junkyardgirl,

this is just a hunch. Perhaps, if you have been feeding the tree, the fert mix may have been heavy in Nitrogen (the first # of the three in fert ratios)

Plants like tomatos and beans/peas if fed too much nitro and not enough of the middle # Phosphorus simply grow vigourously and not bear any fruit or very little.

Consider trying some heavy applications of Bloom Buster type fert with a low nitro and high Phosphorus ratio.

I have a lytchee which was the same way till I really changed the plants diet. Same situation with my bananas too. Never fruited till I focused on the food it was being given.

Let us know!

Give them potassium and phosphorus. Even better, buy a fertilizer specifically for fruit trees. But remember, trees take time to mature. Some trees take over ten years to fully mature! Maybe it is because you only have one tree. A lot of plant species need two (or more) of the same species to create fruit or vegetables. If you do need a new tree, rooting a cutting from yours will not help. Basically, a cutting is just a genetic clone of the other tree, so they won't bear fruit if you do that. You would need another cutting from another tree like that, but with different genes. Or, just buy another mature tree like that from a local tree nursery.

First, I only use fruit tree fertilizer on all my fruit trees.

Second, the tree never blooms, so it makes absolutely no difference if it has another tree or not.

I have bad luck with most of my fruit trees. Citrus blooms get blown off every March on most of my trees. I never get citrus fruit from anything but the Meyer Lemon and the Valencia. I did get Key Limes last year, though, but this year, the wind blew all the blooms off. My kumquat doesn't even bear anymore.

The only things that does really well are the Surinam Cherry and the Peanut Butter Bush.

I think my yard is cursed.

junkyardgirl---I hear your frustration but be more patient. I find my longan to be a slow grower so I suspect that maturity takes time with this particular fruit tree. They are also known to be alternate bearers. I have one about six years old that has given me a small amount of fruit only twice. When it blooms, it does produce fruit. Longans are self fertile so you don't need a pollenator. You didn't say what size your tree is, mine is small because I had to plant it in a protected area because I live in the DeLand area.

I have lots of different kinds of fruits in my yard and I have never been fond of fruit tree fertilizer. I probably feel that way because experts in the Tropical Fruit Club that I belong to don't like it. I usually use 8-10-10 with a little extra sprinkling of triple super phosphate (0-46-0).

If you are not getting fruit and the tree looks fine, then I would consider changing your fertilizer as already mentioned. Even if you continued to use the fruit tree fertilizer instead of 8-10-10, supplement with some bloom booster fertilizer like Tony K suggested. You will get fruits--just give the tree more time.

Christine

Interesting, our Longan bore fruit for two years and then stopped this year - nothing. We've put a second one in the ground, on the opposite side of the garden, and had nothing this year either. Yet, I did a landscape job for a lady in Delray Beach who had one that was over the top of her house and she said it always had fruit. Could just be bad kharma this year.

fawnridge---Alternate bearing is more pronounced in young trees. Mature trees can outgrow this tendency. Years down the road you may have more fruit than you can eat--a great problem to have!

Christine

Christine
where do you find the triple phosphate? There is / was a tri-phosfo-soda (sp?) in the cleaning aisle of hardware stores, BUT not even sure that its still available.

Thanks
Tony

The tree is about 10 feet tall. I will be more patient, but no more than two more years, then it's gone. I'll try some bloom fertilizer too.

Christine,

Like Tony, I am also interested in finding the triple super phosphate (0-46-0) I would love to add that to my mango and lychee trees, maybe I will get fruits next summer...what brand is the 8-10-10?

Thanks

Remember that trees and plants cannot read .
Don't worry as much as what the words on the bag say as for a brand but instead , concentrate on the N-P-K ratios as happy fl gardener stated .
Any bag that says 8-10-10 will do .
The super phosphates will be more difficult to find since a new law was passed to lower the middle number in fertilizers to help lessen the pollution of aquifers - mainly from lawns and agricultural runoff .

Plant some other plants around them, to keep the wind down.

There are bloom booster ferts with a ratio of approx 10-45-12 OR you can use orchid bloom buster liquid fert too which is high in phos.

Trisodium phosphate was the name of the cleaner that is usually in the wallpaper isle or paint isle of a store and can be used as fert. I just need to remember to look for it again.

I just bought some of the Tri-Sodium Phosphate lowwwwwwwwzzzzzz.

I have gauges to measure the concentration of a salt dissolved in water. I measured a EC strength of 1280 by using 3/4 tsp in 2 gal of water. I am going to let it sit and see if it changes any. My tap water read 280 to start with so my concentration is right at 1000, neither high nor low. 1000 is in the middle range of the test equipment.

All plants have an amount which is beneficial to them, now the next step is to determine what that EC amount is. EC= electrical charge which equates to an amount of the product dissolved in water.

I will try on several plants to see what happens.

The cost was about 6$ for one pound. Less of course if you bought a larger size.

I bought the triple super phosphate at the Sunnnnnnnniland store in Sanford, not far from Flea World. I bought a 40 lb. bag a couple years ago. It may be difficult to find now like gatormom said.

As for the 8-10-10, I prefer the Sunnnnnnniland or Lessssssco brands. It is best to stick with brand names because it is not uncommon for generic and store brand fertilizers to burn the plants.

I frequently listen to Tampa's am 970 WFLA "Florida Gardening" radio program on Sundays mornings on my computer. The gardening guys say that 6-6-6 is one step away from kitty litter and I firmly believe that too. That's why I feel that the 8-10-10 is the better way to go. It works for me as long as I put it down when I'm supposed to. That is my most used formula. The other 2 formulas that I use are Sunnnnnnniland acid/iron 16-4-8 on lawns and on any grassy type plants (ex. bamboo). This acid/iron will green up a lawn like nothing else--really. My other preferred fertilizer is 2-10-10, also from Sunnnnnnniland. That one is great for low nitrogen plants such as tomatoes.

I frequently do use the powdered bloom booster fertilizers Tony mentioned on quick growing (and fruiting) plants such as papayas.

Tony, can you keep us posted on the Trisodium phosphate? If the government keeps taking phosphate out of the fertilizers we may have to get inventive. I need my fruits and flowers to keep blooming.

Chrisitne

I have the same problem, i have had a Longan tree for at least 10 years and it has neveer had a flower.