I wonder when I should harvest them. I just hope the birds don't get them before me.

I'm surprised this twin one survived that long. Most of them have already dropped off. I don't think it has much inside.

Puglvr, have you tasted yours yet? How's the taste of your Mauritius? I know yours were ready for harvest a couple of weeks ago. I haven't tasted any Brewster yet, or maybe I have. Some years back, I got some from the Asian food market. They usually don't indicate which variety .. and I cannot tell them apart. They're now in the produce section again.

Whoo Hoo Banana!! Those look wonderful and delicious!!...you will love Brewster they are very good...the only down side to them are the large seeds...but its not a problem for me,lol...Congrats!!

Believe it or not my Mauritius are not ready yet either...I thought they would be by now but mine are about the color of yours, maybe another week or so. Here's a couple of pictures of mine...I made some "aluminum window screening" bags for my Mangoes and I had a few extras so I'm trying them on my Lychees ...NOT fool proof as the squirrels and other critters "chewed" through them last year (some of the Mangoes that I wrapped)...but it does work great on Birds. They also sell "Bird Netting" at HD or Lowe's if you want to cover the whole top of the tree?

On the Brewster you would want to wait till they are Bright Red...then you'll know they're ready...once they turn bright red I would taste one and see how sweet they are if they are still a little tart I would wait a few more days and try another before picking them.

I was told the Mauritius may not completely red like the Brewsters...so I've already sampled a couple of them,lol...I've had a couple "split" on me so I washed them and tried them as well :o)...

I don't have as many as you do and the couple of my mauritius that I've tried were VERY Good...but they are still on the tart side...another week or so hopefully?

Enjoy yours!!

Aluminum window screen bags...

Puglvr,

I actually picked one to taste today. Although it looks red, it actually is really tart. So, there's definitely something to what you were saying about Brewster lychees having to turn more red before harvesting.

Your lychees look nice and plumb now. Hopefully your aluminium window screening bags will keep your fruit from being stolen. I did buy some bird netting for my blueberries some years back. Now, I don't use it for my blueberries since I bring them indoors when they start fruiting. So, yes I should probably cover them soon If I see anything bothering the fruit. I was hoping I could beat the birds to it .. lol. I know the raccoons are around, but recently haven't seen them or the squirrels around. The journey from planting to enjoying the harvest sure is a long one ... lol.

Thanks for sharing pictures of your lychees. They look round, while mine are oval shaped. I hope we'll all get to taste the fruit perhaps in the next 1 or 2 weeks :)

Puglvr,

I got out my bird netting and DH was quick to help me put it up. I think it will offer some protection from the birds, but if the raccoons, opossums or squirrels should get them, then it's tough luck.

Maybe I'll wait a week or so and then try to pluck off a fruit from the tree. I wonder when the fruit is ripe, it will come off easily when plucked? Maybe that's a sign that it's ripe? Any idea?

Here's a pic with the bird netting.

That bird netting looks Great Banana!! Like you said it will work great for the birds...let's keep fingers crossed the rest of the critters leaves it alone. It sure looks very close to being ripe, the more red it is the sweeter it suppose to be according to what I've read and heard.

Also with all the rain we're suppose to get with Tropical storm Andrea, I think that will help with the ripening process as well?

Taste one in a day or so...I was also told to look for a smoother skin (less pronounced "bumps") from the outer skin...Good luck!

Mine are still are not quite ready yet, but I know the rains will help ripen them a little quicker...I check them every day to see if any of them have "split" or fallen and taste them,lol...

Banana, I went out this morning to check on my lychees and half of them were GONE!! OMG...I think the squirrels took them. I'm so glad you put the bird netting on there...hopefully, they will won't go near it. Just wanted to give you a heads up...they took the ones that didn't have the mesh bags on them...I did not have enough of the larger size to cover the entire pannicle..Next year if I have fruits I'm buying a Bird netting,lol...

I don't have much left maybe 6-8 :o(...I'm tempted to pick them and eat them tart just so I can say I had some of my first home grown lychees!!

Good luck with yours!

Oh no Pug ... I'm so sorry to hear that the squirrels took half your lychees away. I didn't see your post until now ... do apologize for that, but I do feel terribly sorry for the lost of your lychees ... how aweful of those critters!

Anyway, I'm glad you still have half a dozen left. I hope by now you would have been able to taste some of them. As for mine, I have started harvesting them a couple days back. The inside white skin was starting to loosen up from the fruit. I think that's the sign that it's ripe. The last time the skin was stuck to the fruit and the fruit was tart. Anyway, the fruit tastes deliciously refreshing, although as you've mentioned before, Brewster has huge seeds. I chill them before eating one or two each day and harvest them a few at a time. I don't know if that's a good idea or not.

Anyway, back to the protection for the fruit, I've come up with a last minute idea when some pinnacle of fruit were exposed and that is by using a laundry mesh bag shown here in the pictures.

I do really hope you get to eat the rest of your harvest. Let me know how things go.

I got these laundry bags from Dollar Tree. They are two for a $1.
I should think other dollar tree stores will carry them too.

First couple of fruit to taste. There was a little one attached to one of them. I wonder if I should have removed the little twin long before the fruit mature. I'm thinking it might have retarded the growth of the bigger fruit it's attached to?

Couldn't wait to bite into the fruit before the camera is ready to taken a pic ... lol.

Harvested 4 more yesterday and place them in the fridge to chill. I like it chilled.

By the way, back to those critters problem ... I don't know why I haven't seen any of those recently ... Birds like Cardinals, Blue Jays and finches used to come to my yard to nest, but this year ... strange. As I'm thinking ... I think it could be due to the construction noise coming off from my neighbor that's scaring them away. So, maybe that's the reason. Anyway, if you have a dog, would it be a good idea to set up a doghouse close by to the lychee tree to scare away the intruders?

Hi Banana, YES, I picked what was left (the ones they didn't eat,lol...) lucikly they were all ripe at that point. I'm SO mad I didn't picke them before half of them were stolen :o(

Lesson learned for next year...

I will have to look for those mesh bags at the Dollar Tree, thanks for posting it.

I'm SO happy for you that you are getting to enjoy your lychees, you have been waiting a long time for this day, I'm glad you are enjoying them...

Thanks for the update! Enjoy the rest of them...They look so good!

BTW, I pruned and fertilized my tree right after I picked all the fruits...I'm trying to get it to grow wide and keeping it on the shorter side as best I can...

PS, my Dog would be absolutely useless guarding my Lychee tree,lol...I have a pug and they cannot take extreme heat. He would be inside that dog house no more than 15 minutes and pass out from heat stroke, lol...Wonder if I can find a life size Scarecrow and stand it next to the tree :o)

Puglvr,

I've also pruned my lychee trees. I was a little hesitant to clip too much ... not sure how much I should have clipped. I only did like 2-3 inches. Is that too little to clip? My Sweetheart lychee has got long and straggly branches and it really looks ugly and so is my Mauritius. Should I try to trim them back a lot to look more rounded?

Anyways, I'm still slowly eating up my Brewster lychees. They're still good in the fridge. We just eat 1-2 at a time each time. They're too pretty to eat. I took some pictures before we ate them and here's one. It's more like an art for me than a culinary treat--although I do enjoy the fruit. Well, since lychees are known not to produce every year, I'm not counting too much for next year from the same tree, so will have to fall back on these pictures to look at :) I will soon give it a little more organic fertilizers since they're all sending out new flushes, though I have to be extra careful. There's always a thin line to cross for giving it too much ...

Hi Banana...Yummy!! I'm so jealous lol...enjoy them! They do taste awesome from the fridge. I just ate the last few I froze! I'm already missing them :o)

I too did not prune my Lychee trees too much...anywhere between 2-6" depending on the branch I was trimming. I have no idea if that is too little...I think since my tree is still kinda small and young I don't want to prune it too heavily...I'm sure the larger it gets the more I'll be pruning to keep it around 8-10ft (that's my goal hopefully) if the winter allows it,lol...

Here's mine after pruning it about a month ago...nice new growths filling out the tree...I still have some "bare" sections hoping those will fill in as the tree matures...

I attached a link below...which talks about pruning lychee trees...

Here is a link that might be useful: You Tube...Pruning Lychee trees