Picture of one of the bloom spikes

Picture of the branching. In the back you can see the one that is cracked. I love the way they have the plant now and its been pugged already. I might be able to save the cracked branch, its a pretty big wound but it's clean.

Wow...that is a VERY nice Lychee tree...NICE shape to start with, they are hard to find with such a symetrical shape alread. That should be pretty easy to shape down the road...and a nice bloom spike as an added bonus...Congrats!! That is a pretty tree! Did you say this is a sweetheart variety?

I have a Mauritius tree (planted about 2 years ago) mine is blooming for the very first time also...I hope this cold snap wh're getting Sun. or Mon. won't kill the blooms :o( Wish me luck!

Good luck! Yes this is the sweetheart variety, I couldn't decide which one was best but I've heard good things about this one.

The cracked branch at the back will be too hard to save I'm afraid so it will mess up the shape a little bit it will still look pretty nice without it. Once I looked at it closer I realize with the crack going halfway through the branch horizontally it means half of that branches nutrient supply has been cut off. I could still try just to see, plants are capable of re-routing resources as needed but it doesn't fit back together smoothly because of a couple jagged pieces. :(

Here is a shot of the root system right before potting it in Al's gritty mix.

And here is the finished product for today :) The pot is a little large considering the compact root system but I think it should be ok since I used the gritty mix.

Hi aslan89 , That is a nice looking sweetheart lychee plant you got from Mickey. What size of pot did you ordered?

As in what is the new pot size or do you mean what size was the shipped plant in? The one he shipped it in was the standard 3 gallon nursery pot I believe.

That's a great looking lychee, my fellow asian!
I've been wanting to order something from Plantogram, perhaps a purple caimito, and I now have confidence that I'll have a quality product shipped to me.

I have had the crosshairs on getting Sweetheart for some time now, and you are not helping.
One to two weeks and all frost threats should be gone, I will probably order one then.

That's a beautiful plant--the straight trunk and all. I'm glad it also came with some blooms. Hopefully you can taste of its fruit too. Have fun with your new plant!

Thanks everyone, the support is appreciated :)

I'll keep you guys posted on its progress. So far so good, not even a little wilting in full sun so I guess it likes the gritty mix.

i got 1 just a bit bigger than yours... hope you're not expecting too many fruits this year, if any. Expect lots of fruit drops which is normal at this size/age.

Of course not lol, most of the blooms were spent by the time I received it. It does have several tiny fruits still attached though.

Of course not lol, most of the blooms were spent by the time I received it. It does have several tiny fruits still attached though.

Aslan, how's the tree doing? I'm so glad its doing well in the gritty mix with no wilting. I did this to a mango last year and it did not like being bare rooted and eventually I lost it :o( I want to try a Lychee in a pot but was afraid to bare root it and have it die on me...maybe I'll try one since yours took it so well.

This post was edited by puglvr1 on Fri, Mar 8, 13 at 16:07

Well hold that thought! Give me another week or two and then ask me lol. I noticed a couple leaves were getting a reddish/brown patch on them. Not brown tips but splotches in other places. I just got my Foliage Pro a few days ago, maybe it was just upset that it did not get enough fertilizer for a week. I'll keep yall posted, looks ok overall but it might be a little fussy now adjusting to the new growing medium.

ok, ordered one from PIN. I doubt it will look as good as Aslan's, his has the perfect shape. I've had good luck with PIN in the past. They will wait a month prior to shipping due to potential freezes enroute.

Thanks Aslan...I will wait for your update before purchasing one :o)...Not in a hurry, its probably a couple more weeks before my local nursery starts to carry lychee trees.

Doglips...Congrats on your lychee tree order...please post pics when you get it next month.

My Lychee came from PIN...bought it from Lowe's (that's their supplier). Very lucky I can get mine locally and not have to pay for shipping plus Lowe's offers a one year guarantee for all their plants... a definite bonus.

BTW, how tall is that tree...3ft tall from the bottom of the trunk to the top branch?

This post was edited by puglvr1 on Fri, Mar 8, 13 at 16:10

I just went to a local nursery today and they had them, but they were unlabeled as to variety, and my heart is set on my sweetheart.
I guess I need to get cracking on making some gritty mix. I really hate sorting pine bark fines, sooooo tedious and time consuming, not to mention the high unusuable percentage. When I get enough unsuable I'll rent a chipper. I'd pay the bucks to be able to buy presorted fines.

The tree is 4 feet tall in the pot. If I took it out of the pot it would probably be 3 feet.

Here are some pictures if you guys are interested as to what I was referencing on my tree. Its only near that center part of the tree, the rest of the tree is dark green and healthy looking. Could it be sunburn? It did go straight from the dark box into full sun but this has just appeared in the last few days. It does not seem to be spreading however. Another cause could be that it was placed in the gritty mix and it received no fertilizer for about a week and the gritty mix really has no nutrients in it. Of course it is possible the shock of the transplant caused this as well. Anyway here are the pictures, let me know if you have an idea as to what it could be or I could just be overreacting :)

The tree looks fine and I tend to agree with you about it "might" be sunburn. It probably would have been better if you slowly acclimated it to full sun...maybe taken 5-7 days to do it. But, its too late now,lol...

I live in FL...so I think our sun seems to be a lot more intense, I don't see your zone listed on your page.

Just my 2 cents...but I would use a "light" dosage fertilizer on your lychee, I know that young lychees especially newly planted ones roots burn quickly and you don't want to damage the tender leaves...Good luck!

BTW, you might have already seen this...but I found it on lycheesonline and thougt maybe you and Doglips might find it useful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tips on Growing Lychee in Containers...

Oh yes I've seen that page. It recommends not fertilizing the tree often but I have it in Al's Gritty Mix not soil so there are no nutrients in there and I have to use Foliage Pro with most waterings.

I'm in deep south Texas so I know what you mean about the sun :) At least you guys are pretty tropical in Florida, it's basically arid dessert here with all the drought.