Grow lychee tree from seeds

Growing a lychee tree is easy in itself - if the specifics of the plant are taken into account. And these start with the correct preparation of the seeds. In addition, pulling the lychee from the stone of the fruit requires some patience, because the shoots grow only slowly and even pause in growth. Interested parties can find out what is important here.

Cores

Under the rough skin and the white pulp there is a brown, shiny and smooth core. This stone is elliptical in shape, about two inches long and one and a half inches wide.
In order for it to be used successfully for growing the lychee, it must first be freed of all remains of the pulp and rinsed off thoroughly with lukewarm water, as remaining residues can lead to rot during cultivation. When cleaning, care must be taken that the core skin is not damaged.
Tip: Small remnants of the pulp are easier to remove if they have been allowed to dry for a few hours beforehand. They can then usually be pulled off with your fingers without any problems.

Let sources

In preparation for germination, the kernel must first open. The fastest and easiest way to do this is to soak the seeds. For this purpose, they are placed in a vessel with lukewarm water and placed in a warm location - for example, near a heater or in the sun. The water doesn't have to stay warm all the time, but it shouldn't cool down completely either. After a few days, the outer shell of the core will burst and the seed can be planted.

Substrate

For starters, potting soil is ideal and the easiest choice. If you want to mix the substrate yourself, you can combine a part of perlite, sand, coconut fiber and high-quality garden soil with each other. In any case, it is important that the requirements of the lychee are taken into account. These look like this in relation to the substrate:

• permeable and loose, with moderate storage capacity
• pH below 7
• low in nutrients
• does not tend to condense

Please also note that the lychee is sensitive to waterlogging and that an appropriate drainage must therefore be provided in the cultivation container. To be on the safe side, you can first insert a drainage layer made of coarse gravel into the plant pot and only then fill in the substrate.

Location

Exactly where the lychee comes from cannot be traced. It was cultivated very early on and thus spread through the people. In the wild, it particularly thrives in the subtropical regions of Asia. The demands on the location can already be derived from this. This should be warm, sunny and moderately humid. The windowsill is therefore ideal in a warm and bright room. A plant lamp may also be required in autumn and winter.

Germinate

As mentioned, the seeds can be brought into the substrate when the outer skin of the kernel has cracked open. They are covered with soil about one centimeter thick in the planter and should have a distance of five centimeters from each other. After that, the following points are important:

1. The substrate must be kept moist, but should not be soaked. Moistening with a plant sprayer is ideal, whereby the top layer should initially appear wet. Afterwards, if necessary, you can spray again to keep the soil slightly moist.

2. To keep warmth and moisture, cover with a plastic film, a pane of glass or place in a greenhouse. In order to avoid mold formation, the cover should be removed for a short time every day.

3. Since the lychee is very sensitive at first, the temperature should be checked regularly and remain as stable as possible. Around 20 ° C is optimal, it should not be less than 18 ° C for germination.

Tip: It takes patience to germinate. Expect at least four weeks to the first visible shoot.

to water

During germination and even with the first visible shoots, spraying the substrate with water is preferable to watering. In this way there is no risk of waterlogging and the soil can be moistened more evenly. In addition, there is no risk that the seeds of the lychee will be washed away when watering. In addition, the special features of the lychee must be taken into account when watering. One of these is not to use cold water. It should be at room temperature so as not to damage the roots. In addition, the lychee is sensitive to lime, which is why only soft water should be used. Rainwater, lime-free, filtered or stale tap water, for example, are suitable.
Tip: If you do not know the hardness of your own tap water, you can ask the responsible waterworks or determine the lime content using test strips.

Fertilize

In the beginning, the litchi is supplied with the nutrients contained in the kernel, so it does not need any additional fertilization. This is only necessary about a year after budding. Even then, you don't have to use the fertilizer directly, a change of the substrate is usually enough to get started. From the second year onwards you can fertilize from spring to late summer. A liquid fruit fertilizer has proven itself.

It is important to keep the dosage low. A quarter of the amount recommended by the manufacturer is administered. Since the lychee grows very slowly, one dose every two to four weeks is sufficient. Fertilization should be stopped in September, even if the plant spends the winter frost-free indoors.

Repot

When the first pair of leaves shows up on the lychee, it can be repotted for the first time. This measure is particularly recommended when several seeds have been grown in one seed container. The following points are important when repotting or changing the substrate:

• the core has to be implemented as well, as it serves as a nutrient reserve
• the roots should be handled very carefully as they are delicate and quickly damaged
• Lychee seeds that are moldy or have not sprouted after eight weeks must be removed

The subsequent substrate should again be loose and have a pH value of 7, but may be a little more nutritious. This can be done by using a larger amount of garden or compost soil. The already mentioned components of the mixture should also be used for loosening up.
Repotting can be done once a year to provide the lychee with new nutrients and reduce the risk of disease.

Outdoors

The lychee is sensitive at the beginning, but after sprouting it is allowed to spend the summer outdoors. Of course, it should not be planted, but rather continue to be cultivated in a tub in a planter. It is also important that the lychee slowly gets used to direct sunshine. It should therefore initially be placed in a bright location without direct sun and gradually moved to a sunnier place. If late frosts are to be expected or if the temperatures fall below 18 ° C, the plants must be brought back into the house.

Overwinter

Because of its subtropical origin, the lychee cannot tolerate frost. It can therefore only be overwintered indoors. Here it should be light and cool, but not cold. Wintering in a warm room is also possible, but the lychee usually thrives better if it spends a season between 15 and 18 ° C.

light

A crucial factor in growing the lychee is light. In the local latitudes, this is usually not enough, even on the south side, to promote healthy growth. The young plants then often form so-called "emergency shoots", which are very long and weak and quickly die off. The only solution for this is usually to have the lychee illuminated by a plant lamp outside of summer or in darker locations. The corresponding selection is available from specialist retailers.
Tip: If you connect the plant lamp to a timer, you can automatically ensure the lighting time and reduce the effort involved in cultivating the lychee tree.

growth

In the subtropical open field, lychee trees can reach heights of ten meters and more. However, they grow very slowly and even pause in growth in the second and third year after germination. As a result, many believe that the attempt to breed lychee has failed, and it usually just requires patience. Coordinated care as well as sufficient light and nutrients can, however, give growth a boost.
In connection with this, however, it must also be noted that the lychee tree will no longer fit on the windowsill at an advanced age. A location in the winter garden is ideal. In the long term, the plant will only fit in a suitable location with a cut, because it cannot remain outdoors during the winter.

fruit

If the lychee is successfully grown, flowers can be expected to develop from around the fifth month. These have to be pollinated by insects so that fruits can develop from them. The lychee should be outdoors by the time of flowering at the latest.

harvest

The lychee fruits are harvested when the peels are pink-reddish in color. If they turn brown, the pulp is already dry. However, the lychees should not be harvested too early, as they do not ripen. If the stems are still green, they should remain on the tree.

Typical care errors, diseases and pests

The lychee is spared diseases and pests, but care errors can occur. The following are particularly common:

• lack of watering and humidity
• calcareous substrate or water
• Waterlogging
• too cold location
• too little light

With an adapted watering behavior and occasional spraying with soft water as well as a slightly acidic substrate and a good drainage, many risks can already be eliminated. A warm and bright location and the use of a plant lamp solve the remaining problems. If these conditions are met, the litchi will continue to grow slowly - but surely.