Try Ong's Nursery in San Diego

Welcome to the tropical forum, this is a great forum with lots of great members that are always willing to share and help...By the way, I lived in Westminster for a year before I moved to FL.

I posted a link below for a nursery in Vista CA, and it does list Lychee and Mango(NotRambutan)...There's a few members here from CA, so I'm sure they can give you some advise, in the meantime, you might try posting this on the CA Forum also to get extra responses...As for recommendations, I've heard of "Keitt" being grown in a small grove in Cochella Valley,CA(there are so many, some "Condo" varieties too)...Mauritius and Sweetheart sounds like two great varieties to start... Good Luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: California Tropical Fruit Trees

A few nurseries in Hawaii have rambutan. Frankies and Gaiayoga.

You should really review your climate before attempting a rambutan outside.

Have you compared the low temp you get in your backyard to the temperature at which a Rambutan gets cold damage? Something to think about before your purchase.

I heard that Rambutan cannot take anything lower than 60s. I have successfully sprouted Rambutan from seeds and they're now almost 2 months old. I also read that there are male and female plants and only the female plants produce fruit. I don't know all the mechanics of them all, but since I have 7-8 lants now, I am keeping all of them so some will turn out to be male and some female. Not all of them will survive though as I heard they're really fussy plants to grow. I'm just growing them so I know I've given it a shot.

If you're interested in sprouting them, get some from an Asian grocery store. Clean the seeds up thoroughly and place the flat side down on a wet paper towel. Don't let them get moldy. If they do have signs of mold, wash them up again and place them on another clean wet paper towel. They are likely to sprout for you between 5-21 days if they have not been irridiated. I have also done some experimenting with longan seeds. They have sprouted, but I don't know from this stage on yet.

However, if what you're getting at is to make them fruit sooner for you, it's better to get the airlayered ones. I'm still at the baby stage with tropical fruit trees. There's still so much to learn. Good luck to your tropical fruit planting venture.

I just received my R5, Gula Batu, rambutan from Gaiayog Nursery in HI. Aside from some packing issues, it is a wonderful plant. Probably one of the nicest I've ever recieved. Airlayered, $35. The trunk is nearly an inch in diameter, nice canopy, great root structure, and well over 5' in height. Now I just have to keep it alive!!

Do you have their website or contact info? I got a tiny little seedling for $40 from Nipahut. I regretted that..:( I should just order a graft or airlayer. Please share your pic. Hope it will do well.

jay- Happy to hear you r so happy with your ramby. hope it makes up a little for the weedwacker stress

like others suggested, you can try ONG or Vista nursery in san diego. I know they usually carry Lychee and Logan trees. Ranch 99 supermarket in Irvine may also carry them.

You may also try find out if a CRFG member nursery closer to you carries them: click here

It's always best to get an airlayered or grafted plant when that is an option. Here's the website to the nursery where I purchased my rambutan. As mentioned, I am very pleasantly surprised and happy with the plant. Much nicer than I could have hoped for. http://www.gaiayoga.org/nursery/

The guy's name is Ano and he is very helpful. I was interested in their Rongrien rambutans and he told me that they look like crap at this time. Much better than just grabbing what I wanted and sending it out. They are working on their packing so make sure you discuss this with them if you place an order. Also, they are not on the main island so shipping is even more expensive. Just something to keep in mind.

Here's the tree. If you look closely, there is a seedling rambutan planted next to it. If all survive and start to flush growth, I will attempt grafting the seedling onto the airlayered plant as multiple rootstock graft.

Correction...this is an R3, not R5, from Malaysia.

Ohiojay, your Rambutan is a beautiful plant. I hope it'll bear fruit for you soon. As I've posted in another thread, I have sprouted many Rambutan seeds. A couple of them I think won't make it, but I still have about 7 left. They're about 10" tall from the soil level. As they grow bigger, I think their mortality rate will decrease. I'll soon transplant them to bigger pots. I'm taking no chance. They're in the house now because night temp here is high 60's to 70's.

By the way, does the nursery you bought your grated Rambutan from have a website? Would appreciate a link to it if they have one.

Thanks for the picture. Post when there's more development. I'll try to take some pics of mine soon.

Thanks, the link is in the above post with the pic. You'll have to cut and paste into your browser. J

To Vael: All three plants are available at Frankie's in Hawaii. The email address is: frankiesnusery@hawaii.rr.com
or 808-259-8737 or FAX 808-259-6797. California will not accept plants from Hawaii, therefore you must have them shipped to a friend at a adjacent state. Forget about seeds, the fruits wont be any good. The seedling plants must have a scion from a known rambutan such as species R-100, R-134, R-167 etc. Airlayering is also not reccomended due to thier weak roots. best Wishes, James.

How your tree doing for you Jay? Rambutan may be on my list for next spring. I guess I would definitely have to put a little heater in my greenhouse for Rambutans to make it, but I probably should have one in there anyway. Even I my greenhouse it is getting down to the lower 40's some nights.

40's? Yeah...rambutan would never tolerate that. I've read where they can rapidly deline when exposed to a certain temp for several days. This temp is much higher than you would expect. I cannot find the article but will check at home.

Mine are doing well so far. The seedling flushed out quickly while the air-layered plant is much slower. Most likely due to it starting it's flush late in the season while our light and temps are low. I'm keeping the greenhouse quite warm. As long as there is progress, I'm happy.

What is your soil like? I might pick one up from the same place you got yours. I'll probably just keep it inside for the first winter. How much did they charge you in shipping? What is the coldest it gets it your greenhouse?

OMG...shipping was outrageous. I think close to $100 or more. Big box, he's not on the main island, I believe he shipped it 2-day as well. All 3 negatives!

My soil is mostly peat for acidity. I've got some perlite, pine park fines, and compost material in the mix. Needs to drain well. I'm reading from others that it is difficult to get nutrition requirements squared away. We'll see.

The coldest it gets in my greenhouse is 65.

Wow, I may have to keep looking $100 in shipping is too much for me. Have you ordered anything from Frankie's before? Shipping seems a lot more reasonable from him.

Yes. Shipping is only moderately more reasonable! Still coming from Hawaii but with one less stop. It's still going to be a hit. Remember that this guy sent it 2-day instead of just regular priority mail. They ding you good for that.

Jay, is your rambutan supposed to produce male and female flowers.?

As I understand this, a grafted or air-layered plant will produce the necessary flowers to produce fruit. Seedling plants will produce male-only or female-only flowers. Maybe Gary or someone with a little more knowledge on this subject can chime in. This is one of the benefits of obtaining one of these types of plants.

I don't know rambuttans, longans and lychees aren't dioecious.

I'm no expert, but this is how I see it:
The grafted/air-layered varieties are actually hermaphrodites...that is why they can produce fruit from only one tree. Some seedlings could (potentially) be hermaphrodites, but would you really want to wait the 6+ years to find out? Also, it's far better to get a known variant as well; because, you'd be rolling the genetic dice to see if the fruit would be any good. Those odds favor the casino, in my opinion.