Lychee & Longan in Containers

[DRFixembones]

I Purchased 2 Mauritius lychee trees in 3 gallon containers and 2 Biew Kiew Longans. I don’t have much space in my yard anymore and wanted to ask you guys if anyone had success growing them in containers? I don’t mind putting them in very large containers eventually but I just want a decent amount of production. I live in Miami, has anyone had success with these 2?

[Jaboticaba45]

I had a sweetheart lychee in a 7 gallon and it flowered, after that I planted it in ground.

[canesgirl821]

Can’t help with your question, but I’m interested in purchasing a lychee. Would you mind sharing where you got them? 

[Forester]

Last year, in a Russian social network, a girl from Siberia showed a photo of her longan in a container, he bore fruit well. I don’t remember how old the plant is, but it looked quite large. If this is possible in Russia, then in Florida, growing in a container should not be a problem.

[DRFixembones]

Can’t help with your question, but I’m interested in purchasing a lychee. Would you mind sharing where you got them? 

I bought them at Excalibur in Lake Worth. They were extremely small in a 3 gallon container and probably should have sold to me as a 1 gallon. I think you can get Lychee trees at most decent nurseries. I would not recommend Excalibur anymore after the last few trees I purchased not to mention the customer service is a joke. Go elsewhere

[canesgirl821]

Zach, Thanks for your reply, sorry to hear about your bad experiences.
Hopefully your trees will flourish & fruit and it’ll be worth it in the end.

[Budtropicals]

Imo Excalibur is the best for most if not all tropical plants that they sell.

First time I went there, they had a tiny lychee in a 3 gallon with 3 fruits on it.   Plus if you buy them from any random place you could get one that is not grafted or air layered, which means that it will take 10 years or more to fruit.


In regards to the original question, I too am very interested in knowing if a Longan would fruit in a container.

[DRFixembones]

Imo Excalibur is the best for most if not all tropical plants that they sell.

First time I went there, they had a tiny lychee in a 3 gallon with 3 fruits on it.   Plus if you buy them from any random place you could get one that is not grafted or air layered, which means that it will take 10 years or more to fruit.


In regards to the original question, I too am very interested in knowing if a Longan would fruit in a container.

I’m sure they have a great selection but the customer service is terrible. Every tree that I purchased they are either in a three or 7 gallon container was falling over and belongs in a container smaller than that. I’ve emailed multiple times,  I’ve called regarding 2 Jackfruit trees that could not stand on their own and I could not see the graft, not a single person called me back or returned an email. They sold me papaya, lychee and Longan  that were supposedly 3 gallons, but they were less than a foot tall and belonged in a 1 gallon container. Nevertheless, it’s better to go to other nurseries.

[Budtropicals]

In my experience, Excalibur and all of their Employees that I was with were amazing. Been there over 40 times now and I have nothing but good memories. 

Its unfortunate to see that not everyone is having a great experience because I recommend this place 100%

In fact i'm actually kind of surprised that you apparently got a small plant. Almost every plant I bought from there were huge for each gallon size, some even had roots outside of the container!

[DRFixembones]

In my experience, Excalibur and all of their Employees that I was with were amazing. Been there over 40 times now and I have nothing but good memories. 

Its unfortunate to see that not everyone is having a great experience because I recommend this place 100%

In fact i'm actually kind of surprised that you apparently got a small plant. Almost every plant I bought from there were huge for each gallon size, some even had roots outside of the container!

Unfortunately I had the exact opposite experience. They couldn’t even email or call me back. The plants stunk. Weak and small. Truly Tropical is much better as well as Pine Island.

[Odenwald]

If they are grafted then you should get success with container growing.  Otherwise I would get them in the ground ASAP to get them established and maturing as it will be many years before fruit.  On the subject of nurseries I get my stock from Pine Island Nursery where they are always top quality trees.

[Jaboticaba45]

If they are grafted then you should get success with container growing.  Otherwise I would get them in the ground ASAP to get them established and maturing as it will be many years before fruit.  On the subject of nurseries I get my stock from Pine Island Nursery where they are always top quality trees.

As I have been to both Pine Island and Excalibur, I say they are both excellent nurseries with good prices. I favor Excalibur more because they have more tree selection.

[DRFixembones]

If they are grafted then you should get success with container growing.  Otherwise I would get them in the ground ASAP to get them established and maturing as it will be many years before fruit.  On the subject of nurseries I get my stock from Pine Island Nursery where they are always top quality trees.

Thanks for the info. They are all grafted. I’m having work done on my backyard so I don’t want o plant anything back there and then have to remove them down the road. Was hoping I could keep some in containers even if I need a whiskey barrel. Just want production

[OCchris1]

Zach, are you buying them online with no pics or picking them yourself? If, you're picking them, then it's on you. If you're buying a specific tree that is larger, then you have a claim. Otherwise, it's buyer/beware.

[DRFixembones]

Zach, are you buying them online with no pics or picking them yourself? If, you're picking them, then it's on you. If you're buying a specific tree that is larger, then you have a claim. Otherwise, it's buyer/beware.

No, I purchased all from Excalibur. Because of Covid, they don’t let anyone inside to pick out trees, you need to call in advance, place the Order and then when you arrive someone brings to your car (sometimes they don’t speak English)

[Viking Guy]

Yes, they'll all be able to do well in containers. Much better in larger fabric containers.

As for my experiences with Excal, I only had good ones--but that was all before COVID. Unable to comment about current status. I was able to tour the property to find what I needed, so not the same you're dealing with. The lady which drove us around, though, did not seem to be familiar with the varieties and spoke little to no English. So we had to inspect and select the trees on our own.

So if those are the same individual(s) collecting the trees from the yard and bringing them to the car, there could be some confusion involved with that.

[Budtropicals]

Yes, they'll all be able to do well in containers. Much better in larger fabric containers.

As for my experiences with Excal, I only had good ones--but that was all before COVID. Unable to comment about current status. I was able to tour the property to find what I needed, so not the same you're dealing with. The lady which drove us around, though, did not seem to be familiar with the varieties and spoke little to no English. So we had to inspect and select the trees on our own.

So if those are the same individual(s) collecting the trees from the yard and bringing them to the car, there could be some confusion involved with that.

In my experience, there is maybe one person there that might have confusion with the plants and speak little to no english.  I bought two trees during this covid time, and I believe that they send out people that know what they are doing when they go pick the trees. I know the people there quite well at this point, so I trust them 100%.

I would not worry if I were you, i've got plenty of trees from them and i'm very satisfied.