Florida Lychee Season 2016

[PurpleAlligator]

My Mauritius Lychees are now transitioning green to red. It won't be long now. I haven't seen any for sale yet in the area. How will production be this year? And pricing?

[Tropicaliste]

I can't speak to the supermarket prices as I don't live in Florida, but the seller Suzanne Greene sent out an email saying she will be taking orders for Lychees and that she had a good crop. 11 a lb. Not affliated with her, just bought an airlayer once, and still get those emails each year, and some of you may be interested.

I can get good quality Lychee at the asian groceries here, usually for less than 6 a lb. It may not be picked 30 minutes ago, but tasty and enough for my little summer craving.

[luc]

Same here , showing some red , will be a good season , got 4 trees and all are loaded .

[puglvr1]

Mauritius...a couple are turning color, tried one but still quite sour 


My neighbors Brewster...first time its held fruits since she planted it 4/5 years ago...

[cmichael258]

Mauritius...a couple are turning color, tried one but still quite sour 


My neighbors Brewster...first time its held fruits since she planted it 4/5 years ago...

Very nice Nancy. My Sweetheart has fruit for the very first time, albeit only 20 or so.

[puglvr1]

" My Sweetheart has fruit for the very first time, albeit only 20 or so."

Thanks Cmichael...That's 20 you didn't have before...we'll definitely take that over zero  ...Congrats!!

[acoff87]

Our sweetheart is loaded, will takes photos of harvest.

[skhan]

Can anyone suggest a good place to get lychees from down here.
Ideally Broward, but i'll drive if i have to

[cbss_daviefl]

For any of you wanting to grow lychees in the company of iguanas, my crop has been decimated by them.  Empty shells and broken branches litter the ground around my small trees.  They have eaten 90% of my 40 pound crop.  They attack fruits that are about two weeks before being ready for picking, too sour to enjoy by humans.

[Tropicalgrower89]

For any of you wanting to grow lychees in the company of iguanas, my crop has been decimated by them.  Empty shells and broken branches litter the ground around my small trees.  They have eaten 90% of my 40 pound crop.  They attack fruits that are about two weeks before being ready for picking, too sour to enjoy by humans.

Time to buy a pellet gun... I have killed a few iguanas with my gamo hornet.

[puglvr1]

OMG!! I'm so sorry...that is one critter I do not have to worry about, I've never seen a single one here, lived here almost 10 years. How many do you have in your neighborhood? I would be freaked out, not a fan!

[Jani]

I live more or less next to a canal,  have no shortage of iguanas and they never once taken an interest in fruit.

[cbss_daviefl]

The iguanas that raid my yard also eat mangos, mostly keitts and pickering, which are right next to the canal.  There is a definite increase in their numbers this year.  They have killed over a dozen of my newly planted trees by repeatedly stripping every leaf and breaking branches.  This morning I saw 3 very mature 6 footers and lots of smaller ones, around 15 total.  They are out of control.   

[Cookie Monster]

Yah, that's odd. Do you not have raccoons? My property abuts a canal, but the iguanas only eat bromeliad flowers. They won't touch the trees. I wonder if the high raccoon population we have here keeps them in check. It's not unusual to find a mutilated iguana carcass near the seawall of our canal.

The iguanas that raid my yard also eat mangos, mostly keitts and pickering, which are right next to the canal.  There is a definite increase in their numbers this year.  They have killed over a dozen of my newly planted trees by repeatedly stripping every leaf and breaking branches.  This morning I saw 3 very mature 6 footers and lots of smaller ones, around 15 total.  They are out of control.   

[savemejebus]

Ate my very first sweetheart lychee today from our tree. Absolutely delicious with a tiny seed. Could it be better a week from now? I suppose. But my belly don't care. Feed me now!

[Cookie Monster]

My sweetheart lychees are phenomenal. Absolutely divine.

[murahilin]

The iguanas that raid my yard also eat mangos, mostly keitts and pickering, which are right next to the canal.  There is a definite increase in their numbers this year.  They have killed over a dozen of my newly planted trees by repeatedly stripping every leaf and breaking branches.  This morning I saw 3 very mature 6 footers and lots of smaller ones, around 15 total.  They are out of control.   

Why don't you kill them? You can also eat them if you feel bad about killing them for no reason other than they're eating your fruit. Below are a few videos of people cooking iguanas in Trinidad.

http://youtu.be/sE8wuNrehpg

http://youtu.be/RN0HucciJaM

http://youtu.be/3cZGT0OdBuk

[cbss_daviefl]

For right or wrong, we have become a nation of people that mostly get their meat from the grocery store in white Styrofoam trays and do not know any other way.  Most people, myself included, would have a hard time killing a chicken or cow but are more than happy to eat it.  I would not have a problem eating iguana but I think I will have a hard time pulling the trigger.  I go fishing and lobstering and do not have a problem with the catch dying.  Logically, I know their is no difference. The air rifle arrives tomorrow.  The barbeque is ready.   

[Delvi83]

Are there some cultivars that produce twice in a year?

[puglvr1]

Are there some cultivars that produce twice in a year?

Not that I know of?

The critters are in full force...found this on the bottom of my Lychee tree today...had no choice but to pick the majority of them if I wanted to eat some  ...I saw squirrels running up and down the tree 

[cbss_daviefl]

It is definitely sad to see that mess below the tree.  This morning, I found another large branch broken off where it joins to the trunk on one of my hak ips, inch and a half thick.  The iguanas even chew the seeds and I have a few fruit on the tree with the top half of the fruit, including half the seed, still attached. 

[strkpr00]

I seem to have the same problem, once reddish do the fruit continue to ripen? my fruit are at the point of 50/50 sour to ripe.

[Samu]

Sorry to see those squirrels (and now Iguanas) destroying your lychees/trees.
I have no problem with squirrels yet  -since my trees are small-  but I have to deal with them someday.

Wonder if something like this so called "squirrel baffle" might work? Looks like it may need to be modified a bit to allow for your tree trunk to fit with it? (or make your own... )
 

http://www.amazon.com/Achla-Designs-Squirrel-Deflector-Post/dp/B000Y8ZTO0/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1465239101&sr=8-8&keywords=squirrel+baffle

Edit: replaced URL to Amazon's. (Has 4.3 positive stars out of 87 reviews)

[Jani]

I seem to have the same problem, once reddish do the fruit continue to ripen? my fruit are at the point of 50/50 sour to ripe.

From what I understand no, lychees unlike mango, do not continue to ripen (increase in sugar content) once picked.

Yesterday I had to harvest my mauritius early too (a week to 10 days earlier than I wanted to), my problem wasn't critters but splitting due to rain. Taste and color made me think another week or so would have been ideal, so my original plan was to pick this upcoming weekend.

But with each thunderstorm i've gotten a couple or so afternoons each week, for the last 2 or 3 weeks...I'll notice a hand full  of split fruit the next day (my crop turned out to be about 150 or so) full of ants.. And with the rain they were predicting for today and tomorrow..I didn't want to take any chances...

Of course there hasn't been a single drop of rain so far today....

[boxturtle]

for those who have sweetheart...how do you tell when the fruit is ripe?