leave it on. the first Lychee I bought I left in the car w windows closed. all the leaves fell off. some branches died but some that looked dead grew back.

David,

How's your lychee doing now? Has it grown more new leaves for you?

Hi Bananafan2

There were a total of 4 branches/sets of leaves. They grew to about 2 inches long but stayed a very light green color. I went away for the holidays and a friend was watering all of my plants for me and may have over watered them. They all turned brown and died. Now I'm back to having a stick. Hopefully it will grow back in time. Thanks for checking up on us.

The lychee tree dies back once the new growth dies. It's only chance if it comes back to life is that it will grow a new growth close to the base of the tree near the bottom of the trunk.

I had several come back to life that way, but it eventually died again. Too much care is needed. It is better to buy a new tree.

You will be trying to save a tiny twig that will take years to grow thick. It is susceptible to all sort of things that will stunts it's growth.

Tony,

That is good to know. I guess I'll give it another shot and order another one when the weather gets a little warmer (here in New York ) so it doesn't get too damaged due to the weather. I know my chances are very slim I will get it to fruit but I'm always one to give things a try.

Thanks

Dave

the new growths are quite delicate and susceptible to cold and wind. over fertilizing also will damage lychee growths, low humidity, a lot of things. it's very picky

what kind of soil did you grow it in? lychee will usually tolerate wet feet, so i wonder if something else also happenedt. you could try to nurture this tree but I agree that you may want to think about buying another one. you may want to also think about how to get the best growing Coniditons (wind protection, soil mix (5-1-1?), fertilizer, etc).

btw how are going to winter the plant in nyc and get it enough sunlight?

Hi Andi

I had planted it in as close as I could get to 5-1-1. The pine bark fines may have been on the fine side as well as the perlite. I did the best I could do not having access to any good gardening centers. I used a little bit of fish emulsion at 1/4 of the recommended strength but only after being away for two weeks and noticing the browning of the leaves which didn't seem to be dry just delicate looking so I assumed it was being over watered or not receiving enough nutrients. Humidity could be a culprit. It's indoors so wind and cold is not an issue at the moment. I knew lighting might be an issue and I was prepared to setup a grow light in my spare room but that changed when a family member needed a place to stay until May.

I'm living in an apartment in the city and have a tiny balcony where I keep some fig trees in small smart pots. I take them inside once the weather starts to dip into the low 30s and get some chill hours in. I can't get them to survive the winter outside so they have to come inside. Towards the end of the fall I decided try something more challenging which is where I got the idea to try tropical trees like banana, persimmon, and of course lychee. Since my growing season would be short I thought getting an early start might be a good idea. Apartments in NYC are known to get hot in the winters. My place can get up to the 80s. Not being able to use the grow light has thrown a wrench in my "bright" idea. I realize these tropical trees probably won't fruit but I thought it would be fun to try.

My trees have all broken their dormancy while I was away.

Figs

Persimmon

Banana

My dwarf banana trees lived three years before it died. One fruited but it died because the sun was blocked by the other large banana trees that was planted close to it.

The banana tree need a bunch of sunlight for it to bloom. Don't shade the banana tree. My dwarf banana trees took years to bloom in the shade and the other one never bloomed. It also never produce any new banana trees in the shade.

My large banana trees fruits are smaller on the shaded side of the cluster. I had to start trimming some of the dead leaves so the sunlight can get through.

Thanks for the advice on banana tree. Hopefully I'll have enough room on the balcony come spring.