Lychee frost hardiness?

[huertasurbanas]

Hi, I live in a town that use to be -6º C in winter at the open fields, 3 or 4 times per winter, usually.
At the city we have -2 or -3ºC for the lowest temps.

This winter was mild, just one -5ºC frost, and some -2 or -3ºC ones...

Could lychee survive to -5ºC?

-3ºC at my garden?

I searched at this forum but could not get the real hardinees of lychee, I have two, 1.7m tall ones, grafted.

[Plantinyum]

I am also interested in this as i have one seedling in the ground in my gh.
My tought is that u may be good with providing some kind of frost cloth protection on the coldest nights. I've read that lychees do need a bit of chill in order to fruit, tought -6 may be too much. Better wait someone else with direct experience in the case, to comment.....

[achetadomestica]

-6 C is a little scary for lychee. There are allot of factors. One is how many hours of 0C or lower
The dewpoint makes a big difference also. Last year I got 2 C for a few hours. and I lost 8 young mango
trees and a 2 small kwai muk trees. The year before I was -2 C and didn't lose anything. The big difference was
there was a breeze all night when it was -2 C. The bigger the lychee gets the better but from what it sounds
like I would plant the lychee in town in a good spot not the open fields. I also usually water heavy the night before.
The water is 21 C coming out of the ground and I have heavy mulch around the trees. I can get a little buffer going
unless it is 0 C for a long time.

[huertasurbanas]

Ok, thanks for the replies: I could protect them with "rain", watering the leaves, so they will not freeze... let me think about it... but, yes: it is better to plant them here at the city....

[Gulfgardener]

I would try it with Hak Ip, Brewster, or maybe Emperor. Looking though past posts, these were recommended for cold tolerance. Try to research and pick one that is late blooming so the frost won't burn the flowers.  I'm in the same boat here in northern Florida. Last year, temps dipped down to 25F in my yard. I bought Hak Ip and Brewster this year and plan to keep them in pots for a bit longer. If the temps get below 32 I'll do a frost cloth/tent set up and see how much I can keep the temps up. I also bought a small propane heater that I can point at the ground.

I have seedlings started and put a few in ground. I know it can take 10 or more years to fruit but I can't help it. If I have a seed, I must plant it.  Good luck and report back!

[huertasurbanas]

I would try it with Hak Ip, Brewster, or maybe Emperor. Looking though past posts, these were recommended for cold tolerance. Try to research and pick one that is late blooming so the frost won't burn the flowers.  I'm in the same boat here in northern Florida. Last year, temps dipped down to 25F in my yard. I bought Hak Ip and Brewster this year and plan to keep them in pots for a bit longer. If the temps get below 32 I'll do a frost cloth/tent set up and see how much I can keep the temps up. I also bought a small propane heater that I can point at the ground.

I have seedlings started and put a few in ground. I know it can take 10 or more years to fruit but I can't help it. If I have a seed, I must plant it.  Good luck and report back!

Very thanks: it is almost impossible here at Argentina to get any lychee, not to mention a cultivar... nobody knows it, we dont even know what cultivar we have now... it is from Brazil, the only thing I know about it. Anyway, I will take care of it and report, frost clothes doesnt work here, I dont know why,
cheers

[Galatians522]

How dry is it durring the winter in Argentina?

[huertasurbanas]

How dry is it durring the winter in Argentina?

Very dry usually at Provincia de Buenos Aires, wet summers.

[Galatians522]

A dry fall and winter will help the lychee enter maximum dormancy and make it more cold tollerent. I say give it a shot. I would recommend Emperor or Brewster as the varieties to test. Early blooming varieties such as Mauritius or Sweet Heart will not work in the colder places. You WILL need to protect the tree from some of your extreme cold. Keeping the tree small enough to cover is the best option. 28F (-2C) should be ok for a mature and fully dormant tree. Many years ago we had a major freeze here in central Florida. At 18F (-8C) anything smaller then your thigh was dead.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://journals.fcla.edu/fshs/article/viewFile/102161/98094&ved=2ahUKEwiO-6jp9PDyAhVORDABHYcnBTYQFnoECAUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2cYqsLIsecNjnQiFn708Ar

[huertasurbanas]

Ok, very kind of you, thanks, I will take care of them!

[Galatians522]

I forgot to mention, the link is to an article that has been passed around the forum before. It talks about lychee cold tollerence and general culture. The temps lychees survive in China are surprising.

[huertasurbanas]

I forgot to mention, the link is to an article that has been passed around the forum before. It talks about lychee cold tollerence and general culture. The temps lychees survive in China are surprising.

ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED

[sc4001992]

[Seanny]

Link works fine here.

[huertasurbanas]

Very thanks, I cant access to the link but I will read the doc in photos, regards

[Mike T]

Cold hardiness corresponds pretty well in varieties to the sequence of fruiting and flowering. Just look at the order of say the top 50 or 60 varieties nad you will know that tai so, kwai mai pink and fai zee sui are examples of what not to plant in cooler lychee growing districts.