PLANTING CHEESES:
- Purchase yourself some lychee fruit, eat them, and save a few of the seeds. Wash the seeds of any remaining pulp and dry them.
- Soak the seeds in water for 3 days, making sure to replace the water every single day.
- During this time at some point, the seed will start to split. This means that the seed is ready to germinate.
- Fill seedling trays, small paper cups, citrus rinds, or even eggshells with potting soil.
- Place one lychee seed in each cup or container about 3-4 inches deep, and cover up with soil.
- Keep the soil moist at all times.
- After 3-4 weeks, the shoot will grow to about 3-4 inches in height and start developing green leaves.
TRANSPLANTING:
- After 3-6 weeks, once the lychee seed has germinated, it’s time to transplant to a bigger pot.
- Choose a 3-gallon pot or container that has good drainage holes.
- Fill the pot with regular potting soil and plant your seedlings.
- Water regularly, and keep the soil moist.
- After about a year, replant your lychee tree into a 7-gallon pot.
- The following year, move your tree to a 15-gallon pot.
- The year after that, replant in a 25-gallon pot.
- After that, you may plant the lychee tree directly in the ground.
CARE:
- During the lychee tree’s first year or two, it needs to protected from the wind and needs to be introduced to the sun slowly.
-Water regularly, making sure the soil is moist.
- Do not fertilize in the tree’s first year.
- Once the tree is ready to be planted in the ground, choose a spot that has full sun.
- Only fertilize using organic matter, as lychees are susceptible to root burn.
HARVESTING LYCHEES:
- Your lychee fruits will be ready for harvest anywhere from 5-25 years depending on a number of different factors such as tree variety, climate, soil quality, amount of sun, and seed quality.
- Be patient and you will be reward with deliciously sweet exotic fruit!
