Author Topic: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS  (Read 4865 times)

850FL

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COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« on: April 16, 2020, 02:26:51 PM »
Looking for a seedling or commercial variety of lychee and/or longan that can withstand brief drops into the mid to upper teens F. Actually Randy from ‘Randy’s tropical fruits’ has already developed a cold hardy lychee. I believe from the ‘Hap Ik’ or sweetheart heritage, which can withstand at least 15 degrees F.  However it’s up in the air if he’ll ever sell propagations from it for whatever reason.
I believe another potentially cold hardy heritage of lychee could originate from the mountainous ‘Emperor’ heritage.
As for longans, from personal experience they are at least more frost tolerant as a species as a whole than lychees.. not sure about actual ‘cold’ tolerance though.. probably similar. Might even be an easier shot to find a cold hardy longan than a cold hardy lychee.
Any info greatly appreciated.
« Last Edit: April 16, 2020, 02:28:27 PM by 850FL »

shot

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #1 on: April 16, 2020, 02:51:36 PM »
Well season is coming up plant a lot of seeds .Chinese longans probably the most hardy and lychee.

Tropheus76

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #2 on: April 16, 2020, 02:57:44 PM »
Have always heard the opposite and in my experience longans are far more sensitive than lychees. I am in 9B and longans are borderline trees. Mine stayed alive but barely grew while my lychees do really well.

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #3 on: April 16, 2020, 03:12:52 PM »
Have always heard the opposite and in my experience longans are far more sensitive than lychees. I am in 9B and longans are borderline trees. Mine stayed alive but barely grew while my lychees do really well.

That is true the further down the indochina peninsula the more tropical .

850FL

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2020, 11:46:27 AM »
Have always heard the opposite and in my experience longans are far more sensitive than lychees. I am in 9B and longans are borderline trees. Mine stayed alive but barely grew while my lychees do really well.

Hmm.. I see conflicting evidence all over the web.
And in my personal experience,
I started about 200 longan seedlings and 100 or so lychee seedlings last summer, and scattered them all throughout different microclimates on the property (slightly different elevations, full sun and full shade, some more exposed to wind and frost than others).. none grew over a foot in height when winter came about. We got about 12 brief frosts this past winter (lowest temp 27 F) and not a single longan that I observed suffered any frost damage. However about half the seedling lychees had significant damage to their leaves (However I think much of this damage occured in the first cold event when it dropped from 85 F to 40 F in 6 hours. Not much further damage seemed to occur when actual frosts started to hit, because the plants were acclimated by then..)
So, I don't know yet. Maybe longans are more frost tolerant but more sensitive lower temps (which is a separate factor than frost)..? I'll likely find out in the years to come..

Also what are some Chinese longan varieties? Does Kohala have Chinese heritage?
« Last Edit: April 19, 2020, 11:19:42 PM by 850FL »

giorgosgr.

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2020, 07:45:17 AM »
Have always heard the opposite and in my experience longans are far more sensitive than lychees. I am in 9B and longans are borderline trees. Mine stayed alive but barely grew while my lychees do really well.

Hmm.. I see conflicting evidence all over the web.
And in my personal experience,
I started about 200 longan seedlings and 100 or so lychee seedlings last summer, and scattered them all throughout different microclimates on the property (slightly different elevations, full sun and full shade, some more exposed to wind and frost than others).. none grew over a foot in height when winter came about. We got about 12 brief frosts this past winter (lowest temp 27 F) and not a single longan that I observed suffered any frost damage. However about half the seedling lychees had significant damage to their leaves (However I think much of this damage occured in the first cold event when it dropped from 85 F to 40 F in 6 hours. Not much further damage seemed to occur when actual frosts started to hit, because the plants were acclimated by then..)
So, I don't know yet. Maybe longans are more frost tolerant but more sensitive lower temps (which is a separate factor than frost)..? I'll likely find out in the years to come..

Also what are some Chinese longan varieties? Does Kohala have Chinese heritage?

Having just bought 2 longan trees, what were the first winter results (frost damage) on both longan and lychee seedlings regarding sun exposure and wind?

Mike T

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #6 on: October 20, 2020, 08:55:02 AM »
As a general rule look at the order of harvest and the later they are the more cold tolerant the variety.
Order of Harvest of Lychees Chinese Names. The lower on the list the more cold tolerant. Sum yee hong is yook ho pow, tai so is Mauritius,souey tung is groff,kwai mai pink is the same as Bosworth and should have been at the top of the list.

Sum Yee Hong
Souey Tung
Bah Lup
Fay Zee Siu
Tai So
Haak Yip
Kwa Lok
Chong Yun Hong
Tim Naan
Sai Kok Zee
Heong Lai
No Mai Chee (standard)
Seong Sue Wai
Ah Neong Hai
Soot Wai Zee
Wai Chee

Mike T

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2020, 08:56:54 AM »
Sorry that is Bosworth 3 that is the same a kwai mai pink.

giorgosgr.

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #8 on: October 20, 2020, 09:10:25 AM »
As a general rule look at the order of harvest and the later they are the more cold tolerant the variety.
Order of Harvest of Lychees Chinese Names. The lower on the list the more cold tolerant. Sum yee hong is yook ho pow, tai so is Mauritius,souey tung is groff,kwai mai pink is the same as Bosworth and should have been at the top of the list.

Sum Yee Hong
Souey Tung
Bah Lup
Fay Zee Siu
Tai So
Haak Yip
Kwa Lok
Chong Yun Hong
Tim Naan
Sai Kok Zee
Heong Lai
No Mai Chee (standard)
Seong Sue Wai
Ah Neong Hai
Soot Wai Zee
Wai Chee

So Wai chee is the most cold tolerant of the above? And the differences are minor, or Kwai mai pink (as you said top of the list) could be 4-5°F more sensitive than Wai Chee?

Mike T

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #9 on: October 20, 2020, 09:28:26 AM »
Yes and minimum chill to induce flowering is a pretty good guide and yeah 4c or 5c sounds about right.

giorgosgr.

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #10 on: October 20, 2020, 09:34:49 AM »
Yes and minimum chill to induce flowering is a pretty good guide and yeah 4c or 5c sounds about right.

Thank you very much for the info!

lk095

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #11 on: December 17, 2020, 05:03:10 AM »
Hi, for what regards the longan do you apply the same rules? (The more late bearing, the more cold-hardier?) Because Kohala is considered to be slightly more cold hardy, but there are more late-bearing, tropical varieties... (less resistant to cold) I find it contradictory...
« Last Edit: December 17, 2020, 05:06:39 AM by lk095 »

Mike T

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2020, 05:43:39 AM »
Brian Watson who was the Lychee experts who was in charge of the Kamerunga Research Station for many years and I knew him when he was getting older for quite a few years. He was personally responsible for bringing at least 25 varieties of lychees to Australia in the 1970s and 1980s. Few have matched his knowledge on all aspects of growing lychees and the nuances of all the varieties. In one paper he advises:
 "The complete set of varieties should give a harvest period of 9 to 11 weeks at one location. However, not all districts have climatic suitability for the full range.
As a broad rule of thumb, early season varieties are more suited for warm areas whilst mid-to-late season varieties perform best in cooler areas" I agree with this observation and it counts for more than just lychees. Sadly Brian Watson passed away a few months ago and the fruit world lost a real pioneer.

Mike T

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #13 on: December 17, 2020, 06:17:07 AM »
When I think about the longan varieties brought in here and tested like Biew Kiew, Chompoo, Dang, Daw, Fa Hok Chai, Fuhko No.2, Haew, Homestead No.1, Ilao, Kay Sweeney, Kohala, Ponyai, Saig Geeb, Skek Yip, Wai etc only 3 of them are grown in any numbers. Maybe to be sure about the most cold tolerant would be to look at the growing districts in China, pick the coldest area and drill down to what longan varieties they are growing.

DSotM

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #14 on: December 17, 2020, 12:49:53 PM »
I planted a  kohala longan in fresno ca (zone 9b) where we get a ton of chill hours and about 13 frosts a year. It probably got hit by 30 or 31 degrees and suffered no damage. It also took full cloudless, arid, 110 degree sun with no issue.

SakuraMendoza

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #15 on: February 01, 2024, 12:00:58 PM »
I'm in Volcano Hawaii at 4000ft elevation, it goes from 40-50 F in the cooler months and up to 70-80 most the year, can anyone recommend a high elevation variety? I know it's not that cold, but most the varieties around me are heat loving... so a mildly cold loving, but high elevation variety?

This is my son's, my grandmothers and my favorite tree, we had one in Honolulu, but now in Volcano I think we need something more cold loving... A Hawaii Island source would be appreciated if possible a lot of things won't ship here...

Tropheus76

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #16 on: February 01, 2024, 01:14:10 PM »
No clue what you are and arent able to source out there. Up above its mentioned that Emperor is a mountainous variety.

Galatians522

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Re: COLD HARDY LYCHEES & LONGANS
« Reply #17 on: February 01, 2024, 10:57:32 PM »
Sounds like perfect lychee weather to me.