Red Ruby Longan

[palingkecil]

Anyone here grows Red Ruby longan?

I cannot find much information on this, only that it is native to Vietnam, has thicker flesh than other longan, and is really sweet (brix 21).

We love our Kohala longan, but what is better than a longan tree? 2 longan trees, especially if it is superior to Kohala.

However, there is no information about cold hardiness, disease resistance, etc. We are in zone 10A with Santa Ana wind, Kohala does extremely well here.
Before we buy this Red Ruby longan tree, we would like to know more about it.

Thank you everyone in advance.

[elouicious]

I got 2 from lance- very slow growers

[palingkecil]

I got 2 from lance- very slow growers

Do you have them in the green house?

[MarktLee]

You should grow Biew Kiew, it tastes better compared to Kohala.

[sc4001992]

I hear Sak-Ip is suppose to be one of the best tasting. My grafted branch had fruits last year but I did not compare the taste to my Kohala.

[elouicious]

I moved them inside the greenhouse for the winter yes, they are probably just a year old and I didn't want to risk it

[fruit4me]

I got 2 from lance- very slow growers

The Red Longan that you got, are they air layered or grafted from mature tree? Are they all seedlings?

Palingkecil, where do they have red longan for sale? Does the seller have  any information weather it's a seedling, air layered or grafted? If you want a variety that do extremely well and taste superior, I highly recommend Sakip. After tasting this one, you won't love your Kohala as much anymore. 

[palingkecil]

I got 2 from lance- very slow growers

The Red Longan that you got, are they air layered or grafted from mature tree? Are they all seedlings?

Palingkecil, where do they have red longan for sale? Does the seller have  any information weather it's a seedling, air layered or grafted? If you want a variety that do extremely well and taste superior, I highly recommend Sakip. After tasting this one, you won't love your Kohala as much anymore.

I found many Indonesian nurseries have red ruby longan for sale on ebay, and they provide the phytosanitary certificate. All I need to do is get an import permit here, and for a $500 order they give a free shipment. I grew up in Indonesia, so Indonesian is my mother's tongue and they state their Red Ruby is grafted.

Now I am intrigued to find a Sakip longan. When I purchased my Kohala, I looked all over LA for other varieties rather than Sri Chompoo and Kohala, but it seemed like all the nurseries only carried these 2 varieties. My friend told me that Sri Chompoo is less productive, so I bought a Kohala.

How does Sakip taste? Sweeter and juicier than Kohala?

[palingkecil]

I hear Sak-Ip is suppose to be one of the best tasting. My grafted branch had fruits last year but I did not compare the taste to my Kohala.

Please do a review on your Sakip's fruit this year, Kaz.
Btw, where did you get the Sakip scion?

[sc4001992]

Yes, I have flowers on my grafts now so I should get fruits again this year so I can compare the taste with my Kohala.

My scionwood source was from one of our members, xshen, it is the real variety, he got it from the germplasm in Hawaii.

I also bought a few scionwood from there so I have both sources grafted and they are blooming so I should get fruits on both.

[sc4001992]

Diana, the Red Ruby longan grows very slow, not sure if it's worth the time to grow it here.

[fruit4me]

Palingkecil
How does Sakip taste? Sweeter and juicier than Kohala?
[/quote]

Sakip is super sweet. The flesh has a crunchy crisps to it and juicy at the same time with a very strong aroma. Grows extremely well like the Kohala. But, Taste way way better. I have a small air layer ready for sale if your interested, send me a PM.

[palingkecil]

Palingkecil
How does Sakip taste? Sweeter and juicier than Kohala?

Sakip is super sweet. The flesh has a crunchy crisps to it and juicy at the same time with a very strong aroma. Grows extremely well like the Kohala. But, Taste way way better. I have a small air layer ready for sale if your interested, send me a PM.
[/quote]


PM sent!

[palingkecil]

Diana, the Red Ruby longan grows very slow, not sure if it's worth the time to grow it here.

Thanks for letting me know, Kaz.
I almost purchase the Red Ruby!
But patience is one thing I am short of.

[sc4001992]

Diana, here's some photos of my older in-ground Kohala tree with flowers now. Also the two grafted Sapik branches with flowers. The first photo of the Sapik is a 1 year old graft, the 2n & 3rd photos are the 2-1/2 yr old graft.















 

[palingkecil]

Diana, here's some photos of my older in-ground Kohala tree with flowers now. Also the two grafted Sapik branches with flowers. The first photo of the Sapik is a 1 year old graft, the 2n & 3rd photos are the 2-1/2 yr old graft.

Those are stunning!
Your tree is super healthy, Kaz.
Any particular fertilizer for the longan tree?
The Sak Ip has bigger and denser blossoms, almost look like mango's blossoms.
Do Sak Ip's fruit also bigger and denser compared to Kohala's?

[sc4001992]

Diana, I don't do much fertilzier on my fruit trees, I should probably give it some this year. They are lucky if I water them a few times a week. Yes, I do notice the Sakip is a vigorous grower and it does have a lot more flowers than the Kohala. Last year was the first year it fruited and it had a large cluster of fruits. I hope this year the fruits get larger than the Kohala. I did get some of those bigger longan fruit scionwood but my grafts died so I will need to try again.

[Lovetoplant]

Diana, I don't do much fertilzier on my fruit trees, I should probably give it some this year. They are lucky if I water them a few times a week. Yes, I do notice the Sakip is a vigorous grower and it does have a lot more flowers than the Kohala. Last year was the first year it fruited and it had a large cluster of fruits. I hope this year the fruits get larger than the Kohala. I did get some of those bigger longan fruit scionwood but my grafts died so I will need to try again.

Kaz it seems every fruit trees' photos  you post all yield hefty fruits, very healthy and probably delicious.  So what amendments you added to the soil yearly beside only "lightly" fertilizer use.

 I talk to my trees all of the days that I am not working, water a lot and add all kind of fertilizers, including all amendments and they hardly produce the fruits.  Plus the fruits taste not that great either.

[sc4001992]

Lovetoplant, I really don't ever add any soil amendments to my soil. I think I just have really good black gold dirt as some people call it. My loquat trees grow crazy, I even have some special growth branches on my multi-grafted loquat (74 varieties) which has new Y-branching from each new branch split that has more than 10 new branch buds, amazing is what I think. lots of fruits. There is something in my soil for sure, I just call it super-growth soil.

[Lovetoplant]

Kaz, wow lucky you to have such great soil without amending it.  My soil is sand/dust like textured.  If I don't water it for a few days, water will form beads on top of it when start to water again. Besides that we have high water table where we live.  My trees tap roots are just sitting in the water with heavy rain or sucking sodium up when drought starts.

Only dragon fruits, and citruses seem to do well at our yard.

My seed grown Florida Honey fruits are starting to taste sweet and juicy now.  The fruits were very light a couple of months ago, but now they start to fill up and have some weight.  This is her second year of fruits production after started from seed 11 years ago.  Amazing how time has passed, seems like yesterday...

[CarolinaZone]

Where are you guys getting your plants? I have not seen either Florida Honey or Sakip in the trade.

[sc4001992]

CarolinaZone, I purchased my Sak Ip scionwood from xshen a few years ago. He still post them for sale once in a while.

https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=42242.msg415320#msg415320