Jon,

I find it hard to sprout them in the soil because i have to keep digging them out to check. So, I usually sprout them on wet paper towels in a covered plastic food container. This way, I know which seed is definitely sprouting. I would wait until I see the stem and tiny leaves start sprouting. At that time, I'll transplant them into a small pot to watch their growth. The lychee seedlings seem rather hardy, but you'll have to keep watering them whenever the soil dries off.

Yes, I would definitely keep them in a shady area. They're too delicate to take the heat of the sun. In fact, I have sprouted many of them and let them sit on the ledge of my windows outside. It's nice to see them grow whenever i walk past my windows. Sometimes their young leaves will turn from pink to green. I actually do it for the fun of it, not that I expect them to grow fruit soon for me. In fact, lychees which are started from seeds may take a long time to fruit. I heard it's about 10 years if it will fruit ... If you're planning to have fruits quickly, then getting an air layered or grafted one may be your best bat.

I have some seedlings that are almost 8 years old. They're all in the pots. I haven't really given them too much attention and they did not grow too much. The tallest is now about 3 ft tall. I know they would have done better if I had re potted them, fed them and pruned them, but I kind of left them to fend for themselves after a while. I even left them out in the 30's and somehow they made it. I believe if I had planted them into the ground, they might have grown faster, but then I thought to myself why plant a seedling when I'm not sure whether they will fruit for me as opposed to planting an air layered or grafted one that can bear fruit for me in a few years.

You've mentioned your planting zone is 7a. If you do get freeze regularly in the Winter, planting lychee in the ground could be risky. Even in 9b here, one of my lychee trees has been damaged to one third its original size. So, perhaps planting them in the pot and bring them inside when the weather gets below freezing may be the way to go.

Anyway, I hope I have answered your questions. Have fun with your lychee seedlings :)

Thanks so much. Is it better to leave them outside in the shade or inside?

You can either place them on the window, inside the house or outside. If it's an inside window, some sunlight filtering through the window is good. As for mine, I place them outside of the window. The eave offers shade so my plants aren't exposed to the sun all day.

I took some pictures here:

Wonderful.

Last question, is it alright if my home is 70 degrees F? Will it do better in the same amount of sun outdoors where it is 10 degrees warmer? I guess that's what I am trying to ask.

All plants naturally love the outdoors where it's warmer especially during the growing season, but if you prefer to keep them inside the home for a while to observe them, I think that should be ok. I find keeping them indoors for a long time actually can make them sick. Some of my plants become moldy or have spider mites on them. For your planting zone though, you might want to bring them back inside when temperature goes below freezing.