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Florida Gardening

Any Lychee Experts Here?

14 years ago

My 3 year-old lychee tree is finally bearing fruit. They are green, but beginning to show color. When squeezed, they still feel very hard.

How long after the fruit turn red should I pick them? Will they feel soft to the touch?

I've never seen a lychee fruit before, so I have no idea what to expect.

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Comments (6)

puglvr1
14 years ago
Hi brute,

Congrats on your first crop! I also have a few fruits for the very first time on my two year old Brewster lychee...so I am no expert either. Mine are still small and very much green, I'm guessing for mine it should be at least another month...if it survives? I can take a guess at it and say, you probably should feel a little give when you squeeze the fruit very gently. The shell itself is pretty hard, which is what makes it a little hard to know for sure. But I wouldn't think it should feel hard as a rock? I bought a few last year and it was around the middle of June(I know that different lychee varieties ripen at different times)If you want to ask this question at the "Tropical Fruits Forum", there are some members there that grow Lychees.

What variety is it?
linchat
14 years ago
I am an expert on eating them, does that count? :) Lychee = good..... :)
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blinkie2
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I have a Bengal tree and mine are just now getting ripe. You can eat them once they're half red, but they'll be tart. Once they're 3/4 red or all red, they will be sweet. Only harvest what you will eat in one day because they will dry out if left on the counter. You can refrigerate them, but the flavor isn't the same. Hope this helps :)

Mona
flyingfish2
14 years ago
NO Not any expert on lychee's. My friend just brought me a bunch from his tree. they are only about 1/2 red, but I like them. He said you can freeze the whole thing and just take out what you want to use.
happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
14 years ago
I had about a dozen fruits set on my one year old lychee. All of the fruits fell off last week during our sustained very heavy rains.

linchat, I'm with you. Lychees are such a delicious fruit.

brute, the fruits will turn plump and color up. Pick only one fruit to test it to see if they are ready. When ripe they are sweet and a little bit juicy.

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jaxtropix
14 years ago
I started one from seed- I know the fruit quality won't be the same, but its just too much fun to plant what you eat! I'm assuming that its too cold in 9a to plant it in the ground, but has anyone here had luck with that?

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