Glad you like them, Lycheeluva. I hope to get a pretty good yield from that Emperor, and I'm still amazed at how sweet those nectar droplets are!
In my experience, Pine Island is the winner. Now that's not to put down Lycheesonline, but I ordered that Brewster in May, and didn't get it until I hassled them in late September (my order "slipped through the cracks")! Pine Island was super fast in delivering (shipped out the next Monday), They were less expensive (Pine Island is more Wholesale, and Lycheesonline more middleman). The thing with Pine Island is that you have to buy two trees at a time for shipping...big problem, huh?...LOL Anyway, Pine Island has a much bigger selection to choose from (not only lychees, but many tropicals). Lycheesonline has a very informative website though...every lychee lover should read through it. I am definitely leaning towards Pine Island for any future purchases.
Also, I need to point out that Montoso Gardens was also very quick and the least expensive...if you have the time to wait for the air-layer to grow. They also sell Rambutan...if you have a 100' tall greenhouse to grow them in...LOL.
I bought the Emperor from Jene's Tropicals last April, and , as you can see, it's doing fantastic. Jene's is the only company I've seen that will ship out 7 gallon plants (which the Emperor was). That's all of my buying experiences...hope it helps you.

I actually bought my mauritius from jenes tropical- the weather turned freakishly cold a few days after I bought it and it lost most of its leaves- but it has since recovered and is doing pretty good. wondering when the next growth flush will begin. Although emperor is supposed to do really well in containers, i did not buy an emporer because it is not supposed to be as flavorful as some of the other varieties- but given your pics, i thiink i will buy an emperor from jenes.

how long have you had the emperor.
will you be buying any more lychees from jenes?
I spoke to bill from lychees online 3 weeks ago and he is super friendly and eager to share his knowledge- but like you- i found his service to be a little slow. he told me to email him my wishlist. he told me he can source any tropical fruit tree including the elusive mangosteens.

so i emailed him the list more than 2 weeks ago and have not had a quote from him yet, despite 2 followup emails and phone calls.

"how long have you had the emperor"

what i meant was- did you buy it in april 07 or 06

North Tree and Lycheeluva...both of you have shared some awesome pics of your lychees. Kudos to both of you. Whatever you are doing, you are doing it right. I'm quite impressed that your plants are blemish free, nice and full, and North Tree's are in bloom.

Since I've fallen flat on my face with my lychee, I'd like to ask some questions. What is the PH in your containers? Have you been fertilizing? If so, what, when, and how much? What is your soils made up of? How much are you watering?

Keep up the nice work. NTM, thanks for the pics detailing the male and female flowers. Keep documenting this process and any pollination you attempt. Thanks! J

WOW!!!Thanks for posting those great pictures NTM, it's amazing the amount of flowers on those potted trees. I have two trees I planted in the ground 7 or 8 months ago and I don't have any flowers (sigh)

Lycheeluva, Jay is right you have some really nice Lychee Trees also. You both definitely have the right requirements for lychees mastered. Great job and please share your success, that is what's great about this forum, we learn so much from so many people...

Jay, sorry to hear to about your tree not doing so well, I remember the beautiful picture that you posted not too long ago, you are one of the reasons I purchased a couple of them and also bought several mango trees. I'm sure it will bounce back. Now I am worried about the frost we are expecting on Thurs. morning. Wish me luck I don't lose them.

Jay- fraid i cant be much help. I only have 1 lychee tree so far and I have only had it for about for 8 months.

The pH gage I bought does not work (will have to buy a better one). I have not fertilized after reading on this forum and other places that lychees r super sensitive to excess fertilizer. My lychee is still in the original container and soil that it arrived in from jenes tropical. As for watering, during the winter, i have been watering only when the plant looks really dry to try and induce bloom.

Hopefully, NTM can be more informative, as he has more trees and has had them for longer I think. Plus his trees are doing waaaaaaaay better than mine. I just have not killed mine yet. His is actually blooming! though, (without wishing to take anything away from NTM's success), emperor's are known to be the variety that does best in pots.

Puglvr1, mine didn't make it. Once it started it's decline, nothing I did was able to make it bounce back. So if there is anyone in Florida who sees some nice, larger plants at a nursery that can be shipped, please let me know!

By the way...PH can be a killer. So keep on top of it. I've found that it is not constant in container growing and it can catch you off guard real quick. One of those "oh sh%$" moments!

Jay,

Sorry to hear that...I have lost my share of plants also. I guess that's one of the sad parts of gardening. But we just keep on truckin' and don't give up.

Have you tried contacting Jene's Tropicals, I'm sure lycheeluva can give you more specifics about shipping and costs. My husband bought me my Cogshall Mango from them and it was very healthy. I know they carry bigger sizes in Mangos and Lychees. Email them or give them a call. The only problem is the shipping costs, I'm sure will not be cheap. Good luck!!

My very very first mail order came from Jene's and there were some issues. Could have been just bad luck at the time. If anyone were to say...take a trip to Jene's and check out their inventory, then I may try them again if the pickings were good. Wonder how well they would ship with the temps way down up here? I may email them. That is where my nam doc mai came from. It was a 3 or 5 gal. The other tree was a 7 gal. Julie mango. It wasn't really any bigger than the 3-5 gal., just taller and whip-like. I'd rather have a shorter, but more stockier plant. Oh well, I can inquire. Thanks guys.

Thanks for the kudos everyone...I will document the fruit growing process as best I can. At least half of the flowers are M1 at this point, so it makes me wonder how many female flowers, and M2's will emerge. Time will tell.

@lycheeluva- I bought all of my trees this past year (2007). I feel your pain with Lycheesonline...they are really friendly/nice people, but the reliability just isn't there. I was worried they'd send my brewster when I was away on vacation, and imagined it would die in the box on my front porch. So, in a way, it's good that I had to hassle them to send it. I really, really think you should visit Pine Island Nurseries website...they are quite reliable, and the selection/prices are great.
I have maxed out my space availability for lychees, so I won't be buying anymore...unless I can get one of the following cultivars (they are all premium, and difficult to find, this side of China): No Mai Tsze (Glutinous rice), Kwai luk (Hanging Green), Fei tsu hsiao (Concubine's smile/laugh). When I spoke to someone at Pine Island, last spring, They said it may be another year until No Mai Tsze is available again, and even longer, if ever, for Kwai luk (this one is the rarest, as I understand it.)

@OhioJay- Sorry to hear about your Lychee, hopefully it'll make a comeback. I haven't checked the PH in the containers yet (I'll get back to you on it), but I'll give you my special recipe for soil, when planting:
-1 Bag(40lb) composted manure
-40lb topsoil
-half bag of peat moss/sphagnum
-a few fist fulls of pulverized lime (or you can use Epsom salts in lesser quantity) this adjusts the PH, and adds needed Calcium/Magnesium.
-a couple fist fulls of sand...needed for drainage, so adjust amount to desired result.
-a couple fistfuls of hardwood mulch
-Now for THE MOST important ingredient: MycoStim (mycorrhizae fungi). Dust the roots, and I like to mix about a 1/2 cup worth throughout the soil.
Thus far, I have never fertilized the trees. I will eventually...probably this spring, and I'll use fish emulsion to stimulate the Myco Stim, and the tree itself. I can't say enough good things about mycorrhizal fungi (it's to the point that I can't believe anything grows without it!) I use it for every tree/bush shrub/plant/etc
Anyway, With this mix, I've had very few, if any, burnt tips on the trees, and they are doing great. The tree will need to acclimate to the mix, and the fungi needs time to grow, but after about a month or two...you'll see good growth start.
As for watering, I do it often, especially since the trees are inside for the winter (in the hot dry air). I water at least once a week, but not to the point of flooding, only to the point of complete absorption. That's probably the trickiest part of keeping them going in the winter. In the summer (when they're outside) I drop it back to about once every two weeks (then thoroughly saturate), or until the soil seems too dry. Lychees sure do love their water.
I hope that helps you. By the way...that greenhouse you built is great, I'll probably be pestering you about it later, when I need to build my own. How tall is yours, by the way?

NTM-
I salivate on a regular basis over the pine island nursery and will definitly be buying some tropical fruit trees from them this spring.

I join in Jay's request for tips from floridians who spot healthy lychee trees in nurseries that are willing to ship- if they r willing to ship it, ill pay for it!

(jay- i'll give you first dibs)-

unless I get any responses to this request, Ill probably buy an emperor and brewster from jenes because she will ship 7 gallon plants while pine island will only ship 3 gallon plants. i am assuming that 7 gallon plants will be older and more developed (but someone tell me if thats not a reliable assumption).

NTM- I'm going to try your soil mix when I re-pot my lychee in the spring- as well as for the lychee trees I am going to buy in the spring. Where do you buy your MycoStim from? also, where do you buy your soil from? a home depot type place or a nursery?

im pretty pleased because while visiting a dollar store today- i found all purpose 20 gallon buckets- they were $6 each (bought 8 of them!)and have a nice thick rope drawn thru them to make heaving them around easier (see pic below). They also are much thicker and tougher than any of the plastic gardening pots Ive ever bought. I will drill a couple of drainage holes in the bottom and will be using these for the 9 tropical fruit trees i intend to buy in the spring.

if i bought a 20 gallon plastic planting pot from a garden center- they probably would cost about $30 each. so im well pleased with this find.

@lycheeluva- Follow the link to buy some MycoStim. I usually get 2-1lb canisters, that way shipping should be free ($30 or more is free shipping). Everything else I get from Home Depot, except Epsom salts...you can get them at CVS/Eckerd/etc. Nice find on the all-purpose tubs. I wish I had some kind of handles on my pots...threw my back out earlier this year moving those beasts around...they must be at least 70lbs+.

Here is a link that might be useful: For MycoStim

lycheeluva,
Here is a link for another mycorrhizal product. I have had good experience buying from them. They actually have a wide selection of different mycorrhizal products and I have tried a few and they seem to work well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Horticultural Alliance

My greenhouse is roughly 13' feet at the back and around 9' at the front.

Nice find on the buckets. I'll have to look for something like that.

Jene's only has a few varieties of lychees. None of which I'm looking for.

I just checked the PH of the Emperor with a 4-way analyzer, and it registers between 6 and 7 PH. That is the ideal range for lychees. I checked in a few spots to make sure, and the reading seems accurate...as accurate as these analyzers are, at least. I also checked the Hak ip, and it's in the same range 6-7 PH.

Just wondering, but have you thought much on the subject of doing a grafted lychee with lots of varieties on it? The USDA send out scion wood, and Jay you could probobly get some of the varieties you want.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA

plummy- how does it work- you just contact the USDA and ask for scions from any of those 62 varieties and they will send it to you?
if yes, does the USDA have a similar such list for most other commong fruits (such as apples, plum cherries etc?)

That would be great after I get one to survive!

Lycheeluva: Depending on which branch you are ordering they have slight differences in prcedure, but for most you go here: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/order.html
for the part about what plant you put the name or number. A few like the germplasm in Corvalis, Oregon has a process where if it is avalible (because of course not all these wonderfull plants will be avalible at the time) you just click a button and it adds it to a shopping cart like list. Corvalis has more cold hardy- "normal" fruit but also medlar and rare rasberry and blueberry relatives. Then Davis has tons of the traditional fruit.They have many other gene banks: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/holdings.html

Jay: I know what you mean, I only have seedlings, but if something goes wrong they are losing leaves faster then growing new ones.

Lychees are one plant where I recommend a 7 gal plant if you're not experienced with what they like. There is more room for error on them, more energy reserves if it meets adverse conditions. I think I know my property and lychees now well enough to not lose most 3 gal lychee plants. The native conditions of my property turn out to be close to what a lychee likes. The two I bought this spring seem to still be happy. The 7 gal should have quite a bit more leaf canopy and root system than a 3 gal plant.

Gary

I checked the website Plummy mentioned and, yes, I found the scions for Hanging green and No Mai Tsze in Miami. The problem is; that's a whole new level of involvement to the process. The growing times would be long, and grafting isn't the most effective means for lychee replication. I'm imagining a lot of trials for it. Getting the characteristics right would be an issue as well. For example: a No Mai Tsze scion would be a good fit for an Emperor rootstock because they are both "mountain" varieties, etc.
That's great information though, Plummy...thanks for mentioning it.

Gary, I agree, the bigger the better. The problem is finding 7 gal. trees in the varieties I'm looking for. PineIsland only has 3 gal. in the Sweetheart and Haak Ip...and will only ever ship 3 gal. plants. Jene's doesn't have these listed. I still emailed but have yet to get a reply. I'm supposed to talk with the owner of Lycheesonline tomorrow but I doubt he'll have anything bigger...or would ship bigger. Worth asking though. Fairchild Gardens have always stood by the phrase "bigger is not always better"... going on to say that a good quality 1-3 gal. plant will be better in the long run. Maybe because for their plant sales, that's all they offer! I don't know. Me? I'd rather have a quality 7 gal. tree to start off with!! :)

I will say that the Sweetheart that I watched decline did in fact start off as a very nice, very healthy 3 gal. plant from Lycheesonline. Thick trunk and wonderful canopy. It's just a crying shame that circumstances completely WITHIN my control caused the plant to expire...would just be nice to know which circumstances they were!

I prefer 3 gal for plants which aren't problematic, which is most plants, but a lychee will balk at several different conditions, and they often at 3 gals have a very small canopy. This puts it from healthy to small issue to death much quicker. The two I bought a year ago were 3 gal plants, but it took a few flushes of growth to amount to a decent difference in canopy. My sweetheart has been very enthused and has a nice little 6' wide canopy now. I plan to let it produce a small crop if it will this year. It didn't flower at all last year. I'm growing a few lychee seedlings this year to use for grafting stock, if they make it.

Gary

Gary...what was your address again? And I will also need the exact times of day when there won't be anybody at home. Oh yeah...please leave a shovel, burlap, and some string in a convenient spot as well. Thanks! J

That's it! I guess all of us northerners are going to have to make a Florida road trip next spring. We'll hit all the hot nurseries, and fruit stands. So, who has the van/truck that we're going to be traveling in, and bringing back 30 gallon trees with?

north tree- im so nuts, that id actually be up for that-
we should fly down to miami and then hire a truck that can be returned in NY and drive back from miami- id actually consider doing that in april.

Hah! I had that idea last year, prior to buying the four lychees I have now. I'd love to do it, but I, literally, have no more room for more...it'll be a while until I go shopping again. I'll let you know when, though.

ok north tree- be rational then- see if i care

OhioJay, I also had a Sweetheart lychee tree from Lychees Online, which also arrived big and healthy, then declined for no reason I could figure out, dying back repeatedly over time, tried to put out new growth, died back some more, eventually dead. I thought perhaps it had caught fireblight, or had some root fungus disease like oak root rot. The Emperor tree from them did fine, thrived, even fruited, until the frost last January killed it.

Crikey mate! That sounds exactly what was going on with mine! Did yours lose perfectly healthy looking leaves at the mere touch or bump? Mine did. Mine also started to develop what I call aborted leaves. They would flush and stay very very small leaves. Eventually the tree defoliated and started to die back. That's odd that yours was doing something similar.

I may order a 7 gal. Haak Ip from Jene's. They did not have any Sweethearts at all darn it all. I really want a Sweetheart though.

North Tree,
What is the status of the plants in bloom? Any more pics?

I have been documenting them as they bloom/grow, and as I pollinate. All of the M1's and M2's have bloomed at this point, but not all of the females are emerging at the same time. I am just starting to see the last flush of females emerge...and busily buzzing around them to pollinate. I will post some updated pics of the goodies in a few more weeks time.

What have you been doing to pollinate? Details man, details! LOL! My new Hak Ip came with a couple of small flower panicles. Not sure if they will thrive because of the shipping. At least I know the plant is capable of flowering! Maybe some new ones will emerge once the shock of shipping wears off. Look forward to the pics. Thanks.

Well, to pollinate, you first need to put on some cellophane wings and plastic antennae, then you need to make a buzzing sound to get the lychee flowers in the mood...LOL! Seriously though, I just use a small (10/0 size) paintbrush to collect the pollen off of the males, then apply it to the receptive females...piece of cake. Since you're so eager, I'll post what pics I have this week. I'll begin a new thread for them.

I can't believe you found a company that would ship to you in the middle of winter. Which company was it?

Jene's. Heck...we were in the high 60's that week! Now this Sunday morning is suppossed to be the big goose egg! 0!