The Tropical Fruit Forum

Noticed some wasps made a nest on some leaf undersides of my sweetheart tree. I've seen them do that before over the years but this is the first time this tree is flowering. My first thought is to leave them there as they've been working the flowers, and also because they are not aggressive at all, and it seems quite convenient for the tree to have its very own hive while it flowers. But question, some wasps are predatory/parasitic correct? Do these guys have any negative impact on other beneficial pollinators? I haven't really seen any other insects hanging around the flowers besides these wasps... thoughts?

pics below of the nest and a wasp working the flowers:

I got a tree from Harris citrus it's growing great. Also I found a few seeds from the whole food fruit (I've been informed seeds are pretty rare in the sumos) maybe I might plant them just for the fun of it.

No this is a new wholefoods that opened in downtown Miami proper (where I work) on SE 2nd street. They've been carrying the sumo brand since they opened about 3 weeks ago, and they've been delicious

Quote from: Jani on February 10, 2015, 10:46:22 AM

I've had some great ones from the new wholefoods in downtown Miami.
Actually I'm going to get some more today.

Are you referring to the one on Biscayne in N. Miami?  I am on the hunt for these, but publix didn't seem to have them when I was there last night.

CTMIAMI, there are chill hours in Jamaica. Lychee are grown primarily in St. Mary Parish, where some of the blue mountain range extends into. The blue mountains peak at around 7500 feet, and can experience temps near freezing (and sometimes frost) especially with the passage of cold fronts coming down from the states. I think Ronald is located in or near Mandeville Manchester, which is in the central hilly areas and over 2000ft above sea level and has a rather mild climate and can experience nighttime temperatures in the 50s during the winter months. Also Jamaica has extremely fertile soils, and the region Ronald is in is near the old aluminium/bauxite mining region with rich red soil loaded with iron and other nutrients. I think the climates in the mountainous regions, our fertile soil, and Jamaica longstanding and renowned agriculture industry and practices, has made lychee growing pretty good in the island. Also there's a pretty large population of Chinese descendants and still even recent Chinese immigrants that have contributed their knowledge to the success of this fruit on the island. I also know that longan grows and produces quite well on the island ...even near sea level. I do wonder though if there are unique species and subspecies that have developed on the island since lychee gas been grown there....

Quote from: ronald123 on February 09, 2015, 05:11:45 AM

Hello everyone.  All I can say is that here in Jamaica I have practiced girdling for over 15 years. No it is not some miracle solution to the flowering puzzle but personally I do find it helps.
However I still need the weather to cooperate with some cool temperatures.
I think all we can do is do our best to get them in a dormant state for winter and hope for chill hours.
My update-flowering continues to look the best that I have ever had. And hoping that translates to lots of great fruit.

Ronald do you get decent production regularly with girding?. There are no chill hours in Jamaica to speak of. Can you share how many pounds you get per tree?

Quote from: fruitnewbie on January 23, 2015, 12:54:00 AM

Harry,
Do you think there is still time for your trees that are not blooming yet to bloom? My large unidentified lychee tree shows no signs yet but others in the neighborhood are exploding with spikes. I'm thinking of revving up the chainsaw. Is there still hope?

I would say yes for Florida, especially for the later fruiting varieties like Emperor.  But if things do not start popping in the next few weeks, I'm afraid what you see (or rather what you don't see) is what you get.

Building on that point..My 4 or 5 year old sweetheart has started blooming for the first time but only on a couple of branches (see below), I'd guess about 5% of the trees terminals.  No new growth or blooms have emerged elsewhere on the tree's terminals, but it looks like something (either blooms or flushes) will happen in the next couple weeks at  most.

My question is, can these still emerge as blooms, especially considering that they're forecasting a pretty cold week (by our standards)?

Hi Jani, not much help as I'm no expert when it comes to the subject...but what little I know Lychee trees normally can take more water than most fruit trees? But I think its the inconsistency...very dry conditions and then very wet conditions that can affect the fruits ( like fruits splitting)...though we have NO control over how much we rain we get so its tricky...but I know too rain, wet humid conditionsr on Mango trees can affect the blooms ( powdery mildew, anthracnose) and other fungus or diseases...so drier is better for mango trees in bloom...at least this is what little I know about it,lol...take it with a grain of salt 

Thanks a lot for the info. It's been a pretty wet and foggy week down in south Florida. Luckily things should be clearing out starting later today into tomorrow, and it looks like we were in for an extended drier and cooler period ahead looking 10 days out.  Hopefully that materializes.

My sweetheart is about 4 years in the ground too, and is starting to bloom for the first time.  While I reduced water so far since about October, I've given it a little hosing every now and then when I had a hunch it needed some (nothing scheduled or scientific, just good old fashion intuition .  Haven't been tracking but if I had to guess it's probably once every 10 days or so on average over the last 3 months it's been watered, and nothing too deep either.  Tree is about 10 feet tall and wide.

Thanks! Well does cookie monster still have? I would go up to 7 g

Question for the experts....

So everything is in full amazing bloom: Julie, Pickering, Glen, Graham, Mallika and NDM..
 They are all around 4 years and 5 to 7 feet or so (Glen and Graham in pots)...my question is now that they are blooming and having their first impressive full tree bloom (had some small bloom/production in years past) is there any advice on what I should be doing with watering and fertilizing?

Tried searching the forum before I started a new thread on this but couldn't find much....

About to get rid of this years Christmas tree, and like to reuse stuff when possible...so simple questions... is this good for mulching tropicals like mango/lychee?

Any dos or dont's in using this for mulching?

Thanks!

Seems like from this thread, Pickering is the variety that's blooming for almost everyone.

In fairness to John, I was the recipient of a previous tree that didn't work out for his particular yard.  You will be happy to know it survived, and is thriving in my yard.  Lots of people on the forum are willing to give stuff away before chopping it down.  But, sometimes, it isn't practical if the tree will clearly not survive the transport.

FWIW, you may want to avoid entering the words wild boar in the forum search feature.   

Awsome..and to that point...
John if and when you decide that's it with the tree, and if you're comfortable meeting up...please let me know..as I know two people in the area, who were looking for looking for lychee trees with a little headstart on growth.

Haven't spoken to them in a while so would have to check if they are still interested..but assuming they are and you are, I'd gladly come with them and relocate it.