I live in zone 6, PA. I'm planting a sweetheart lychee. I think you should plant the best variety. You can always prune the tree to make it smaller....lol

my fave lychee is mauritius. i think it has the best flavor and it is also the most prolific. i am growing mauritius and other lychee varities in NYC

hello,

i am growing a sweetheart in the ground, im not sure exactly how large it will get, i think its a medium sized lychee.

Mauritius get absolutely huge (think Oak tree). i could not imagine keeping one in a container indefinitely unless you plan on pruning or restricting its roots.

emperor is the only cultivar i know that is supposed to be dwarf, ive never seen a full grown specimen though.

I think any lychee variety will get large and we are just crazy to keep them in pot. I'm planting it because I'm crazy and having a tree makes me happy. So who cares if it's a dwarf or not. Really, a dwarf lychee can get big too. I do agree the sweetheart is a really good variety and best of all chick tongue seed! Who knows...maybe I'll be crazy enough to buy another lychee in the future if I get some fruits out of my current tree. :)

lol u guys are great, maybe i'll get inspired enough branch out of my comfort zone a bit to try a lychee tree too! :p (im currently growing most tropical fragrants)

when i become president, i will make it compulsory for everyone in america to own and grow at least 5 lychee trees

When someone says plant one, I usually think they mean in the ground outside, is that true?

Gary...I was wondering the same! Hope that isn't the case.

So...you don't suggest I plant a dwarf Lychee in a pot because it can still grow very large?

no, its just the terminology thats throwing us off, plant usually infers to "in the ground", i thought the same too but when i read Jersey i kinda assumed it was in a container.

you want to grow a lychee tree, i wouldnt plant it though in New Jersey

theres no way to really grow a dwarf, dwarf just means the variety of tree wont grow a large vigorous trunk and root system, it naturally stays compact so you can prune it and keep it bushy.

So if I am trying to grow a Lychee tree indoors so it will bear fruit, how do you suggest I go about this?

grow it in as large a container as you can, bearing in mind, you need to be able move it indoors from Novcember till April. The container will ideally be at least 20 gallons, but it may survive for 5 years in a 10 gallon container. When it is indoors for the winter, you will need to keep it next to a large sunny window or you will need to supply good articifical light from special grow lamps.

Thank you for that information. What type of soil do you suggest and how often should I water it? Will I need fertilizer? Also, will I need to prune it so it doesn't grow to large, and what should I do with the clippings?

soil- one third crushed granite (or perlite if you cant get crushed granite), one third decomposed pine bark and one third turface mvp. These components can all be tricky to obtain. if you cant get them, try and get a well draining soil mix.

water- depends on the temp where u r keeping the plants during the winter and how large the containers are. i keep mine in my garage in 25 gal containers with temps between 40 and 60. i water once every two weeks.

i dont fertilize during winter months.

pruning- thats really an individual call- how big is your space, are you able to move the trees around and how big are the trees getting.

clippings- compost them or dump them

Lycheeluva,
Thats good advice for me also. I really want to try this fruit this year. I absolutely love quenepa and if the lychee is anything like that, I will buy one when I go to FL this summer. It will cost me more to purchase and send back to NY but I can pick my own tree. Even if it cost me $100.00 more, I like knowing exactly what I get. I don't think it wikk be that high and maybe I can carry it on the plane like I did with my mango I bought last year. I will contact you if I decide to buy it.
Andrew

Lycheluva,

I want to try to grow the tree as small as possible, while still being able to bear fruit.

This is due to the fact that my space is pretty limited, unfortunately.
Do you have any other suggestions?

SenileFelineS

lychee trees regularly fruit while small enough to be kept in a container. just prune the tree when it starts to get to big for your space. Holding off fertilizer will probably also help keep your tree small.

Well thank you for this great advice :D
Now I just need to know what variety I want to plant and where I am going to get the seed(s)....lol
Any thoughts?

My thought would be that if your plan is to plant a seed, your tree is going to have to grow for about 15-20 years before it will fruit. Get an airlayer or grafted tree and you could have fruit within a few years, if conditions are right.

i second harry's comment, do not try and grow from seed unless you are intending to grow this for your children or grandchildren. plus there is no saying what the fruit will taste like. lychee trees do not grow true from seed.

if you get an airlayered tree, especially, if you go for a 7 gal size, you could get a handful of fruit within one year.
as for variety, alot of people speak very highly of sweetheart. i have not tried it yet. im a huge fan of mauritius. both these varities have fruited for us northern growers, growing them in containers. emperor is the smallest lychee tree naturally and it grows the largest fruit, but the taste is definitly one or two steps down from mauritius and sweetheart. mauritius trees are cheaper than sweetheart and more widely available. personally, id start with a mauritius.

Sweetheart is my favorite variety right now. I have taste tested many varieties and Sweetheart is among the best I've had so far. Not only that but they are listed as consistant producers. Check out Phase's Sweetheart lychee thread's to see some excellent pics. He was kind enough to let me taste his home grown lychees and they were sweet like honey with a rose scent. They are huge fruit, literally golfball sized with mostly chicken tongue seeds.

I have recently done a lot of research on bonsai trees and many of the trees like the Elms, Maples, Cypress are actually huge trees but you can keep them super tiny with careful pruning of the branches and the roots.

Hak Ip is also a nice tasting lychee that is supposed to bear regularly.

So simon,

Would you suggest I grow a sweetheart from a seed, since I live in NJ and it would be expensive to get an already sprouted tree from a warmer climate?

Senile,
I dont think Simon or anyone would recommend you growing it from see. Do you not want to pay for an airlayered tree? The cost may seem a little high with the shipping but if you can get fruit in a year or two isn't that worth the cost?? Another thing that hasn't been mentioned here. Just because you buy a sweetheart lychee seed does not mean you will get a tree that bears sweetheart quality fruit. You could wait 10-15 years and end up with a fruit that tastes like crap. There is a good chance of having poor quality fruit. The fruit that you enjoy does not come from a seed grown tree. There are some trees that you may grow froim seed and have a better chance of getting decent fruit but lychee is a BIG risk. Have you even checked online to see what the prices are? I would avoid TOP (not that there trees aren't nice but you will pay thru the nose.), but check out Pine and Nippa. Nippa seems very reasonable and I think Nippa may offer it seed grown. You could contact Nippa and if they do offer it seed grown then ask them how long it takes to grow and produce fruit. Then you could find out if they are of good quality or not. I have never heard anything bad about Nipa, I would contact them first if you don't want to spend a lot of money and still get a nice tree.
Andrew

Simon, what varieties have you tasted and how would you rate them in order?

i heard Hak Ip is similar to Sweetheart.

im growing Mauritius, Brewster and Sweetheart

im looking for 'Kwa Iuk' (hanging green).

andrew78,

So where could I get an air layered tree? I am not very big on buying plants, but if the tree is to produce fruit, I understand the problem with seeding.

SenileFelineS

senilefelines, I would definitely not recommend growing lychees from seeds. If you are considering growing lychees, you almost have to get an air layer. Its not worth it to spend maybe 10 years growing a tree only to find out that it tastes horrible.

Mango Kush, in order of preference, I have personally tasted and like : China No Mai Tse, Sweetheart, Australian Sweet Cliff, Taiwan Hak Ip, Brewster, Mauritius and USA No Mai Tse.

There are many things to consider when ranking these lychees. Brewsters are super tasty, one of my favorites, but the seed is so large that it irritates the heck out of me. There's hardly any meat on the fully sized Brewsters, But.... When you do get a Brewster with an attrophied seed, its like sweet nectar from the gods and I would rate it equal to No Mai Tsze. In My ranking, I took seed size/annoyance factor into consideration and I also took into consideration the availability of the varieties because for me personally, I like the rarer cultivars. The common varieties like Brewster, Mauritius and Taiwan Hak Ip are so common in the markets during the season that my palate is numbed by eating these varieties year in and year out. When I recently went to Hong Kong and tasted some Sweet Cliff's, the nuance of the sweetness, color and texture of the Sweet Cliff was a pleasant surprise.

Simon, Have you seen any No mai Tsze for sale out in CA? They seem impossible to find here in FL.

Hello Senile,
My response to sources from you must have been lost. You could try Top( the last name is tropicals but this website doesn't let you use the names of the three major nurseries.)Jene's( which the last name is the same as top), and Nippa( the last part of the name is Hut). Those three all sell lychee but some of them wont have any fruit trees till spring. Goodluck!
Andrew

Correction above, it was not Australian Sweet Cliff but Australian Ohia I meant as my third choice. I just read a thread somewhere about Sweet Cliff and my brain automatically substituted Sweet Cliff for Ohia.

jsvand5, as for No Mai Tsze trees in CA, they are for sale at Exotica Nursery in Vista CA. This is where Phase and I tried the fruit and it was pretty bad. The Nursery workers said the fruit was really good 2 years ago but we went at the end of the season last year and it was kinda tart.

I have never seen the fruit for sale here in CA and from what I have read, they produce very sporadically. Somebody asked me about the plants last year and they called Exotica and told me that Exotica does not ship to Florida. I can ask them next time I visit.

Well I've checked out the prices on lychee air layered trees. They seem to only sell as low as two gallons and aren't any cheaper than $35. What exactly does it mean by 2 gallons?

SenileFelineS

2 gallon is the size of the container. also, assuming you dont have a local supplier, u will also need to pay another30 or so in shipping fees.

Ugh. Isn't there A way I can just get the air layered cutting still bound up?

SenileFelineS

Don't see why you would want that. PI sells some of their lychees for $25 I think. That is probably the cheapest you will find online. Their shipping is a little high if you are only ordering one plant though.

Why wouldn't I want just the wrapped up cutting of the air layered plant?

I'm a teen, money is not something I have ;)

Because it would cost just as much.

jsvand5,

Do you have any suggestions then for a method around $15?

SenileFelineS

Sorry but you are not going to find one for that price. $15 won't even cover shipping. Air-layering any tree is a time consuming process. People are not going to sell them much cheaper than what you find at online nurseries. The link I provided is the cheapest you are going to find online.

If you want a cheap tree you could probably find a seedling for $15 including sipping but as was mentioned earlier don't expect fruit for many years.

Here is a link that might be useful: PI

Ah well, thank you for your help :)

Senilefeline,
You can get a seedling from Nipa for $6-$7 BUT WISH SHIPPING IT WOULD BE CLOSE TO THE $15.00. It would be more worth it to set some money aside and buy airlayered when you have the money. You may get discouraged after waiting five years and still not having fruit. My cousin grew a grapefruit from seed. He had it for 10+ years and never saw a fruit on it. He ended up getting discouraged and cut it down and made a waliking stick!
Andrew

I See your point, I guess saving money up is my best bet.

I have to say that is an odd grapefruit story 0_0

SenileFelineS

Does anyone know where one can order a 3 gallon mauritius online?

Thanks,
Dustin

You may want to try lycheesonline, or Pine.

Please disregard my question (posting w/o having read the entire thread).

http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/availability_common.htm#L