Lychee Grafting Study (No Mai Tsz, Peerless, Kaimana, Kwa Luk, Sweet Heart)

[behlgarden]

I have 4 lychee plants.
1. Its ha-kip and it also has nice growing sweetheart. - hakip rootstock
2. Brewster - from Leo Manual, doing well - Brewster rootstock
3. Sweetheart on Longan - growing very strong. - longan rootstock
4. Sweetheart on another longan - growing well. - longan rootstock

Trying to analyze which vatieties do well for us in my conditions and on what rootstock. so far results are encouraging.

[simon_grow]

Kaimana is a great large sized fruit with great sweetness and small seed compared to the amount of flesh. Kwa Luk is difficult to grow in our soil, mine has died. I’ve never tasted a Kwa Luk nor Peerless.

No Mai Tsze is absolutely the best tasting and also does not do well on its own rootstock but since you will be grafting it onto your established trees, you should be good.

You should look at some of the Australian websites to find out more about the Chinese varieties because they are much bettter than the common varieties that are available here.

Wai Chee is a great fruit and so is rose scented. Kwai Mai Pink is available in Florida and is highly productive with smaller, very sweet Fruit although it is not as perfumed with the Lychee/rose scent/flavor. Kwai Mai Pink can get some fungal discoloration in humid climates but in our climate, it should be clean.

Lychees are one of my favorite fruit and Brad and I hope to plant or graft many of the top varieties at our orchard.

Simon

[behlgarden]

thanks Simon. yes, grafting does work on Lychees, they are easy takes on Lychee on Lychee.

[fyliu]

fei zi siu is supposed to be good, sweet. I think it's the green spiky ones in Chinese supermarkets. The quality of these market fruits has declined in recent years.

[boxturtle]

thanks Simon. yes, grafting does work on Lychees, they are easy takes on Lychee on Lychee.

hey behl when is the best time to graft? do anything different then mango grafting?  cleft? veneer? suggested length of cut?

[behlgarden]

thanks Simon. yes, grafting does work on Lychees, they are easy takes on Lychee on Lychee.

hey behl when is the best time to graft? do anything different then mango grafting?  cleft? veneer? suggested length of cut?

we are coming to dead end of grafting season here, look at night temps, its dipping below 60 in my area in Corona.  We may have max 2 weeks left to graft and cross fingers that grafts take OR else they will stay green till next season. On Lychees, I found softer wood when you cut if its greenish white inside, its better. I have done both cleft and veneer, lap of min 1" whether cleft or veneer. I did lot of grafts recently and will see how they resolve. When I ordered budwood it was perfect time (in Late May) but volcano outburst and then hurricane delayed my wood from USDA into Sep. I lost the prime grafting season,. but will stay optimistic.

[hawkfish007]

Is there a link to order scions from USDA, or do we have to call?

[behlgarden]

Is there a link to order scions from USDA, or do we have to call?

follow this link https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/search.aspx

note, you have to describe how you will use the wood, acceptance or denial is entirely at USDA's hands. sometimes you will have to pay for shipping or Phyto certificate if requested by USDA.

[hawkfish007]

Is there a link to order scions from USDA, or do we have to call?

follow this link https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/search.aspx

note, you have to describe how you will use the wood, acceptance or denial is entirely at USDA's hands. sometimes you will have to pay for shipping or Phyto certificate if requested by USDA.

Thanks for the info.

[fruitlovers]

For those of you wanting to graft, i have the following lychee scion wood available:
Kwai mi pink (also called Bosworth 3), Kaimana, Salathiel, Wai Chee, Groff, Kwai Mi, Emperor, Bengal, Ohia, Yellow Red, Hanging Green (Kwa Luk), No Mai Tze, Amboina, Sweetheart
Go to http://fruitlovers.com/Scions.html for more information.

[behlgarden]

Update As of Sep 21, 2018.

No Mai Tze was the first one to push, both grafts were on Longan rootstock and branches were fresh growth from last 30-days. All others are sleep including No Mai Tze grafts on Lychee rootstocks. I am using HaKip and Brewster lychee plants as rootstock for cocktail lychee trees.

It proves so far that No Mai Tze works quickly on Longan rootstock.

[behlgarden]

Update Sep 23, 2018

Kaimana, No Mai Tze have pushed on Lychee rootstock as well. Now next would be to study growth habbit and pace of growth on longan vs. lychee grafts, all grafted same day. Note that longan and lychee stocks are planted 8 feet apart and get same sun/water/fertilizer, maintaining same conditions.

Good thing going now is subtle temps where we hit 90 with 30% humidity and then cool off at nights. both longan and lychees are in decent growth cycle and that is helping the grafts to take so quickly, under 10 days from grafting.

[simon_grow]

Thanks for the report Behl, please keep us updated. I know that NMT does not perform well here on its own roots so I’m glad you have them grafted on to more adaptable rootstocks.

Simon

[kh0110]

Behl, I grafted the NMT a couple of days after you on my longan tree and 2 grafts are pushing right now. But too early to tell.

[behlgarden]

Thera, with next two days in near tripple digits expected, I hope to get nice flush and not fried growth, it will be followed by 4-days of possible rain, our first storm rolls in.

[kh0110]

Update, see below, not yet out of the wood, but the NMT grafts on longan are looking good. Two have pushed and still looking alive. The other 3 grafts are still alive but not pushing. Thanks for the opportunity, Behl.

 

[behlgarden]

Nice powerful take there Thera.

[sapote]

Update, see below, not yet out of the wood, but the NMT grafts on longan are looking good. Two have pushed and still looking alive. The other 3 grafts are still alive but not pushing. Thanks for the opportunity, Behl.

 

Thera, these look like they are long scions cleft grafted on rootstock. Diameter and how long are the scions?

I had a hard time growing lychee cut off from air-layering -- it was slowly died off. Maybe gaft on longan rootstock is the solution to my soil. Where did you get those NMT scion if you don't mind?

[kh0110]

Thera, these look like they are long scions cleft grafted on rootstock. Diameter and how long are the scions?

I had a hard time growing lychee cut off from air-layering -- it was slowly died off. Maybe gaft on longan rootstock is the solution to my soil. Where did you get those NMT scion if you don't mind?

Scions are about 1/4 inch thick and 3-4 inches long. This is my 4th attempt and thanks to Behl, it looks like it's a good one. So either I got better at grafting or I just got lucky.

[sapote]

Thank you, Thera.  I would think 4" long is too long to keep it from drying out. I think 2 or 3" with nodes is good, and not sure any benefit of using longer scion.

I'll ask Behl next year after I got an air-layer longan rootstock in ground ready.

[behlgarden]

Get your longan in ground and growing. Best time per this year was Aug-sep, good stable warm temps with no 110 degrees. I grafted about 15 and 12 have took so far. Toy cam also graft on lychee.

[kh0110]

Thank you, Thera.  I would think 4" long is too long to keep it from drying out. I think 2 or 3" with nodes is good, and not sure any benefit of using longer scion.

I'll ask Behl next year after I got an air-layer longan rootstock in ground ready.

Hawaii USDA germplasm will send you what you need for free.