Flowers and plants. We grow an exotic lychee tree on the window
Lychee, or in other words, Chinese plum, the fruit we know most often from supermarket shelves, is actually tropical tree, whose natural habitat is China. The tree bears fruit, usually called the same as the whole plant ( lychee, lychee, ligee, lacy, fox, Chinese plum, dragon eye ). Due to the fact that these fruits are considered one of the the most delicious in the world, lychee is grown in many parts of the world where warm climates favor it, such as in India, Australia or the United States.
In these countries, the lychee grows up to 12 meters in height and is an evergreen tree with feathery leaves and small greenish-yellow flowers collected in inflorescences. Fruits are transported to shops and factories as soon as possible after picking, as they are harvested when they are already very ripe. Due to its short shelf life, it is not very common to find fresh lychee in supermarkets and in our country. On the shelves of shops offering delicacies from all over the world, perhaps we can find compote or dried fruits.
Cultivation and care
If there is a desire to grow lychees at home on a windowsill in a pot, and who knows, maybe even wait for the fruits. But we must prepare ourselves for a long wait, possible difficulties and even failures in cultivation, because lychee has great demands, and our climate is not conducive to its development.
What does the fetus look like? Chinese plum? Its size can be compared with the fruit of a plum. Under a thin red peel, which easily leaves when the fruit is ripe, it has a white-pearl flesh, and in it a brown stone. After eating such a fruit, the stone can be used to grow lychees at home. This must be done as soon as possible, otherwise the bone will not germinate. Lychee seeds can only wait a few days for planting.
We place the seeds in a pot of earth to a depth of about 2 to 4 cm. It is worth remembering that the bone must be located horizontally. At room temperature, after about a week, a sprout will appear. This is first success, however, is unfortunately the easiest to achieve.
Further cultivation will cause a little more difficulty, but do not give up!
Be sure to provide the plant with frequent spraying, good lighting and suitable soil. Although the lychee loves regular watering, you should make sure that there is no stagnant water. For irrigation, only soft water is used. The plant has rather high temperature requirements. In the room where it grows, it can never be less than 10 degrees Celsius.
It is worth knowing that the lychee all year round is in the vegetative stage. Before planting the seeds, peat mixed with perlite is poured into the pot. This is the right foundation. Wrong care, as a rule, is associated with the wilting of the outer leaves. You can try to save such a plant by moving it to another place, or by making changes in the frequency of watering or irrigation. If this is not the reason, most likely the lychee will need to be transplanted, as wilting of leaves can be caused by too high a concentration of salt compounds in the soil.
After such soil changes, we fertilize the litchi only after three months, and then monthly.
In our climate, the lychee rarely lives past the age of 5 when the first fruits appear. Most often, it can grow for about 2, 3 years, due to our unfavorable climate. If the plant grows well and blooms, in order to wait for the fruits, we must help it a little by transferring pollen from one flower to another with a brush. The fruits ripen in about 3 months.
In countries where the Chinese plum is massively grown, it can grow even more than 1000 years, and average age tree is 300 years old. If you manage to buy lychee fruits in the supermarket, they can be eaten raw, for example, as a dessert on their own, a salad ingredient, frozen, or used as a compote in a jar. Of course, it will be a sweet dessert for the winter. Dried lychee is also found in supermarkets, suitable for direct consumption, as a healthy and tasty snack.
Weight watchers should be aware that 100 grams of fruit provides about 70 calories and 16 grams of sugar. In addition, this serving has 50 mg of vitamin C and some mineral salts and malic acid.
Should I grow lychee at home? Undoubtedly, successful cultivation gives a lot of pleasure. Chinese plum is exotic plant, and, although rather modest, will be interesting decoration even if it doesn't bear fruit.
The article will tell you in detail about how to grow an exotic plant at home - lychee, as well as how to care for it.
The fruit called "lychee" is very unusual and is considered exotic. Someone calls him a fruit, others say that lychee is a berry. Be that as it may, lychee not only has a pleasant and rich taste, but also great benefits. The benefit of the fetus is that it has a unique biochemical composition - a mass of vitamins and trace elements.
It is immediately worth noting that the lychee is not a large fruit, its diameter is approximately 3-4 cm. The weight of one berry does not exceed 15-20 grams. A feature of the exotic fruit is its dense and slightly prickly peel, which covers the juicy and jelly-like pulp.
The color of the pulp is milky. Inside the pulp hides a large seed of dark Brown. Taste qualities the lychees are very nice. The ripe fruit has a sweet hue with a slight sourness. If you try to find a comparison with other fruits, then the taste of the pulp is somewhat reminiscent of cherries and pineapples. The aroma of the pulp is very fresh and sweet.
Lychee is a fruit common in Asia: China, Japan, India, Thailand. In these countries, the lychee is often called the "dragon's eye" for its visual similarity to the eye: a white apple and a black eye. For its beneficial and nutritional qualities, lychee has gained popularity in traditional medicine. Many even consider it an aphrodisiac for its rich zinc content, and therefore lychee is a must-have treat on the tables of newlyweds.
Frequent use of litchi can have a beneficial effect on all body systems, increasing body tone, improving vascular function, “killing” cholesterol and lowering sugar. The great merit of litchi is the ability to regulate the water-salt balance in the body, relieve swelling and promote weight loss.
Lychee: whole fruit, pulp and stoneIMPORTANT: Not only the pulp of the fruit is eaten. Healing decoctions are prepared from the lychee peel. The bone, for example, in Vietnam and China is fried with spices in oil, raw lychee bone is considered poisonous.
Lychee: cut fruit 
Lychee pulp without peel. It is best to peel litchi with a sharp and thin knife. 
Lychee fruits on a tree, twigs 
Tree with ripe lychee fruits Is it possible to grow lychee from a seed on a windowsill, like a house flower?
Lychee is exotic, but very beautiful plant, which has not only bright red fruits, but also graceful glossy leaves: elongated, pointed, long. The plant is accustomed to grow in warm Asian countries, but subject to all conditions, it is also possible to grow a small lychee on your windowsill.
It is important to know that you can grow lychees only from the seed that was in the fresh berry (dried and canned fruits will not work). Of course, homemade lychee will not often be able to please you with abundant fruits, but, nevertheless, under close attention and your careful care, you can find a beautiful plant.
Lychee plant with fruit at home How to choose a pot, land for planting lychee?
After you eat the lychee pulp itself, try to remove the stone as carefully as possible so as not to spoil or damage it. In order to grow something you will need small pot, no more than 8-9 cm in diameter.
Before planting, be sure to make enough holes in the bottom of the pot so that the water does not stagnate in it and does not allow the plant to rot, draining completely. You can put a layer of drainage on the bottom of the pot (special pebbles that retain moisture, but let water through). Before planting, prepare the “right” soil for lychee - a mixture of earth and peat.
IMPORTANT: It is best to choose a lychee pot that is made of natural material, for example, from clay or ceramics. In a plastic pot, the plant can "suffocate".
Lychee: domestic "adult" plant Lychee bone: how to germinate and plant?
It is important to know that when planting, it is necessary to put not one, but approximately 4-5 litchi seeds into the ground. This is done quite simply: a bone is inserted vertically into soft soil with a finger, no more than 2-3 centimeters deep. From above there should be no more than 1-1.5 cm of soil. The likelihood that the sprout will sprout is high.
After that, moisten the soil and tighten the pot with polyethylene (food wrap fit better Total). This will allow the sprout to be in constant moisture and it will not be able to dry out. For the first time, the pot should be placed in a warm, but not the most sunny place (next to the battery, for example).
The time it takes for the sprout to sprout is 1.5-2 weeks. During this time, it is important to check the pot, adding moisture if required. The soil should never be dry. Tighten the pot with foil each time. After a sprout appears on the surface, the film can be removed and the plant placed on the eastern windowsill (there should be little sun).
Lychee fruit - how a plant grows in a pot, at home: photo
After the sprout sprouts, you should carefully care for your lychee. First of all, temperature matters. young plant a temperature regime of 23 to 25 degrees is required. The first few weeks after the appearance of sprouts on the surface, litchi grows quite quickly and actively, their height can reach 20 centimeters.
However, after violent growth in the "first months of life", the plant "stops" and stops growing in size. The reason for this is the strengthening of the root system. The roots are so strong that if you've grown the plant in a plastic cup so far, you might notice it popping.
Lychee needs light for about 12-15 hours a day, but he "does not like" direct sunlight. In the cool season, provide litchi with additional illumination. Make sure that the lychee does not dry out, as the plant does not tolerate dry soil at all. Litchi should be watered as the topsoil dries out.
Lychee does not need to be watered cold water, is best suited settled and room temperature. Raise the humidity in the room as often as possible and spray the plant with a spray bottle. Feed with organic fertilizers only mature plant not "younger" than 3-4 months.
Video: "Lychee - growing at home"
AT last years various exotic fruits are becoming more and more famous and popular among the inhabitants of our country. They are beginning to be sold in large supermarkets, and people, going on vacation to exotic countries, find out in advance what would be interesting and tasty for them to try. Lychee is one of these exotic fruits. Lychee is a fruit whose historical homeland is the subtropical regions of China. What is this product? How useful is it? And can you grow it on your own?
Lychee looks like a ball that is three to four centimeters in diameter. It is covered with a rather dense skin, colored in pink color. Under it is the pulp of a jelly-like consistency, it is colored white or slightly cream. It has a sweet and sour taste, and its smell is somewhat reminiscent of a tea rose flower. In the center of the pulp is one seed, oval in shape and dark brown in color. Thanks to interesting combination light fruit mass and dark stone, this fruit received its second name - the dragon's eye.
What are the benefits of Lychee?
Lychee is not only interesting appearance, it also contains many nutrients. It contains a lot of complex carbohydrates, a small amount of fat, as well as a storehouse of vitamin and mineral elements. This exotic fruit is an excellent source of B vitamins, it also contains a lot of ascorbic acid, biotin, vitamins K and E. Lychee saturates the body with potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, sodium, iron, manganese, copper, selenium and zinc. It is also worth emphasizing that this fruit is the champion in the content of such an element as zeaxanthin. This substance plays a particularly important role in maintaining visual acuity.
The fruit of the lychee, according to the statements of the inhabitants of India, is an excellent aphrodisiac, in this country it is called the “fruit of love”. Chinese medicine experts say that this fruit has a particularly positive effect on the activity of the cardiovascular system. It effectively lowers the amount of "bad" cholesterol, conducts vasodilation, and helps prevent the development of atherosclerosis.
Lychee also has a positive effect on the activity of the digestive tract, perfectly quenches the feeling of thirst, and optimizes metabolic processes. These fruits can help in the treatment of obesity, or in losing weight by just a few extra pounds.
Experts have proven that these fruits will benefit patients with diabetes, as well as ailments of the liver, stomach, and pancreas. Lychee has a mild laxative effect, making it useful for constipation.
How to grow lychee from seed?
If you happen to enjoy this exotic fruit, it may well be that you still have a bone of this plant. You may well grow your own homemade lychee from it.
After you separate the bone from the pulp, wash it well and wrap it with a small piece of damp cotton cloth. Leave such a bundle in a fairly warm place for one week. Be careful not to let the fabric dry out and wet it with a spray bottle if necessary. Be aware that too humid environment also undesirable and can lead to damage to planting material. After a week, the bone will increase slightly in size, after which it can be planted inside a small pot filled with fertile soil.
An excellent option would be a container for growing violets, in which you need to make drainage holes. It is advisable to sprinkle the bottom with small pebbles and coarse sand. The most optimal substrate for growing lychee will be acidic, well-drained soil with a high content of organic matter. If you carefully split the bone, this will accelerate the emergence of a sprout from it. But it's better not to rush, because you can inadvertently injure planting material and it won't grow at all. Make a neat depression in the central part of the pot, put a seed into it, and pour a layer of earth two centimeters thick on top. Water with warm and pre-settled water.
From time to time, it is necessary to loosen the earth in order to get oxygen to the roots. You should not water too often, because the seed can simply rot due to excessive moisture. Watering is preferably carried out with a liquid at room temperature, settled for one to two days. After the sprout appears, enter organic fertilizers. To do this, purchase special composition in the store and dilute it according to the instructions.
After the sprout reaches a height of ten centimeters, it should be carefully transplanted into a larger pot. Lychee can also be fed with manure, compost, or mineral fertilizers. Regular fertilization prevents the soil from depleting, and also helps the tree to bloom profusely.
In the first two years of life, you need to prune the plant from time to time, giving it a neat shape. Try to create conditions for your pet that are as close to natural as possible. That means additional lighting, watering and sufficient air humidity, which is provided by a spray gun.
Lychee is an amazing fruit with a pleasant exotic taste and a lot of useful properties.
Lychee(Litchi chinensis) - Liji, Laysi, Lisi, "Chinese plum", "Chinese grape", "Paradise grape", "fruit of love", "Chinese cherry" - evergreen tree 10-30 meters high (at home it rarely exceeds two meters) from the Sapindaceae family. The closest relatives of the lychee from the subfamily Nepheeae are also ubiquitous: longan ( Euphorif longan), rambutan ( Nephelium lappaceum) and pulasan ( N. mutable), but about them next time.
- Of the huge bunches of fruits, only a very small part of them ripens - 15-20 pieces.
- In ancient times, lychee was considered a fruit for the nobility, because people from the lower classes could only participate in its collection - eating lychee by peasants was punishable by terrible punishments.
- In India, from the moment they got to them, the lychee was dubbed the “fruit of pleasure” and used as the strongest aphrodisiac.
- Every year in the north of Siam (in the province of Chiang Rai) the lychee festival is held - the most unusual holiday in Thailand. The festival falls just in time for the Thais to harvest the "Chinese plum" (June 14-16). Processions, competitions, fairs are held on the streets, and even the Miss Lychee beauty contest is held.
- Lychee fruits are widely used in folk medicine: treatment of heart disease, acceleration of hematopoiesis, weight loss.
- The main drawback of lychee is that the fruits plucked from the tree lose their taste and nutritional properties within three days.
Growing lychee from seeds
It is quite possible to grow a lychee tree at home. Germination of seeds under certain conditions is almost 100%, however, subsequently for successful development the plant requires compliance with some fairly specific requirements (temperature, light, humidity), as well as individual selection and combinations of these parameters for each specific case.
To begin with, we purchase the fruits of the "Chinese plum" in the nearest supermarket (in the case of lychee, even "store" fruits give good results at home cultivation). Next, we clean the fruit: carefully cut the pink crust along the equator with small scissors or a scalpel and release the “glassy” pulp, which, by the way, is very edible. The taste is, to put it mildly, an amateur. Personally, the fruit did not cause any olfactory or taste delight in me. Moreover, there was a persistent aesthetic rejection of the purified fetus due to visual and tactile associations with the organ of vision ... It immediately became clear vernacular name fruits - "dragon eye". The same feeling was left by other representatives of the Sapindovs (longan with rambutan). But, fortunately, this does not correlate with the external appearance of these fragile indoor and greenhouse residents.
After cleaning, the seeds are removed from the pulp and washed in warm, settled water. It should be remembered that lychee seeds quickly lose their germination: top scores show freshly extracted seeds, while after two days the germination rate drops to 10-20%. Seeds are planted in individual containers (you can also use standard plastic cups), joint landings Plants tolerate two or more seeds poorly. Lychees grow well in organically rich, breathable soils with a pH of 5.5 - 7.5. After planting, a mini-greenhouse is organized above the cup (tightened with cling film or covered with a bag - as it suits you) and kept until germination at a temperature of 30-35 ° C. The greenhouse is opened daily, allowing the planting to “breathe”. Naturally, throughout the entire time the soil should not dry out. In my case, a grow box was used for germination, and only a daily inspection of the planting was required. After germination, the temperature is lowered to 25°
C. Usually seedlings appear after 14-20 days (depending on compliance with temperature regime). In my case, young "larvae" appeared on the 7-9th day. With extra-soil germination of seeds (cloth, cotton wool, sphagnum), shoots first appear, and roots develop after 5-6 days.
Lychee shoots grow actively until they reach 15-20 cm in height. Then active growth stops for a year or two - the root system is actively developing. Due to such “stagnation”, sometimes seedlings fertilize too intensively, which is unacceptable - you just need to take into account the physiological characteristics of the plant organism. Young lychee leaves appear whitish or red-pink, then become saturated green color. From personal experience: although lychees have a fibrous superficial root system, but already at the age of 20 days, my seedlings “broke through” the bottom with their roots plastic cups(200 ml). A very difficult transfer (difficult due to the release of the roots from the plastic bottom of the cups) into a large container followed. After that, the growth stopped (15 and 20 cm), but the condition of the plants remains excellent. This fact should be taken into account and initially take care of a slightly larger volume of the pot for planting.
The lychee tree needs 13-15 hour daylight hours. Therefore, winter and autumn are a period of additional illumination. Optimum temperature in summer - 22-34 ° С, in winter - 18-25 ° C. Watering is one of the main limiting factors. Lychee tolerates neither flood nor drought. The superficial root system and, at the same time, strong "deep" roots require a careful hydro regime. Naturally, watering is carried out with settled water at room temperature. It is best to combine the "upper" and "lower" watering of the tree, however, matching the intervals with the conditions of temperature and humidity of the room in which the tree is located. Watering should be done only after the topsoil has dried. Lychee does not tolerate stagnant water. High humidity air (fine spraying several times a day) is necessary for the full development of the plant.
In the first year, top dressing is applied no earlier than three months after germination. On the second and further - once every one to three months. Plus, foliar top dressing should be used.
Again, some personal experience. Lychee, planted in a standard universal substrate mixed with 2:1 vermiculite, germinated and initially grew more actively than seedlings, in the soil of which 1/6 of the soil from under the "cottage" perennial pine was added. However, the latter are more promising (in terms of the number and quality of leaves), although they are inferior to the former in growth and size of the latter.
Pruning is usually applied only in the first two years of development to give the tree an aesthetic appearance. Hard pruning provokes the growth of vegetative shoots to the detriment of the formation of flower panicles. The plant requires cross-pollination. At home, flowering and fruiting can be expected for at least 7-10 years. For the laying and development of flower buds, seasonal temperature fluctuations are required (damp, warm summers and monthly winter temperature drops).
Lychee trees are highly valued for their delicious fruits, they have unusual evergreen leaves and a neat, rounded crown. Are very sensitive to low temperatures and will not grow in others climatic zones other than tropical. Therefore, lychee can only be grown in the house. But be prepared for the fact that you will not get fruits due to the specific climate, you can only grow a beautiful ornamental tree.
AT decorative purposes, for growing given tree, seeds will do. In order to do this, you need to use only ripened fruits, it is these seeds that can sprout. For the very good seed material, you need to choose fruits with a hard red skin and very strong aroma. Ripe fruits have juicy translucent sweet pulp.
How to plant and sprout homemade lychee from the stone
In order to reliably germinate a lychee seed, you need to do favorable conditions for its germination, which are characteristic of the rainy season in tropical zones. To do this, you need to take a small pot with a drainage hole, a drainage layer of expanded clay and fresh flower soil. Then you need to gradually fill it with water so that all the soil gets wet well enough, and excess moisture flows safely through the holes.
You need to sow a lychee bone in the middle of the pot to a depth of about 2-3 centimeters. At the germination stage, the tree should be kept at a temperature of 25-35 degrees Celsius, and the top layer of the earth should also be provided with constant but moderate humidity. Most seeds will germinate 2-4 weeks after planting, but some may germinate later. After the appearance of the first red leaves, you need to place the pot in a bright place, but make sure that direct sunlight does not fall.
Lychee trees grow very quickly and reach a height of 20 centimeters in just a few weeks. But nevertheless, their growth slows down very much after they germinate and during the first two years the tree will remain no higher than 30 centimeters. It is during this period that the plant forms a powerful root system, which means that homemade lychee should be transplanted three times in two years into large pots.
Be careful, the tree should be in a place protected from drafts and from direct sunlight. Also remember to keep the soil moist. When the tree grows up, it can already be moved to a sunny place.
If you grow lychees from seeds in open field with completely suitable climatic conditions, then such a tree will be able to bear fruit, but this will be possible after 10-20 years.