Is this lychee available in US? Taiwanese jade purse lychee

[CTMIAMI]

Taiwanese jade purse lychee see video nice fruit

http://www.huayuworld.org/learningchinese/video/image_taiwan_detail/176

[LEOOEL]

Taiwanese jade purse lychee see video nice fruit

http://www.huayuworld.org/learningchinese/video/image_taiwan_detail/176

According to the video, it's already in Japan. Since Japan is an ally friend of the USA, it shouldn't be all that difficult to import it into the USA; where I'm sure it would be a huge hit.

[murahilin]

According to the video, it's already in Japan. Since Japan is an ally friend of the USA, it shouldn't be all that difficult to import it into the USA; where I'm sure it would be a huge hit.

That's not how importations laws work for plant material.

[bsbullie]

Even more importantly,  IF and that is a big IF, would it by a type that would be more than an ornamental tree here...

[simon_grow]

If I remember correctly from my Chinese relatives going into great discussions about the best Lychee varieties, Some of them that tried many varieties said Jade Purse is good but not great. No Mai Tsze is their favorite and mine as well.

Simon

[CTMIAMI]

The reason I ask and may be the guys with more experience can contribute, we don't seem to have a variety that produces well every year here in South Florida.  I'm tying to determine if we are growing varieties from cooler climates and the need more chill hours. On the other hand Lychees are grown in Taiwan, with very similar climate as So. Florida. We have slightly cooler nites.
Also India grows them and some areas of India have very similar weather as So. Florida. I don't know if people growing lychee in Broward and Palm beach have more consistency in production than we in So. Florida.
I know inconsistency is a characteristic of the fruit but to invest money in a commercial planting one needs an average decent production.

[simon_grow]

If you want production, try Mauritius, Brewster or Bosworth 3. Also do research on how and when to water and fertilize your trees and give it some drought stress couple months before expected flowering. Girdling your tree can also help and plant in the coolest microclimate you have in your yard but make sure it's in full sun.

Simon

[bsbullie]

I do not recommend girdling lychee trees to force production.  I have seen attempts at it as well as other means of stressing, none of which seem to do anything but cause potential harm to the trees.

People should keep in mind, if it were that easy to force lychees to produce,  there would be no issues with backyard growers' or commercial groves' production.

[CTMIAMI]

If you want production, try Mauritius, Brewster or Bosworth 3. Also do research on how and when to water and fertilize your trees and give it some drought stress couple months before expected flowering. Girdling your tree can also help and plant in the coolest microclimate you have in your yard but make sure it's in full sun.

Simon

Simon you say to gird in the coolest micro climate? I thought they needed cooler temps to induce flowering. I reed that in San Diego the cooler the tree get the less production?

Rob I don't particularly like girding I tried it in my avocados and I see very little difference  but other trees may be different.
Is hard to find anyone that has lychee is So. Florida that can tell you their trees are consistent producer. Are they out there?

[bradflorida]

Here in SW Florida, we typically get production that is a bit better than that of SE Florida.  For instance, on Pine Island (Bokeelia, FL) which is just west of Cape Coral and Fort Myers, there have been several varieties of lychees available each year from 2010-2014, even though a couple of these summers had lesser production.  Production at a backyard grower's location in Bradenton, FL seems to be consistently higher.  These areas get even more chill hours than SE Florida, yet do not typically experience a freeze.

Brad

[LEOOEL]

The lychee variety that comes the closest to consistent yearly lychee fruit production is 'Mauritius.' But, as we've seen during the past few years, 'Mauritius' does not produce fruit during some years. So, I agree with Carlos that higher quality lychee varieties with true yearly consistent production should be found, imported or produced. I really miss eating lychees when a lychee tree skips a year of heavy production.

[bsbullie]

Carlos - you seem to be saying Miami-Dade County is South Florida and Broward and Palm Beach Counties are not.  I would consider all three in South Florida.

Therecare commercial lychee groves in Loxahatchee that do not get consistency in their production year in and year out however they do get some percentage of production in their groves yearly.  One grower told me last year they got only about 25% production from their trees.

[simon_grow]

Yes Carlos, Lychees need cool weather to promote flowering. lycheesonline has a lot of information on the subject. They also recommend timed pruning of trees to set the tree on a more favorable plot so that the tree is more likely to break dormancy at the optimal time.

There is also a lot of information out on the net, some articles from Australia that discuss girdling and pruning to increase yields. It was a long time ago when I did all the research, googling, on increasing yield of Lychee but I do remember reading that Lychee are especially finicky and a method that works for one variety may not work on another.

The pictures I found on the Internet showing the differences between girdled and non girdled lychee branches was enough to convince me that it works but I do not have a lychee tree large enough to test it out on yet. If you have a large lychee tree that is not producing, this technique may be something to consider after you find out about the specifics of how to do it.

Regarding planting in the coolest microclimate in your yard, I meant for you to know the warm and cool areas in your yard so that you can strategically plant a lychee in the most favorable spot in your yard where it might get slightly more chill hours than a warmer spot in your yard.

From what Ive read, Lychees take a long time to get fully established and start producing heavily so don't be shocked if it takes 10+ years for more consistent and heavier crops. Please keep us updated on your progress!

Simon

[ronald123]

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.

[Mike T]

Lychees fall into 2 groups the tropical or hill types like Mauritius,fai zee siu,Kwai  Mai pink that need temps below 15c and the water types like no mai chee and Wai chee that need temps below 10c for flower promotion.In China they are either side of the 23 latitude, thus tropical or temperate. Haak yip and sweet cliff are intermediate and some types like Mauritius can be biennial.
Tropical types ripen first and if you had all 20 or so top chinese types in one spot the sequence of ripening would be 10 weeks from first to last.Say mauritius to wai chee.

[CTMIAMI]

Carlos - you seem to be saying Miami-Dade County is South Florida and Broward and Palm Beach Counties are not.  I would consider all three in South Florida.

Therecare commercial lychee groves in Loxahatchee that do not get consistency in their production year in and year out however they do get some percentage of production in their groves yearly.  One grower told me last year they got only about 25% production from their trees.

Rob. Agree all 3 counties are SE Florida. Now on Palm Beach the average temps are a few degrees cooler that us here in Miami and South. If cold temps is what the trees need to flower and set fruit the Loxahatcgee groves should have more consistency in production. As I write this, the temp in Homestead is 62.7 F (17.0 C) and in Loxahatchee is 56.3 F (13.5 C) I just suspect it is an unpredictable fruit and difficult to achieve consistency in production.

[CTMIAMI]

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?

[Jani]

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....

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?

[CTMIAMI]

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....

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?

Thanks Jani good information.

[ronald123]

Good info Jani. I think we all know here that we are borderline as it goes to the optimum lychee climate. Both in temperatures and fall rains coming at the wrong times. So we need alot to go just right.
girdling for me can still be a hit or miss exploit especially if we don't have a cool winter.  (for me low 60s with an ocational dip below 60 in the nights)
However compared to ungirdled trees there is a definite improvement in production. 
Other threes in the area flower with without girdling but personally I have been more consistent with it.
On a fifteen ft tree that has done well I would expect between 100 and 200lbs. Larger trees much more.
Brewsters are looking the best I have seen them girdled or not, I only have two of those trees, all the others are Mauritius.

[ronald123]

Jani as far as local cultivars it seems that Mauritius is by far the dominant lychee on the island.  Most of the 'newer' ones are  relatively  young.
As it pertains to longans I only  ownly know of diamond river fruiting at sea level. (Without treatment that is)

[LEOOEL]

From all this input, I'm now under the impression that there are no truly 'tropical' lychee fruit trees, that bear fruit yearly regardless of whether the weather was cold enough or not, like with Mango and Longan (where there is 1 or 2 varieties that consistently bear fruit yearly regardless of the cold weather) fruit trees.

If this is the case, then I must come to the conclusion that there is a definite need to either find, develop or produce a new lychee variety that consistently produces abundant fruit, yearly, regardless of the weather.

[simon_grow]

I wonder if multiple rootstocks can overcome alternate bearing? There is a couple of good threads with excellent discussions but more relating to mango, jackfruit and durian.

Simon

[CTMIAMI]

In another recent thread on the subject. Bankok gave a long on the average temperatures in an area of Thailand where lychees are grown commercially and their winders are 5+ degree warmer than Miami so I conclude they have develop cultivars that produce with warmer winters.
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=14227.0

[bsbullie]

In another recent thread on the subject. Bankok gave a long on the average temperatures in an area of Thailand where lychees are grown commercially and their winders are 5+ degree warmer than Miami so I conclude they have develop cultivars that produce with warmer winters.
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=14227.0

I would not believe a word bangcock says.