Doth my eyes deceive me or is this small Sweetheart lychee flowering?

[puglvr1]

 I thought I posted this yesterday...but I don't see it?

With talk about 2 different varieties of Lychee possibly helping with pollination I decided to put my small potted Hak ip next to my inground Mauritius tree...the bees are buzzing around both trees like crazy! ...certainly can't hurt.

[Samu]

I thought I posted this yesterday...but I don't see it?

With talk about 2 different varieties of Lychee possibly helping with pollination I decided to put my small potted Hak ip next to my inground Mauritius tree...the bees are buzzing around both trees like crazy! ...certainly can't hurt.

Yes, seems like the bees (there are usually 2 bees) are constantly buzzing around both male and female flowers all day long on my Mauritius...somehow the flowers seem to act like magnets to them...I recently planted a Brewster next to it, it's flowering now but mostly not open yet, and hardly any bees working on them atm. Pug, look like your Mauritius is a lot larger than mine, how old is it and did you prune it too?
 

[puglvr1]

My Mauritius is 4 years old. Planted it February. 2011.  I prune mine once a year in July as per the recommendation of lychees online.com I'm very fortunate it's fruited 3x since I planted it. The only time it didn't  flower/fruit was the first year I planted it. Which was fine since I wanted it to grow that  first year.

[Samu]

Thanks Pug, Cheers!

[puglvr1]

You're welcome Samu...below is the link I was talking about from lycheesonline...

http://lycheesonline.com/HowToGetTreeToFruit.cfm

[Samu]

I bookmarked that webpage on my computer now.

And also, just alerted myself on my smart phone to do this pruning
regiment in July... 

Thanks again Pug, for that useful info; you've been so helpful!
Happy growing!   

[puglvr1]

There's definitely no guarantees but I figured it...can't hurt!?! The only problem might be the timing of when your fruits ripen? You might have to do yours a little later...you'll have to let me know.

I'm not sure any of the blooms on my Hak ip are getting pollinated inspite of the many bees buzzing around, not sure if I have any female flowers? 

Close up of one of the Clusters...after really zooming in the picture of the blooms...I think I see one baby lcyhee,lol...

[Samu]

Great that you see one baby fruit, even though I am not able to determine with certainty that I see the female flowers on your picture -nor that one baby lychee- ; but hope they'll show up soon in big numbers!

By the way, I am wondering if it is possible to do manual pollination, if one would just "rub" or brush them lightly with tiny brush (as you would on Cherimoyas)  the males (from your Mauritius) to the females (from Hap ip) flowers?

[puglvr1]

Samu, I'm sure you can hand pollinate Lychee with good success. Someone here that lives up North that grows indoors in the winter have had success hand pollinating them before...but for me it will be a waste of time since I have SO many bees already doing a great job. My problem really seems to be the lack of female flowers and without them all the bees in the world won't do me any good 

I'll update and take a picture "if" I see actual lychee fruitlets in a few weeks...wish me luck!

[Samu]

Looking forward to see the pictures!
Good luck, Pug!

[puglvr1]

I found this nice Video on Lychees on Youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9Io7qFnkms

[Samu]

Watched the video, now I can visualize what Brewster lychee fruit looks like...
As far as taste, only when the local Asian markets sell them; oh wait,
I once tasted a homegrown lychee from a lone street vendor near Honolulu,
but it's been a long time, so I forgot how the fresh lychee fruits taste like.
Can't wait to taste my own...
Thanks for the link!