Lychee variety change

[spaugh]

Has anyone ever top worked lychee or longan? 

What happens when you stump a lychee?  Do they come back reliably?

[Galatians522]

I have never topworked one, but we stump them all the time. We've probably done it 100 times or more and it is very rare for them not to come back. Usually we have taken them back to main scaffold limbs, but I remember one that got broken off by a hurricane. We cut it flush with the ground and it came back no problem. I think they actually have less issues with being cut back than other trees--I see where they always paint avocado to prevent sunburn. We've never painted a single trunk and have not had any issues.

[Eggo]

I have never stump lychee.  But for longans I have cut a few 15+ year olds back to down to 5 ft tall if you could call it stumping and they have came back fine.  I have topworked 2 longans with a bark inlay graft when the bark was slipping. I had even root prune longans where the roots were a bit above the soil line so I could lay down down pavers. Incredibly the roots ended up sending suckers that I first thought they were seedlings that sprouted under the tree until I tried to dig them up.  These roots were completely detached.  But longans are such vigorous growers here L.A. zone 10, I'm not sure if you could compare it to most lychees.

[spaugh]

Thanks it sounds like no problem to chop them down then.  I know grafting can be tricky.  Eggs, it seems like lychee is also quite vigorous once they get going after t years it seems to get really vigorous. 

[Galatians522]

Thanks it sounds like no problem to chop them down then.  I know grafting can be tricky.

There was an old RFC article where they top worked a lychee grove by approach grafting airlayers to sprouts from the stumped trees. That seems like a pretty reliable method. That being said, I have been very impressed by the success that a number of people have had with grafting lychee on this forum. I'll see if I can find that old article if it would help you.

[Galatians522]

Found the article I mentioned above. There are two parts. This first one describes what they did and planned to try.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://rfcarchives.org.au/Next/Fruits/Litchi/TopWorkingLychee5-93.htm&ved=2ahUKEwiDzeWl2eD7AhU-RjABHZJ3Bi0QFnoECAwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3td3oNw_DgImdpLlFLNZzj

This one is kindof a follow-up/summary with a picture of the top worked tree about 2 years later at close to 8' tall in my estimation.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://growables.com/information/TropicalFruit/LycheeArcRFC7.htm&ved=2ahUKEwiDzeWl2eD7AhU-RjABHZJ3Bi0QFnoECBMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0dnPXPaXELYPiqBBqRNrNV

[HibachiDrama]

Just out of curiosity, what varieties are you considering going from and to, and why???

I've noticed in my soil, Sweetheart lychee has a huge problem with onioniness, likely due to my high sulfur soil and well water, and this is apparently a genetic issue with Sweetheart.

[Pasca]

Two years ago, we had to move our mature lychee tree.  Not only did we stump the tree, we also heavily chopped the roots to be able to move the tree.  The trauma occurred in and around January.  By about March and April, the leave buds came out.  There were even some flower buds.  It came back healthy and has been growing well ever since.

[Galatians522]

I've noticed in my soil, Sweetheart lychee has a huge problem with onioniness, likely due to my high sulfur soil and well water, and this is apparently a genetic issue with Sweetheart.

Have you tried harvesting them with a little green on the skin? Many people prefer them that way. The off flavor gets stronger when the fruit is over ripe.

[spaugh]

Found the article I mentioned above. There are two parts. This first one describes what they did and planned to try.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://rfcarchives.org.au/Next/Fruits/Litchi/TopWorkingLychee5-93.htm&ved=2ahUKEwiDzeWl2eD7AhU-RjABHZJ3Bi0QFnoECAwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3td3oNw_DgImdpLlFLNZzj

This one is kindof a follow-up/summary with a picture of the top worked tree about 2 years later at close to 8' tall in my estimation.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://growables.com/information/TropicalFruit/LycheeArcRFC7.htm&ved=2ahUKEwiDzeWl2eD7AhU-RjABHZJ3Bi0QFnoECBMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0dnPXPaXELYPiqBBqRNrNV

Nice article, thanks.  I don't want to have to take air layers and approach graft but if that's the only way then that's that.  I may try just chopping some down and doing regular grafts on the new shoots.  If it fails then I know what to do next. 

[spaugh]

Just out of curiosity, what varieties are you considering going from and to, and why???

I've noticed in my soil, Sweetheart lychee has a huge problem with onioniness, likely due to my high sulfur soil and well water, and this is apparently a genetic issue with Sweetheart.

I have a few in ground seedlings that have gotten pretty large and need to be top worked.  I don't know what to put on them yet but probably the Ong semi seedless variety.  It's not really seedless but the fruit are big and it fruits heavily.

Also have a longan tree that could use a better variety on.  And I'm sure down the road I will want to switch more trees.  I got all kinds of lychee and longan trees and it's the same with every other kind of fruit trees.  Some just aren't that great.