Yours is still alive and it looks fine to me. Maybe a little thin but in now way concerning. There's probably nothing you can do about the damaged branch. I'd cut away any of the dead portion. The tree will eventually heal itself around the damage. I believe the twice a month fertilizing is too much.

My two cents here. When my tree was healthy, I would prune a few branches at a time way back...not more than 1/3 at once I believe is the rule. This not only encouraged new branches, but made a stronger, more compact plant. Pruning is necessary for a strong, healthy plant. You may want to check out www.lycheesonline.com. They have some very good articles for growing lychees. You may also look back in some of the old posts. I believe NorthTreeMan posted some sites that had some very good info as well.

I think with a little pruning, some TLC, and encouragement, you will soon have the tree you are wanting. Good luck.

hi ohiojay,

thanks for the information. I did trim back a little the second year, but it does not seem to make my plant stronger. Maybe I didn't do it enough. I wonder if it also has something to do with the rootstock.

now there are lots new branches coming out and I got rid of about half of them. also, the older leaves are falling off upon very slight touch. I wonder if it's normal.

what is TLC but the way? do you think it still takes years to get the first fruit? thanks!

Hi Phase,

TLC means, "tender loving care"

I think your tree looks great and seems to be growing well. Check with a nursery to see if there's something safe they can recommend to maybe "seal" the wounds on your tree. Maybe email the people from Lycheesonline and ask them what they recommend(if anything)that you should do about the wound. Like Jay said, it will probably just heal itself. But doesn't hurt to ask the experts.

I have a Sweetheart Lychee also (and a Brewster), I planted 13 months ago, I live in florida, so I have more humidity than you do. In my experience, which isn't much, lol, my Sweetheart seems to grow a lot slower than my Brewster. I know that doesn't apply to everyone, just I have noticed for some reason the growth is nowhere the same as my brewster. I give them both the same identical care, so who knows why? Mine flowered this year in January, but all the flowers fell off. I'm sure its just not mature enough or possibly weather issues?

The same thing happens to my older leaves, they do turn yellow and fall off. It's normal as long as it's not excessive. Usually happens during a new growth flush. I fertilize mine with a slow release(Dynamite, or Osmocote) good for 4-9 months depending on which one you use. Then once a month from March through Oct, I also use fish fertilizer or a liquid fertilizer to supplement( 1/2 strenght), especially during the growing season. Lychees are prone to fertilizer burn so be careful when applying too much fertilizer. Apply on the canopy drip line not too close to the trunk.

Good Luck, I'm sure your tree will be just fine...

Here's my Sweetheart Lychee

{{gwi:1311613}}

wow pug- your sweetheart is stunning. im sure you will get an unbelievable crop next year

hi puglvr1,

thanks for the information. your sweetheart looks so great! It does not have any sign of brown tip on the leaves and I really like the color of your leaves. Mine is too thin compared to yours. when did you take the photo? Mine has a new growth flush going on.

I have this timed-release Fertilizer Pills 20-10-5 from stark bros and I wonder if I can use it.

http://www.starkbros.com/access?action=product&productID=H1599&collection=0

however, info from Lycheesonline is that NPK Fertilizer should not be used and only organic Fertilizer should be used.

Thanks Lycheeluva and Phase!! Appreciate the kind words.

I wouldn't say it doesn't have any brown tips, I think most if not all Lychee trees have them, at one time or another. There are so many things that causes it, fertilizer, probably even the chemicals in city water that I use to water it. That's why I LOVE rain water, its just so much better for the plants.

One of the reasons I use "Slow Release" is to prevent the negative effects of over fertilizing. It slowly releases it and has a better distribution throughout the plant. That's why I add the fish (Organic) to help supplement it. So far so good, I have been using this since I planted it 13 months ago and seems to be working pretty good. I just purchased a new liquid fertilizer (recommended) by a friend, great for containers that I have started using a few weeks ago. So far, so good.

I'm sorry I don't know enough about fertilizers to say if that one you posted is good for a Lychee tree, but I'm sure its fine, I just never heard of one that lasts for two years, wow! Of course it depends on your growing conditions also. I went on lycheesonline website and I read that they use "Sierra Osmocote" also. Check out the link I posted below, # 7 on the page. I believe the fertilizer I use "Dynamite" is similar? Just keep in mind not to add too much nitrogen during the flowering season (for me in Florida) that's between Jan and Feb. So I don't add fertilizer bet Nov-Feb. Reason being is it will promote vegetative growth instead of flowers.

By the way that picture was taken last month, April 25.

Good luck! If I can be of any more help just ask...I'm new to this Lychee and Mango growing, but always willing to help and learn along the way, that's why I love this forum!Believe me, I have a LOT to learn, LOL...

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

Your tree looks fine. My lychee tree here in south Orange County CA is about 13 years old now and stands about 12 feet tall and about 8 feet wide. Right now it is covered with flowers like it is most years, BUT I get very little (if any) fruit. Out of the hundreds of flowers, about 10 set and start to develop fruit, but most of them fall off before they are ready to eat. There is just something about the weather here that is not conducive to getting Lychee trees to bear fruit. Florida is a whole different story. They get tons of fruit, just like I get tons of Longan fruit, but no Lychees.

I fertilize with cottonseed meal. It has virtually no salt which is one of the causes of leaf brown tip, but as you can see in the photo, I still get brown tip on the old leaves. The tree wants much humidity than we can give it here in CA.

Here a photo of a fruit that actually ripened. It was excellent. (See all the longan in the background in the photo?)

CAGARY-
is it possible that your tree is deficient in some way? North tree man, a poster at this forum, has gotten his tree to fruit in Pennsylvania! is CA any less conjusive to fruiting lychees than PA?

cagary, Longans in the background look great.

could your problem of fruit developing and dropping be related to poor pollination? lycheesonline says that you can artificially pollinate lychee: http://www.lycheesonline.com/FlowerPollination.cfm

Will fertilizing with high phosphate help the tree hold the fruits?

My Lychee tree has brown tip even with no fertilizer applied. I believe it's related to California's city water.

what cultivar is yours? do you live in inland where it is even trier than coastal SoCal (I live in San Diego coastal)?

I plan to use 1 pill of timed-release Fertilizer Pill (20-10-5) from stark bros, and from September supplement the tree with some high phosphate content fertilizer to encourage blooming next year.

here is a tip to stimulate lychee trees into producing more fruit:

http://www.lycheesonline.com/girdlingtips.cfm

An update for my Lychee tree. The pictures of my original post were taken around May 15.

New pics on Jun 3:

however, the new leaves are brown like burnt (pics below). what is wrong? I only fertilized it a month ago with light 8-6-7 like fertilizer. or it's just normal behavior at "Hardening off" stage after flush? thanks again.

Phase, maybe its just my computer, but I can't see the pictures at all, all I see are the boxes with a red X. Is Anybody else having problems seeing the pictures?

Thanks!

try again with smaller image size:

Phase- The brown spots in the pics above are from wind abrasion, and possibly some insect damage. All in all...nothing to worry about in the slightest. New lychee vegetation is VERY delicate, and the slightest damage will turn it brown.
As for burnt tips, it starts at the very bottom of the leaves and works its way up. I don't see burnt tips in the pics above, so you should be ok, until the leaves age a bit.

Your tree is coming along just fine. Phase, one of the reasons you see my wind guard around my Lychee tree photo above. I read on several websites (lycheesonline) for one that highly recommends a wind guard (fence) when newly planted especially because like NTM said the new leaves are very fragile and delicate. But don't worry your tree is doing very well from the looks of it.

Good Luck!

thanks north tree and puglvr1! you guys are great. I think the wind is the cause then. I didn't know that the new leaves are SO delicate. my SoCal location doesn't get that windy, and I thought I don't need a wind guard here. But at least knowing it's the wind makes me feel better, than worrying about a disease or soil issue.

My tree was infested by the scale insects on some branches, and I treated it with light dose of malathion, at around May 17. Many new sprouts were hurt and fell off shortly and it made me feel so bad. But shortly after, even more sprouts came out so I guess it didn't hurt the tree in the long term.

puglvr1, from your wind guard, now I know what TLC stands for.

If you have a relatively low humidity, it might make the wind more of a factor than if it was in a very humid environment like here in FL (especially in summer). Keeping the soil from drying out much is important too. Be very careful about over fertilization also, its better to be safe with slightly less than it needs than more.

Gary

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