lychees

[darcia-page]

is it possible to grow from a stone and can you please tell me how

[SteveD]

I have a little book called "The Pip Book" by Keith Mossman published by Penguin in 1977. I think that it is out of print but you might find one on Amazon, E-Bay or in a second-hand book shop. Mine does not have an ISBN number.

For lychees (or litchi or litchee) it suggests treating the seed like grape seeds but to provide them with maximum warmth. The seeds must be sown immediately after removing from the fruit:

"Sow in a pan or half-pot of soilless compost, spacing the stones evenly and covering very lightly, making sure that they are not visible after giving a gentle watering. Place the pan in a propagator or cover with polythene or paper. Put in a warm place.

Germination should take place in about two weeks and the compost must be kept really moist before and after the emergence of the seedlings."

Lychees apparently like acid soil so re-pot the seedlings into this. If your tap water is hard, water with rainwater. The seedlings like a light, but shady location, and do not tolerate sudden changes in temperature.

Good luck!

[woofgang]

I have done both lychee and date stones very successfully as follows.

Take a clear polythene bag and put moist ericaceous compost in it (quite a bit) and add your stones. Seal the bag leaving an air gap in it and put it in the airing cupboard. Check it every couple of days and as the stones germinate, remove them and plant them in pots and keep on a warm windowsill. Not all the stones will sprout, so the more you put in the bag, the more chance of success you will have.

[WendyS]

Woofgang, I'm intrigued with your efforts and would love to know more. Do the lychees actually grow into bushes or trees and how long would they take before bearing fruit? And are they self fertile or do you have to grow more than one to cross-fertilise? I've always imagined them to be a fruit which required a Mediterranean /warm climate and that they wouldn't survive outdoors here in the UK? Are yours kept in a greenhouse?

[KARL]

My wife has started things like lychee, dates, avocado, etc. off with relative ease, but only as an amusement. No sub-tropical plant/tree will survive outdoors in Britain which has a just-better-than-arctic climate although actual freezing is not very common. Very many plants (the above among them) fail to develop or even die if the ambient temperature remains below some 10 degrees Celsius more than just overnight or at most a day or two. To bear fruit, these plants need to mature (in the case of avocado, a huge tree) so they are not suitable as normal indoor plants in the average dwelling but large atriums could accommodate them.

[woofgang]

no, my plants have never got big enough to fruit!! They spend summer on my patio but need winter protection. I don't think we get enough light or heat in the uk to trigger flowering and fruiting