How many years does a lychee tree take to bloom and bear fruit?

Lychee is a fruit we often eat in our daily lives. Its taste and flavor are very unique, and after eating it, it makes the mouth water and is unforgettable for a long time. Although lychee is very delicious, growing a lychee tree is not a simple matter, so do any friends know how many years it takes for a lychee tree to bloom and bear fruit?

1. How many years until a lychee blooms and bears fruit

The age at which lychee begins to bear fruit is closely related to the propagation method of the seedling, the variety and the level of management. Lychee trees grown from seed have to go through a long juvenile period, and generally take 10-15 years before they begin to bear fruit; grafted lychee trees generally bear fruit when the canopy grows to more than 1 m in 3-4 years. Lychee trees propagated by air layering (marcotting) can bear fruit when the canopy grows to about 1 m in about 2-3 years.

Lychee is a long-lived tree, and many old trees several hundred or even over a thousand years old still bear abundant fruit. In Putian County, Fujian, China, there is an ancient lychee tree planted during the Tang Dynasty named “Songjiaxiang”, which has a history of more than 1,200 years so far. But this old tree is still full of vitality, with luxuriant branches and leaves and abundant fruit, and is a rare elderly fruit tree in the world.

2. Care methods for lychee trees

Lychee is a famous fine fruit of Lingnan, a precious subtropical fruit, and one of the four famous fruits of Lingnan. Lychee growth requires relatively high temperatures, and it can grow well between 15 degrees and 32 degrees. In addition, lychee has relatively high light requirements in spring and autumn. When planting, choose an area with open terrain, loose and fertile soil, and deep soil layers.

In addition, after lychee enters the production and fruiting stage, as the trunk, canopy, tree age and fruit-bearing amount increase, the various fertilizers applied to the soil should also increase accordingly. The types of fertilizer should be mainly phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, with nitrogen fertilizer as a supplement. At the same time, lychee has a relatively large demand for water, so attention should be paid to irrigation to prevent drought, but at the same time attention should be paid to drainage to prevent water accumulation from causing root rot and death.

Common diseases and insect pests of lychee mainly include gummosis of the main trunk, foot rot, and downy blight that harms the fruit. The main insect pests include the star longhorn beetle that harms the main trunk and the branch longhorn beetle on the twigs, poison butterflies and moths that harm the leaf surface, leaf-rolling moths, and the fruit-stem borer and stink bugs that harm the fruit. When diseases occur, targeted measures can be taken for treatment.

That is all for lychee. Friends who want to grow lychee trees should still do preliminary research to prevent the lychee trees from not adapting to the local climate and causing a loss.