Need help with small air layered Lychees

[BestDay]

Hi all, these are two very small "micro air layers" of Kwa Luk Lychee.  I have had them for about four months.  At first they seemed to be doing fine but now the leaves are yellowing and some leaves are dropping.  I'm not a Lychee expert of nutritional expert so I thought I would look for some advice here.  I'm scared to fertilize them because I know others here have lost small air layered Lychees after fertilizing.  These air layers are only about 12" tall.  Any advice?

Bill

[fyliu]

I think you could put some coffee ground on top of the soil and water. It's had a positive effect on my small potted plants that weren't doing very well.

Lychee, at least seedlings, don't last long in 1gal pots. I think it's the taproot. Airlayers should be okay for at least a year. Even 5 ft airlayers lasted a year for me in 1gal pots.

You ordered the plants from somewhere?

[simon_grow]

Looks like Iron as well as several other deficiencies including Nitrogen. There no new growth so hard to tell if it's a mobile nutrient deficiency. I would give is some good balanced fertilizer like GroPower but give it at extremely diluted concentration, perhaps 1/4-1/8 of the recommended dose. The GroPower has slow release Nitrogen so when given to Lychees especially at diluted concentrations, it will not burn your plants. Potted plants often has much of the nutrients washed out of its soil so more frequent fertilizations at diluted rates is very beneficial.

Simon

[simon_grow]

[Bananaizme]

   Bill

Maybe some fish emulsion might be beneficial ?

William

[BestDay]

Thanks for the advice guys.  I think I will try a very diluted fertilizer with minors.  I have a 40 pound bag from Home Depot that should work.

Should these plants be in full or partial sun?  I've had them in morning sun only thinking that they needed to have their roots grow before they would want full sun.

Bill

[simon_grow]

New air layers need protection but if it has established roots, gradually harden it to full sun. It will grow much faster in full sun.

Simon

[andrewq]

Bill, can you provide more info on the growth and care of the plant? what type of soil are you using? any recent growths? any change in sun?

I agree with others that this plant looks like it wants something - all its leaves are yellowing.

are you using rain water or city water? my two cents would be to check the soil pH and also make sure the soil doesn't have too much solute/salts (what soil and water do you use?)

the fertilizer pictured also has urea nitrogen, which can burn leaves. I use foliage pro, which is one of the best container fertilizers according to the experts in the gardenweb container forum (no urea, all micros, appropriate NPK ratio, etc)

best of luck. keep us posted on what happened

[simon_grow]

Foliage pro is great but use up the bottle fast as the minerals precipitate out of solution which leaves you wondering exactly how much your plants are actually getting.

Simon

[andrewq]

precipitate in the soil or watering jug? I haven't had major problems w precipitation in the jug or container is comes in.

it does seem on the expensive side, but deoends how many plants you have

[BestDay]

I'm using city water which here locally is hard and alkaline but my Brewster Lychee doesn't seem to mind.  It grows like a weed.  The two air layers haven't put out a single growth flush but I don't know how long new Lychee air layers concentrate on root growth before you see leaf flushes.  They are potted in a mixture of half pumice and half peat moss.

I think I will up pot them and add a very small amount of fertilizer.  And I will add some mulch to help them preserve their moisture.  Then I will move them to more sun.  These things need to grow!

Bill

[andrewq]

be care about repotting to not disturb the roots.

do lychees propagate well by micro air layering?

for repotting healthy lychees with minimal root pruning, I've had 4-6 weeks before flushing. root pruning pushed it back by an extra 1-2 months. I also have small seedlings. they had anemic growth for 2 years and this year suddenly are growing like champs (switched to 5-1-1 soil, used FP, sprayed w phos x1, put up wind protection and more sun... no idea what did it)

[simon_grow]

Just give your trees good quality water and frequent diluted applications of fertilizer for good growth. Here an air layer I'm nurturing. Lychees love Iron and a good mulch layer. They thrive on rain and RO water.

Simon

[BestDay]

I don't know how well they usually grow after being micro air layered. The main stem on them is only about 1/4" in diameter.

Bill