Author Topic: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?  (Read 1467 times)

tru

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Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« on: September 16, 2022, 10:26:24 AM »
Hi, I germinated 25 lychee seeds on July 4th and have been thinning them out over the course of these past 2 months, but this one tree is particular is impressing me far more than anything else.
At 74 days old: it has 11 leaves, experienced 4 flushes, is 10 inches tall, and is currently preparing for yet another flush.

Google says lychee trees commonly take 4-5 years to fruit, where 3 is rare but not unheard of. Google also says I should expect my lychee tree to be 8 inches after 1 year, not only 2 months.

Has anyone ever heard of a lychee tree flowering from seed after 2 years? I absolutely love lychee so if anyone has any tips on how to push my tree as hard as I can, I'm open to it. Thanks so much!
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simon_grow

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2022, 10:41:32 AM »
The information you looked up is most likely pertaining to air layered or grafted trees. I believe Lychee seedlings take significantly longer, perhaps around 15-20 years.

Under ideal conditions, Lychee seedling can grow fast, similar to what you have experienced.

Some plants can also stretch due to etiolation.

Simon

Jaboticaba45

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2022, 10:41:55 AM »
Lychee seedlings are not commonly grown out due to the fact that they take longer times to fruit compared to air layers. If you want fruit fast, I'd consider buying an air layered tree.

tru

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #3 on: September 16, 2022, 10:46:33 AM »
.
« Last Edit: September 16, 2022, 12:23:50 PM by tru »
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tru

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #4 on: September 16, 2022, 10:52:59 AM »
The information you looked up is most likely pertaining to air layered or grafted trees. I believe Lychee seedlings take significantly longer, perhaps around 15-20 years.

Under ideal conditions, Lychee seedling can grow fast, similar to what you have experienced.

Some plants can also stretch due to etiolation.

Simon

I'm in a grow tent that I've perfected over the years so I don't really think it's etiolation, setup:

82-85F day, 68-73F night, 60-70% RH, 18 hours, 20-30% shade, quarter strength veg nutrients, and mycorrhizae added during first 2 weeks of watering.

It's neck and neck with some mangoes that I started on the same exact day, never seen a lychee grow this fast
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Gulfgardener

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #5 on: September 16, 2022, 12:18:35 PM »
The first year is nothing to go by, they do not maintain the speed. They grow fast the first year and very slowly after that. I was impressed too last year when mine sprouted, this is year two and they are creeping along. I have them in ground and in various pots all growing at the same speed. I'm in it for the long haul but it is one of those trees you start from seed but then focus on something else. I just let them do their thing.

My theory is they are using the energy from the attached seed the first year to turbo grow. After about a year it is spent. You can feed them and try to push them but you can't mimic the nutrients they had with that seed.

tru

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #6 on: September 16, 2022, 12:24:41 PM »
The first year is nothing to go by, they do not maintain the speed. They grow fast the first year and very slowly after that. I was impressed too last year when mine sprouted, this is year two and they are creeping along. I have them in ground and in various pots all growing at the same speed. I'm in it for the long haul but it is one of those trees you start from seed but then focus on something else. I just let them do their thing.

My theory is they are using the energy from the attached seed the first year to turbo grow. After about a year it is spent. You can feed them and try to push them but you can't mimic the nutrients they had with that seed.

Yeah I've been doing more research and realize how uninformed I sounded earlier  :-[ ;D

Theory sounds about right, they really do seem to respond well to the quarter strength nutes, I mean, 11 big green leaves???? my mangoes only have 6 right now! and I read in a research paper that mycorhizzae applied every 3 months can increase growth speed on lychee by 30%, might be worth trying out yourself! Thanks for the info again, I appreciate it
« Last Edit: September 16, 2022, 12:28:46 PM by tru »
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Galatians522

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #7 on: September 16, 2022, 06:47:58 PM »
The shortest I have personally observed from seed is 5 years. I have also seen some that took 15-20. Vigor will probably have nothing to do with early bearing. The tree that bore in 5 years was only 8' tall and not an extremely fast grower. New varieties will have a better chance of bearing young than old varieties like Brewster.
« Last Edit: September 16, 2022, 09:59:38 PM by Galatians522 »

happyhana

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #8 on: September 16, 2022, 06:51:05 PM »
I say go for it! A 1953 bulletin on the breeding of ‘Groff’ states that almost all 500 seedlings had flowered by year 11 with roughly 10% beginning in year five. Seedlings were a mix of Hak Ip, Kwai Mi and Brewster. By year 11 the Groff tree was 15 ft tall, not sure a grow tent will be enough😁
 
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socalbalcony2

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #9 on: September 16, 2022, 07:21:21 PM »
The information you looked up is most likely pertaining to air layered or grafted trees. I believe Lychee seedlings take significantly longer, perhaps around 15-20 years.

Under ideal conditions, Lychee seedling can grow fast, similar to what you have experienced.

Some plants can also stretch due to etiolation.

Simon

There is a guy in the san diego fruit growing groups who fruited lychee from seed in under 4 years.

tru

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #10 on: September 16, 2022, 10:37:31 PM »
I just want to say too, I have the feeling that the vigor that is being displaying is not normal or rare to say the least, who knows if it'll fruit with the same speed but out of the ~25, 80% have 4-6 starting their flush, 20% have 7-9 finishing their flush... and then there's this one.

I count 8 baby leaves preparing for this next flush, who knows if it'll grow all 8 out or just pick 3-4, but whenever I water them all this one in particular is dry 36 hours before the others, every single time lol
« Last Edit: September 16, 2022, 10:43:45 PM by tru »
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Victoria Ave

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #11 on: September 17, 2022, 12:46:10 PM »
Is grafting lychee not common practice?

Galatians522

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #12 on: September 17, 2022, 12:52:40 PM »
I just want to say too, I have the feeling that the vigor that is being displaying is not normal or rare to say the least, who knows if it'll fruit with the same speed but out of the ~25, 80% have 4-6 starting their flush, 20% have 7-9 finishing their flush... and then there's this one.

I count 8 baby leaves preparing for this next flush, who knows if it'll grow all 8 out or just pick 3-4, but whenever I water them all this one in particular is dry 36 hours before the others, every single time lol

If your instinct tells you it is special, grow it out. You have nothing to lose by a little time.

Galatians522

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #13 on: September 17, 2022, 12:59:44 PM »
Is grafting lychee not common practice?

Not in the US. Air layering is very easy and grafting often has poor success rates because lychee cambium is only actively growing for a short period of time. That being said, it is possible. Certain varieties are traditionally grafted in China and I believe Lara Farms grafts a lot of their stock to Mauritius seedlings because that variety performs better in limestone soil.

Victoria Ave

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #14 on: September 17, 2022, 02:03:22 PM »
Is grafting lychee not common practice?

Not in the US. Air layering is very easy and grafting often has poor success rates because lychee cambium is only actively growing for a short period of time. That being said, it is possible. Certain varieties are traditionally grafted in China and I believe Lara Farms grafts a lot of their stock to Mauritius seedlings because that variety performs better in limestone soil.

Thanks for the info, I was thinking which other tropical I wanted (probably replace my strawberry guava) and lychee came to mind. I had not done any research but was planning to start seeds and figure it out later. Sounds like I better read up and buy an air layer. Any recommendations on the best bang for buck variety in terms of being hardy, and good quality?

Galatians522

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #15 on: September 17, 2022, 10:04:47 PM »
It would probably be best to ask what other California growers are having success with and then taste those varieties to see what you like best. It is almost laughable how even among my friends and family the variety one ranks as excellent is the other's least favorite. What I can tell you is that for commercial purposes Sweet Heart brings the highest price. I would not say it has remarkable cold tollerence. Personally, I like Kiamana a little better.  I also like the taste of Brewster (which is known to be fairly hardy) but the seed is large.

Victoria Ave

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #16 on: September 17, 2022, 11:41:19 PM »
I suppose I’d need to befriend someone with a tree or trees. My only experience is super market versions, and they do not advertise the variety haha. Thank you for the input

Seanny

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #17 on: September 18, 2022, 12:31:20 AM »
Grow a few.
Cull later.

fruit4me

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #18 on: September 18, 2022, 03:09:36 AM »
Hi Tru,
 What variety of lychee seeds did you planted?
I'm trying to speed up my lychee and Longan seedlings by grafting them to my mature  trees. I grafted a few Sakip and Chuleon longan seedlings and some of the grafts had a partial bloom on its 2nd year. Sadly, fruit didn't make. Hopefully next year it'll have fruits. This year, i grafted some Mauritius seedlings(might be cross pollinated with longan pollen). One of the grafts is growing very nicely.  Fingers  crossed   for blooms and fruit4me next year.
All the lychees and Longans seedlings grow super slow for me. It takes like 3 years for it to be Big enough to take scions to graft. So in total for the longan seedlings, about 5 to 6 years to flower.

I have a planted  Heung Lai lychee seed that i fruited from my longan tree back in 2017. It's  now only still aliittle over a foot tall. I plan  to graft that too, but it's still so skinny. 
« Last Edit: September 18, 2022, 03:11:42 AM by fruit4me »

tru

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Re: Fastest lychee seed to fruit you've ever heard of?
« Reply #19 on: September 18, 2022, 05:38:34 AM »
Hi Tru,
 What variety of lychee seeds did you planted?
I'm trying to speed up my lychee and Longan seedlings by grafting them to my mature  trees. I grafted a few Sakip and Chuleon longan seedlings and some of the grafts had a partial bloom on its 2nd year. Sadly, fruit didn't make. Hopefully next year it'll have fruits. This year, i grafted some Mauritius seedlings(might be cross pollinated with longan pollen). One of the grafts is growing very nicely.  Fingers  crossed   for blooms and fruit4me next year.
All the lychees and Longans seedlings grow super slow for me. It takes like 3 years for it to be Big enough to take scions to graft. So in total for the longan seedlings, about 5 to 6 years to flower.

I have a planted  Heung Lai lychee seed that i fruited from my longan tree back in 2017. It's  now only still aliittle over a foot tall. I plan  to graft that too, but it's still so skinny.

I believe mine are mauritius too! I actually don't know the variety because I go to an asian grocery store pretty often and have only seen lychees there once, but comparing brewster and mauritius side by side I believe they are mauritius; namely for the slight yellowing inbetween the main color.

The last time I went to the store they had purple mangosteen!!!! It was my first time trying, and I cannot understate that they're absolutely amazing... but my experience overall was disappointing because out of 25-30 someodd mangosteens, about half were filled with yellow slime. The other half were still edible, but I only got probably 7-8 with undamaged flesh. I still had to buy a bag though, + got 5 seeds out of it!

Best of luck for this upcoming winter, lychees are weird plants. One day science will crack the chill hours : )
« Last Edit: September 18, 2022, 08:05:04 AM by tru »
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