Author Topic: Let the Lychee war begin...  (Read 5064 times)

puglvr1

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Let the Lychee war begin...
« on: May 21, 2019, 11:44:27 AM »
Found several birds stealing my lychees, lots of remnant pieces and seed on the ground, they are still green and super sour  :(...soon enough the squirrels will be next  :'(

Few months ago...


Today...


Tiberivs

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #1 on: May 21, 2019, 11:50:41 AM »
Damn that sucks I’ve been lucky enough they haven’t attacked it much yet. They are almost perfectly ripe I’m hoping to get home and take some down. Last week  they were more pink an too sour.

« Last Edit: May 21, 2019, 11:54:43 AM by Tiberivs »

Cookie Monster

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #2 on: May 21, 2019, 03:26:47 PM »
Many of the trees in my area aborted the majority of fruit when pea sized or smaller.

Lychee is basically a shade tree around here, with a few little red dots every couple of years.

The only reason I don't cut mine down is because it gives good shade, and I like eating the dozen or so red dots each year.
Jeff  :-)

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #3 on: May 21, 2019, 03:36:53 PM »
Years ago I had the same problem. Then I came upon the idea of creating bunches of fake lychees to try to fool the birds. I visited the local thrift stores and found a lot of decorative plastic fruit. Bunches of fake grapes and what looked like strawberries. I bought them and also found a bunch of wine bottle corks for like 50 cents for a big bag of them.
    The fake grapes went onto my grapevine, the strawberries got hung among my unripe  lychees, and I carved the little bottle corks into the correct shape and painted them bright red. They really did look like lychees when I finished.
    Much to my surprise, the birds were fooled by this trick! Day after day I would find these fake fruit on the ground after the birds had tried them. I'd hang them back up again.
    This game went on for weeks while my lychees and grapes were ripening. By the time the real fruit were ripe, the birds had lost interest and left the real fruit alone.
     Might be worth a try.
     

edzone9

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #4 on: May 21, 2019, 04:11:05 PM »
My Sweetheart Lychee



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palmcity

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #5 on: May 21, 2019, 05:04:29 PM »
Years ago I had the same problem. Then I came upon the idea of creating bunches of fake lychees to try to fool the birds. I visited the local thrift stores and found a lot of decorative plastic fruit. Bunches of fake grapes and what looked like strawberries. I bought them and also found a bunch of wine bottle corks for like 50 cents for a big bag of them.
    The fake grapes went onto my grapevine, the strawberries got hung among my unripe  lychees, and I carved the little bottle corks into the correct shape and painted them bright red. They really did look like lychees when I finished.
    Much to my surprise, the birds were fooled by this trick! Day after day I would find these fake fruit on the ground after the birds had tried them. I'd hang them back up again.
    This game went on for weeks while my lychees and grapes were ripening. By the time the real fruit were ripe, the birds had lost interest and left the real fruit alone.
     Might be worth a try.

Love the story....
I would give it a try if I had anything to stick in the trees. I found a green/pink one on the ground this morning so something is knocking them off as almost no wind last night.

Cookie, one of my trees was almost cut in half by a storm a little over a year ago & I wrapped duct tape and rope around the cracked limbs. I forgot about removing the rope and 1/2 the top was yellowing but blooming profusely this spring due to the rope. Fruit had set on it and I cut the rope. Apparently the cambium regrew and now I have 1/2 a tree of lychee. The other half was just fast green vegatative growth this year... You may want to try that this year for next year production.  I'm guessing it happened Sept. so that would probably be a good month to circle a few big limbs with rope to see if you can force fruiting on part of it with the constriction.

Cookie Monster

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #6 on: May 21, 2019, 05:25:26 PM »
you sure this is sweetheart? Usually sweetheart have more of a triangle shape.

My Sweetheart Lychee



Jeff  :-)

pineislander

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2019, 07:00:50 PM »
I've seen crows flying off with Lychee and much of the fruit near the top of my neighbor's trees are gone.

Tiberivs

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2019, 07:43:44 PM »
I was actually not sure about mine being sweetheart cause of where I got it. Not the most reputable nursery. But after eating a bunch I’m pretty sure it is all the seeds where small. And if it’s not; whatever it is it’s good lol.





you sure this is sweetheart? Usually sweetheart have more of a triangle shape.

My Sweetheart Lychee





BohicaBob

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #9 on: May 21, 2019, 08:20:25 PM »
Here's a picture of how I protect my lychee fruit.  Dangling from the lychee trees are holographic tape (looks a bit like a snake in fact), rubber snakes, and old CD and DVD disks.  Oh, and my large (I have more than one) animal trap contains fresh sunflower seeds for the squirrels.  I catch a few almost every week.

« Last Edit: May 21, 2019, 10:37:15 PM by BohicaBob »

bradflorida

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #10 on: May 21, 2019, 09:50:27 PM »
 I take 1 foot long strips of holographic tape and tie it into knots on several places at the canopy of the tree.

 Then I put a havaheart trap below the base of the tree.

 Finally I use a scarecrow placed near the trees which I relocate every two days. This has kept the majority of my fruit intact on the trees this year.
Brad

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #11 on: May 21, 2019, 10:06:15 PM »
The bunch on the right has a couple that look characteristic of sweetheart: triangle / pyramid shaped and deep red. I think the pyramid shape is due to the flat "chicken tongue" seeds that the fruits have. Mine usually come in a couple of weeks after the mauritius harvest. My sweethearts are still very green with a hint of pink.

I was actually not sure about mine being sweetheart cause of where I got it. Not the most reputable nursery. But after eating a bunch I’m pretty sure it is all the seeds where small. And if it’s not; whatever it is it’s good lol.





you sure this is sweetheart? Usually sweetheart have more of a triangle shape.

My Sweetheart Lychee




Jeff  :-)

edzone9

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #12 on: May 22, 2019, 09:45:42 AM »
you sure this is sweetheart? Usually sweetheart have more of a triangle shape.

My Sweetheart Lychee




It was sold to me as a sweetheart in a farmers market , what varieties do you think it is ?
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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #13 on: May 22, 2019, 11:30:39 AM »
Could be sweetheart. The leaves look similar. Fruit looks round though? When the fruit are ripe, check for chicken tongue seeds.

you sure this is sweetheart? Usually sweetheart have more of a triangle shape.

My Sweetheart Lychee




It was sold to me as a sweetheart in a farmers market , what varieties do you think it is ?
Jeff  :-)

edzone9

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #14 on: May 22, 2019, 02:58:05 PM »
Ok thanks JEFF
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edzone9

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #15 on: May 22, 2019, 05:11:23 PM »
Here’s a pic of 5he seed and of fruit that has begun to split is this normal ?

Thanks Ed

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #16 on: May 22, 2019, 06:11:15 PM »
Frown face. Seed too big for SH.

Here’s a pic of 5he seed and of fruit that has begun to split is this normal ?

Thanks Ed

Jeff  :-)

edzone9

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #17 on: May 22, 2019, 06:14:59 PM »
Do you know why the lychees are splitting on the tree is this normal?

What variety is it ? , I may be pulling this tree out and plant a Orange Sherbet Mango Tree 😊

I don’t like fuzzy trees ..
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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #18 on: May 23, 2019, 09:35:39 AM »
Usually splitting is due to variation in water supply (ie, a bunch of rain after a period of drought). Do the others have large seeds too?

Based on the fact that they are still greenish, it's going to be a later season cultivar, maybe brewster?

Do you know why the lychees are splitting on the tree is this normal?

What variety is it ? , I may be pulling this tree out and plant a Orange Sherbet Mango Tree 😊

I don’t like fuzzy trees ..
Jeff  :-)

edzone9

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #19 on: May 23, 2019, 11:32:37 AM »
Yes all the seeds are on the large side , I’ll give it a chance and see how is the quality of the fruit .

P.s. don’t buy fruit trees at farmers market 😊
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shot

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #20 on: May 23, 2019, 01:04:21 PM »
Mauritius lychee ,they have what Dr Crane calls coffee stain on some of the fruit in the pics, also shape and seed size indicates Mauritius coffee stain effects are prevalent on Mauritius and a few other lychee cultivars.But it is a lychee and no lychees are bad when ripe.

edzone9

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #21 on: May 23, 2019, 07:31:35 PM »
Thank you !
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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #22 on: May 23, 2019, 07:47:13 PM »
OK. So maybe due to the fact that he's north of me, his lychees are a little behind mine eh?

Mauritius lychee ,they have what Dr Crane calls coffee stain on some of the fruit in the pics, also shape and seed size indicates Mauritius coffee stain effects are prevalent on Mauritius and a few other lychee cultivars.But it is a lychee and no lychees are bad when ripe.
Jeff  :-)

puglvr1

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #23 on: May 25, 2019, 05:11:14 PM »
Well so far I've lost about 1/3 of the fruits on the tree. Between the birds and the squirrels (I'm tired of chasing them off) several times a day.

I forgot I have some of the shiny holographic tape that bradflorida mentioned, Thanks Brad for reminding me  :)

Hubby put a bunch on the tree so hopefully I will get to eat at least 1/3 of what's left...Fingers crossed!!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, ideas and experience. Good Luck to all of us!

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Re: Let the Lychee war begin...
« Reply #24 on: May 26, 2019, 12:17:49 AM »
Just picked up 10 lb of large all chicken tongue.