CONTRATULATIONS Lycheeluva!! You guys up north kill me, we have the growths you guys have the FRUITS...really, I'm happy for you. Looks like you'll be eating lychees way after its just a distant memory from all of us. COOL!!

Nice pics. Where do you keep all of your tropicals in the winter? I still see WAY too much room to walk back there.

jsv- bear in mind that driveway is a shared driveway!- so my neighbour owns the other half! i bet he is pissed as hell with me for putting the plants there.

i have no clue where i am going to put my plants in the winter. last year i had them in a room in the basement with a grow light but this year, that room is being used by a nanny- so i have no idea where i will put them.- probably in my garage- though as of now, its not insulated.

Great pics! Are you going to trim the fairchild fruit or try to keep them all?

i will definitely trim. the question is at what stage do i trim. i dont want to trim too early in case i accidentally remove mangoes that would have made it and leave on mangoes that will subsequently drop off. so i want to trim once i am reasonable sure that the ones i leave on the stalks will make it.
then i also need to figure out how many to leave on. i am thinking to try and leave 3-4 on this year.
what do u guys think.

also do i cut back the pannicles that have no mangoes left on them or do i just let them rot away on their own? same q with regard to the empty lychee panicles.

The lychee panicles will drop on their own, or grow vegetation later. The mango trimming is up to your discretion. I would strongly look at tree size to determine the action needed. It takes a lot of energy to make fruit.

wow - great inspiration!

I just ordered a bunch of tropical fruit - mangoes, guava, lychee, and avocado.

I'd love to pick your brain on how to make them thrive. I killed a mango last winter (I'm in Rochester, NY).

First - what soil mix do you use? I've been trying the venerable "Al's Mix", with slightly bigger pine bark chunks than prescribed. Would that be OK?

Also, what are the fertilizer requirements for these plants?

Thanks for any help you can give. Jeff

Jeff:

im using AL's mix as well but substituting perlite for crushed granite as i have not been able to find the granite around here.
i approximate a third perlite, third pine bark fines and a third turface. for fertilizer i use osmocote slow release and during the spring and summer, i add fish emulsifier.

im not sure if the bigger pine bark chunks are ok. i would reach out to al on the container forum. he'll answer you within an hour or two usually. my guess is he is going to say to try and get the pine bark fines if you can.

what are you doing with your plants for the winter? were you able to find turface? if yes, where from? ( i had to drive 40 miles to Long Isalnd to get it.

to be honest, i am totally flabbergasted by the relative success I have been having, especially as there are some growers with a hundred times more knowledge and experience than me who have not done so well. I really cannot explain it.

am thrilled to hear of another NY area tropical fruit grower.
please post any pics you have.

congrats on beautiful trees and fruits. is the lychee a sweetheart? do you plan to add potash?

Thanks Phase.

i do have a sweetheart as well, that i think is about to go into bloom, but those pics were of a mauritius lychee.

i like my lychees on the acidic side so i prob wont add potash

Lychee, check if you have a John deere supply company in your area. I have them all over the place in Redneckville FL. They carry the turface under the brand name Allsport. Cost me about $12 for a 40 pound bag.

thanks for the info.
i actually paid $10 for a 50 pound bag and i have several bags left over- so im good for now. it was just a tremendous pain to drive 80 miles roundtrip to buy it.

He's a natural!!!

nice of u to stop by j. thought an alien had abducted u