How to grow a tree from lychee seed?

Lychee is recognized as one of the most beautiful plants on the planet and is highly regarded as a decorative culture. It is not surprising that many are attracted by the idea of ​​growing lychee from a stone. But at home, the tree grows with difficulty and often dies in the first year. Once upon a time, Emperor Wu Dee executed all his gardeners for not being able to transport and adapt this demanding plant from South China to North. Lychees need not only special care and fertile soil, but also mycorrhizal fungi, thanks to which the tree eats.

Bone Germination Instructions

Germinating a lychee seed is easy enough. If the fruits are fresh, germination is 90-100%. However, it is worth considering the fact that it rapidly decreases after eating the pulp. The cleaned bones are suitable for planting for about 2-3 days.

So what do you need to do?

1. Soak the bones in warm water for a day (you can skip this point).
2. Prepare 0.3 L pots for each bone. At the bottom there must be holes and drainage that protect the seedlings from waterlogging.
3. Pour citrus soil into the pots. You can buy it in a specialized store or make a suitable soil mixture yourself from 2 parts of turf land, 2 parts of leaf, 2 parts of humus and 1 part of large river sand. It is advisable to mix hydrogel into the substrate and, necessarily, mycorrhizal spores.
4. Plant the bones horizontally, with the flat part down. Roots appear on the same side as the stems - where the cut is.
5. Pour the ground around the perimeter with warm, settled water.
6. Cover the pots with foil or, better yet, install a ventilated greenhouse.
7. Place the lychee in a warm place and wait until the first sprouts appear. After that, the film must be removed.

Many people put pots with lychee seeds near the battery or on the computer system unit. On average, seedlings appear on the 10-30th day from the start of planting. The warmer the earth and the higher the humidity, the faster it is possible to germinate the seeds.

As practice shows, out of 10 seedlings of lychee, only 4 have enough vitality for good growth. Therefore, it is recommended to sprout several seeds at once so that the strongest sprouts can be selected.

Features indoor lychee

The capricious lychee loves fertile soil rich in humus. It grows best in its homeland, in a subtropical climate with fairly cool winters. This is one of the few plant species that needs mycorrhiza to survive - a symbiosis of roots with mushrooms. Rhizophagus litch mushrooms, as it were, replace the suction roots - the area of ​​the suction surface with them increases by about 100 times. But since Rhizophagus litch is not cultivated, many replace it with Rhizophagus irregularis spores, which are relatively easy and inexpensive to purchase on eBay.

Also, sometimes they try to replace mycorrhiza with mushrooms from the soil under coniferous trees, but in most cases this does not help.

A lychee seedling develops well while it receives nutrients from the seed. On average, this period is 4–5 months. Then, if mycorrhizal fungi have not been introduced into the soil, the roots begin to starve. Without symbiosis, the plant cannot eat.

Seedling Care

In order for a strong and healthy tree to grow out of a bone, it is necessary to organize proper care for the seedlings. Lychee does not apply to plants that grow on their own.

• Watering.

Indoor Lychee tree is very sensitive to both excess moisture and its lack. In nature, the summer months have the rainy season, which is ongoing.In greenhouses, lychees spray machines with a frequency of half an hour. At home in hot weather the plant is watered every day, but at the same time they are monitored so that there is no stagnation of moisture. In winter, watering is reduced to 2-3 times a week. Be sure to ensure that the lychee roots are warm. The water used for irrigation is settled, warm.

• Lighting.

The plant needs at least 12 hours of daylight, but it must be protected from direct sunlight. Lychee can be safely grown on the window from the south side or equip a special place with backlighting with a 100 W phytolamp.

• Temperature.

Lychee requires seasonal changes in air temperature. In summer, the indicator should be in the range of 23–33 degrees, in winter - 15–18 degrees. Wintering in cool conditions gives impetus to the flowering of a mature tree (for the 8–10th year).

• Top dressing.

In the first year, fertilizers should be applied no more than 1 time in 4-5 months, then - 1 time in 1-3 months.

Phosphorus-containing preparations should not be used in the first 4–6 weeks after the introduction of fungal spores into the soil. This time is necessary for the formation of stable mycorrhiza.

Lychee perceives organics (rotted manure, compost), Baikal biological product, and mineral fertilizers well.

• Pruning.

It is carried out in the first 2 years in order to form a crown.

• Transfer.

With a growth of 20–25 cm, lychees are transplanted into a more spacious pot.

At first, an exotic tree grows very well and quickly. Already in the first few months, its height can reach 20 cm. However, further the growth rate usually decreases. A two-year-old lychee rarely exceeds 35 cm. In general, at home, you can grow a tree up to 2.5 m and even make it bear fruit.

Lychee refers to heat-loving capricious plants. In open ground, it grows in the subtropics. To create similar conditions in an apartment or house is quite difficult. And although the seed almost always sprouts without problems, in the future it will be necessary to make a lot of efforts so that the sprout does not die. The tree is sensitive to changes in content and can discard all leaves. With a lack of light and nutrition grows faded. With an excess of moisture in the soil, the foliage acquires a brown tint.

Only in the 4th – 5th year does the plant become less picky. But, despite all the difficulties, many are engaged in the cultivation of lychee. The tree is beautiful, original and looks stylish in any room!