of spokes (like of the jackfruit). I think it is more hardy as the trees grow bigger than rambutan. I am not sure of this though, but I just thought of mentioning it as it might be interesting to get someone in this forum interested to try planting a pulasan tree in the colder regions -- something I would like to see the results of

Thanks!

Yes, Zigmund, I've heard of Pulasan, but I didn't know that it's more cold hardy. Maybe I'll have to read more about it and try to source out one to grow. Are you going to plant one yourself?

Thanks for the info on the plant.

I'm the crazy person who is attempting to grow both Rambutan and Pulasans. I have small seedlings and a greenhouse so, I am hopeful that these will grow. Will keep you all posted on the progress.

tuttifruti and bananafan please update your progress.

soupb,

I wish I had better news for you ..., but the picture of my 2 Rambutans in their hay days aren't doing so good now. I forgot to bring them indoors when the cold weather here started and I only realized that yesterday. Their leaves have all dropped off, but I think their stems are still alive. They probably will come around when the warmer weather starts.

As far as the seedlings go, they're all gone by now. It's hard to keep these plants around as they're ultra tropical. Their growth rate is also very slow in the climate here. They would need a true tropical climate to set their growth hormone going. Otherwise, they're just as good as ornamental plants. Still, I'll keep them around as long as they're doing ok, but I don't think I'll ever see them fruit unless of course I have a green house that is warm enough to grow them.

Do you have a Rambutan there and if so, how is it doing?