This Rambutan used to be about 4 ft tall some years back, but after dropping all its leaves every Winter, it has dwindled to less than 1 foot tall. The thicker stem behind has died off and what you see here is a little growth that grew from the base.

The second Rambutan that I have now looks a little better at 3 ft tall, but it was still a far cry from what it used to be (about 6 ft in height or so). I know it's kind of wasting time here trying to keep them around, but it's hard to neglect them when they're still growing ..

Of course, I've also started many seedlings on my own; some of them have died off and the others hiding somewhere in the yard (if they're still alive that is ... lol).

I did tried growing Rambutan seedlings and grafted type but it failed miserably 2 years ago. The seedlings never got more than a ft and the grafted ones didn't put out any growth and just wither and died. I also had pulasan seedlings but same results with the rambutan. It didn't die but it didn't grow either so I put them out of their misery lol.
They were all grown in a unheated greenhouse. It never got down to freezing or anything but weren't really in optimum condition either.

I've also had disappointing results. I believe the reason is the lack of humidity. My area is hot and dry in the summer, cold and not that wet in the winter. Mine grows well in the winter because I bring it inside the greenhouse, which is inside my family room. As soon as I bring it outside in springtime, growth slows, leaves started turning brown. I gave all mine away.

Tinybolt and Newgen,

I'm sorry to hear that your adventure with your Rambutans didn't go well for you too. I plan to keep the two of them until I get my greenhouse and we'll see what happens. Mostly likely they will end up having the same fate as yours ...

On a brighter note, however, I managed to get some Rambutan fruit from an Asian grocery store here to enjoy. Some seeds are beginning to sprout. It feels a lot better to know that buying the fruit to eat is not as illusive as planting the plants with the intention of getting fruit off of them .. lol.

Wish I had grown these myself, but not too bad, I got about 14 of them for the price of a little over $3 (not bad at all). Of course, I ate up a few before taking the picture. They do taste somewhat like the lychees as they both are close relatives. The fruit is sweeter and the flesh is thicker, crunchier and somewhat rubbery.

Those look good Bananafan. I'd like to grow them but would prefer to get a good grafted variety. Unfortunately, I think most of the nurseries here just get seeds from their dinner table, shove them into pots, and then sell them when they've got a bit of height. I don't know where the fruit here comes from. There's lots grown here, but they're the high quality fruits and all get exported to Japan. Maybe I should do a midnight raid and get some grafting material, LOL.

No way my rambutan can stay outside in the Texas winter.
But I do love to experiment with them. Let see if they survive the coming winter month. I have several seed that I started early this summer month. They are about a foot tall now. Picture is better than word.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rambutan Seedling

This post was edited by soupb on Sat, Nov 2, 13 at 8:10

Are you able to get a grafted Rambutan, tropicalbreeze? If you're able to get one, I'm sure the Rambutan would take your climate there better than where I am.

Soupb, I can see you have a green thumb with your Rambutan seed sprouting. You're right, they will not survive outside in your winter weather. All the best to your Rambutan seedlings and hope you'll post more updates of their development later on.