February 21, 2023, 14:01 – BLiTZ – News
In Russia, lychee is considered to be a fruit, but from the point of view of botany, this fruit is a berry. Finding such a rarity on store shelves is not so easy, but you can try to grow an exotic tree yourself. The public news service figured out how to grow lychees at home.
Lychee fruits have an unusual pulp and a large seed, from which you can try to grow a home plant. In nature, the culture grows in southeast China, and the tree is also grown in India, in the countries of Southeast Asia and Africa. The plant prefers a warm and humid climate – such conditions will need to be created for a home tree.
Bone selection and preparation
Use a few recommendations for preparing the bone for planting:
Remove the bone for sowing only from a ripe fruit without blackouts and dents in the skin. Store the extracted bone for a maximum of 5-6 days, as these berries are perishable. For planting, prepare a few seeds in order to leave only a couple of the healthiest specimens in the future. Rinse the selected bone well and leave for a day in a solution of potassium permanganate. It is not necessary to open the skin.
Priming
This exotic fruit grows well in light, loose nutrient soil. You can prepare the substrate yourself by combining the soil and peat in a ratio of 1: 2. Mycorrhizal preparations will not be superfluous, thanks to which the root system of the plant will more easily absorb nutrients from the soil.
Germination methods
There are two ways to germinate the bone:
Wrap the bone in a cotton cloth moistened with water and put it in a warm place. Make sure the fabric doesn’t dry out. After about a week, you can see the first shoots.
The stone is immediately planted in a container with a moistened substrate, deepening a little. Seedlings are expected in 10-14 days.
Sowing
Planting in a pot looks like this:
Drainage is laid out at the bottom of the container with a layer of 1/4 of the container, soil is poured on top. A bone germinated in water or not germinated is placed horizontally and buried at a level of 1.5 cm. The container is covered with cling film or glass and cleaned in a bright place.
Conditions
In order for the tree to feel comfortable in the apartment, it is necessary to create favorable climatic conditions for it:
The container with the plant should not be located in direct sunlight. It is better to put it in the part where the sun appears in the afternoon. The daylight hours of an exotic culture are 12–15 hours, so in winter, lighting with phytolamps will be required.
Favorable temperature for growing lychee is up to +26 degrees. Protect the plant from drafts.
The recommended humidity for growing fruit is 75%. You can ensure the desired indicators using a humidifier or placing a bowl of water near the container. Photo: freepik.com
Care
Lychee care includes the following steps:
The frequency of watering is determined by the air temperature. In the hot period, the tree is irrigated every day, in winter it is enough to water every 2-3 days. It is recommended to spray the leaves of the culture with a spray gun twice a day. Water during irrigation should be warm and settled.
The first fertilizer is applied already at the stage of the appearance of the third true leaf. During this period, lychee formulations based on phosphorus are suitable. The next top dressing will be required in 10 months, this time nitrogen mixtures will be more appropriate. Further, the tree is fed every two years in the summer, using products based on potassium and phosphorus.
In winter, it is recommended to remove diseased and weak shoots, as well as to shorten the elongated branches. Such sanitary pruning will be enough. If you get carried away with the formation of the crown, then flowering will occur with violations.
