Lychee Season 2025

[BurkTheMangoLover]

Lychees have easily grown a quarter of their size since we had rain for a couple of days. Maybe another 3 weeks and they'll be ready.

[johnb51]

I tested a few for ripeness on Saturday May 17.  Maybe another week to go?  Still lacking full color and sugar content.  But the tree is just too damn tall to pick them easily!

[johnb51]

They're still coloring up, but I managed to get a bowlful.  Man, they're great.  Juicy and refreshing.  The last good crop was in 2021, and the tree survived LEM last year.

I need a picker that cuts the branches, which I don't have.  Locals, let me know if you can help me.  You'll be rewarded with lychees!  The fruit is mostly at 25-30 feet.  I have a regular ladder, not a tall one.

[puglvr1]

They're still coloring up, but I managed to get a bowlful.  Man, they're great.  Sugar syrup.  The last good crop was in 2021, and the tree survived LEM last year.

I need a picker that cuts the branches, which I don't have.  Locals, let me know if you can help me.  You'll be rewarded with lychees!  The fruit is mostly at 25-30 feet.  I have a regular ladder, not a tall one.

Congrats John!! They look great.

After the squirrels, crows and other birds ate appx 40% of my fruits I decided to resort to using Plastic Clam shells to protect the few they left me. So far they are keeping the critters and birds at bay. Should be ready to pick soon, tried a few and they're already sweet enough to eat, just giving them a few more days to get a little sweeter, rain would help. Had 2 days in a row where rain was all around me and never got a drop. Nothing sweetens them up better than rain.
 

[johnb51]

It's so strange that the birds and squirrels around here don't touch the lychees.  As stated, the only problem is that most of the fruit is at 25-30 feet.  I ate about 15 this morning.  I can't say enough good things about this fruit!

[seng]

Yum.  My trees in southern california are almost done with flowering.

[puglvr1]

Count your good blessings John  ...you're lucky! They are getting  smart, I found a few of the clam shell boxes laying on the ground. Not sure if the wind or the squirrels are knocking them down but some of them opened up when they hit the ground and those are empty but a couple of Clam shells still had a few fruits in them but they had a couple of holes, they are trying hard to chew through the plastic to get to the fruits  . We picked most of the Clams shells last night, just a few left on the tree. The crows are very unhappy, I can hear them "cawing" very loudly as they fly above the tree, I'm sure they are cussing me out for using those clam shells 

[fruit4me]

I got another couple months to go before i can taste some fresh lychees. Looks like Sweetheart will be first this year. It's about thumb size now. Fruitsets is very good so far. Maintaining the fruits is the hard part.

 


Sweethearts


Late Seedless

[puglvr1]

I got another couple months to go before i can taste some fresh lychees. Looks like Sweetheart will be first this year. It's about thumb size now. Fruitsets is very good so far. Maintaining the fruits is the hard part.

 


Sweethearts


Late Seedless



Looking really good Fruit!!

[sc4001992]

John, I climb on my garage roof with a 8ft ladder, then use my 14ft telescoping fruit clipper, works great. Just cut, put on roof, then pick the bunches up, climb down the ladder.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089K8JKBW/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B089K8JKBW&pd_rd_w=nYKWU&content-id=amzn1.sym.386c274b-4bfe-4421-9052-a1a56db557ab&pf_rd_p=386c274b-4bfe-4421-9052-a1a56db557ab&pf_rd_r=SZNJ98NVA1X83FGWHE5N&pd_rd_wg=j47D1&pd_rd_r=5054146a-0001-4a85-9fd8-acc89680e7c2&s=hi&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWM

I have this one, and two others.

[Orkine]

This is what you need, but I don't know if they make them long enough for the height of your tree.
It cuts and holds the bunch.  Saw and used it at a local Lychee orchard. Very neat.

I don't have one of these (don't have enough Lychees to need one), just the mango type with the small wire cage.

[BurkTheMangoLover]

Pink and plump after all of the rain in the bay area. My sweethearts will be ready within a week or so. How is everyone's crops this year?

[johnb51]

It was raining lychees today!  My neighbor was hitting the branches with the long picker pole, and they were so ripe that they detached and fell easily.

[dolomis]

Better eat those cracked ones quick! Jealous

[BurkTheMangoLover]

Just had my first sweethearts off of my tree yesterday. There is no better lychee variety. So much flesh and such a small seed even the small fruits you still get a generous amount of flesh. The flavor is outstanding. Floral, citrusy, maybe a little melon taste.

[fruitmonger]

Crop was heavy this year down in Homestead.

Most trees are already harvested.  Some home trees still hanging heavy with canopies too high to easily pick.

Most of the fruit sold for $4.00-5.00/lb on the roadsides.

Saw #2 fruit sold as low as $2.00/lb in 20# and 30# cases....only defect was low color or broken skin

Enjoy them while you can.....seems like a crop sets only about every 3-5yrs down this far south.

[BurkTheMangoLover]

Crop was heavy this year down in Homestead.

Most trees are already harvested.  Some home trees still hanging heavy with canopies too high to easily pick.

Most of the fruit sold for $4.00-5.00/lb on the roadsides.

Saw #2 fruit sold as low as $2.00/lb in 20# and 30# cases....only defect was low color or broken skin

Enjoy them while you can.....seems like a crop sets only about every 3-5yrs down this far south.

So ive heard. Gives me a little more confidence living up here in central FL where we have a few more chill hrs.

[Greater Good]

Saw three places in Homestead charging $4 a pound yesterday

[xesoteryc]

Lychees @ SamsClub right now $3.50ish

[dolomis]

Bought 6lbs at $6 over the weekend from a locals tree in Stuart. Brewster variety. Some had chicken tongue seeds some were large. Fruit was bursting with juice, flesh is melting so quick it just disappears. Very rosey and sweet, no tangyness whatsoever ever, full red color.
They are just about gone. Now I’ve had sweet heart and Brewster. I must add that I prefer having some tangyness in there, flavor complexity.
[

[Galatians522]

Bought 6lbs at $6 over the weekend from a locals tree in Stuart. Brewster variety. Some had chicken tongue seeds some were large. Fruit was bursting with juice, flesh is melting so quick it just disappears. Very rosey and sweet, no tangyness whatsoever ever, full red color.
They are just about gone. Now I’ve had sweet heart and Brewster. I must add that I prefer having some tangyness in there, flavor complexity.
[

Brewster typically has a nice tang until it gets slightly over ripe.

[dolomis]

I concur. 
I prefer the firmer tangy flesh

[MountDoraOllie]

Somebody mentioned that the lychees they bought weren't tangy. That acidity starts going away the moment they're harvested, so when I buy lychees I always start eating them right away b/c it's already been several days (if not weeks) by the time they show up in stores. When I get them off my trees, they're *too* tart, so I let them sit for a day or two.

My Sweethearts flowered heavily this year, but all the fruit was lost b/c of a heavy infestation of mites. (My first time seeing them.) My Brewster tree had no mite issues at all and has a decent crop. Maybe that's coincidence, or maybe Brewster is more resistant to mites. Time will tell.

[Galatians522]

I concur. 
I prefer the firmer tangy flesh

Mauritius, Emperor, and Kiamana have firmer flesh, Sweet Heart is intermediate, and Brewster will almost always leak juice when peeled. I like the others very much, but Brewster has the tangy, sweet, musky flavor that I crave when it is plucked fresh from the tree. Unfortunately, it does not store as well as the others (probably because of the softer flesh).

[Galatians522]

Somebody mentioned that the lychees they bought weren't tangy. That acidity starts going away the moment they're harvested, so when I buy lychees I always start eating them right away b/c it's already been several days (if not weeks) by the time they show up in stores. When I get them off my trees, they're *too* tart, so I let them sit for a day or two.

My Sweethearts flowered heavily this year, but all the fruit was lost b/c of a heavy infestation of mites. (My first time seeing them.) My Brewster tree had no mite issues at all and has a decent crop. Maybe that's coincidence, or maybe Brewster is more resistant to mites. Time will tell.

Brewster does seem to be more mite resistant. Maybe its because it is thought to be a hybrid with the wild mountain lychee "Shan Chi." In any case, it is a true heirloom variety being somewhere around 1,000 years old. It was grown in China under the name "Chen Tze" or "Royal Chen Purple." Maybe a slight edge on mite resistance is part of the reason that it has lasted that long.