The Latest Lychee Planting Techniques and Methods Tutorial

Lychee is grown in the southwest, south and southeast of our country, with cultivation most extensive in Guangdong, Guangxi and southern Fujian, and it is also cultivated in Southeast Asia; there are records of its introduction in Africa, the Americas and Oceania.

Lychee Orchard Establishment

1. Choose a good site. For high-yield lychee cultivation, it is more ideal to choose hilly land or sloping land with an open terrain, a slope below 30 degrees, loose and fertile soil, and a water source as the site for developing an orchard.

2. Do good planning. For the selected site, carefully carry out variety selection and planning of divisions, roads, irrigation and drainage systems, fertilizer sites, shelterbelts and auxiliary buildings, so as to facilitate standardized management of the orchard.

3. Reasonably determine planting density. Generally, for hilly land, a row spacing and plant spacing of 3.5×3.5 m or 3.5×4 m, with 50-60 plants per mu, is a more reasonable density.

4. Dig large holes and apply sufficient base fertilizer. When reclaiming hilly land to build an orchard, open contour terrace strips or contour trenches according to the planting row spacing specifications. Then dig planting holes at fixed points according to the selected plant spacing; the hole specifications are 1 m in length, width and depth, and for each hole apply 40 kg of composted and thoroughly decomposed organic fertilizer such as garbage fertilizer, green manure, barnyard manure and pig and cattle manure as base fertilizer.

5. Plant carefully. When planting, hold the seedling with one hand and gently backfill fine soil with the other, backfilling until it covers about 2 cm above the roots, water thoroughly to settle the roots, then continue backfilling soil, and when the backfilled soil is about 10 cm above the ground, form a tree basin, then cover with thatch or grass to retain moisture, and set up a support beside the seedling to prevent wind from shaking the seedling loose and causing death. After planting, on sunny days water once every 3 days; on rainy days take care to drain water and prevent waterlogging. After 30 days, check survival and replant in time.

Management of Young Lychee Trees

On the basis of improving survival, increase root quantity, expand the range of root growth and increase the green leaf layer, cultivate strong and evenly distributed scaffold branches, and expand the canopy, laying a foundation for early fruiting and high yield.

1. Fertilization should follow the principle of frequent and light application. Soil fertilization begins one month after planting. Within two to three years, the main goals are to increase root quantity and promote and strengthen shoots. It is advisable to master "two fertilizers per shoot" or "three fertilizers per shoot", that is, when the terminal bud of the branch shoot begins to sprout, apply a quick-acting fertilizer mainly of nitrogen to promote normal growth of new shoots. When the new shoot has basically stopped elongating and the leaf color changes from red to light green, apply the second fertilizer to promote the shoot to turn green quickly, improve photosynthetic efficiency, thicken the branches and make the leaves thicker. After the new shoot has turned green, apply the third fertilizer to accelerate the maturation of the new shoot, shorten the shoot period, and facilitate multiple sproutings of new shoots. The amount of fertilizer applied depends on soil properties and the size of the young tree. After planting, when the tree is small and has few roots, apply about 25-30 g of compound fertilizer, 20-25 g of urea, 15-20 g of potassium chloride, and 50-75 g of superphosphate per plant each time, applied separately or mixed; when mixed, reduce the amounts as appropriate. From the second year on, increase the amount of fertilizer accordingly, by about 40-60% over the previous year. In addition, according to tree growth, during the period of rapid shoot growth, foliar fertilizer may be sprayed additionally, commonly including 0.3%-0.5% urea, 0.3%-0.5% monopotassium phosphate, 0.3%-0.5% magnesium sulfate, 0.02%-0.05% borax, 0.05%-0.1% boric acid, 0.1%-0.6% zinc sulfate, and 1%-3% superphosphate extract. 2. Irrigation and drainage. Young lychee has few and shallow roots and is greatly affected by high moisture in the surface soil. One-year-old lychee saplings often show "dieback", especially air-layered seedlings that have already sprouted one or two new shoots after planting and then had water management relaxed, where "dieback" is even more serious. Therefore, in dry weather attention should be paid to watering to retain moisture, and in rainy weather water accumulation in the tree basin should be prevented.

3. Loosening and improving the soil. Lychee mycorrhizae are aerobic, and only loose, aerated soil can promote root development. Cultivation in young orchards is mostly carried out in combination with intercropping, with soil loosening and weeding six or seven times a year. From the second year on, lychee orchards on hilly land should be deep-plowed, combined with applying organic fertilizer to expand the holes and improve the soil. In lychee orchards with a high water table, attention should be paid to adding outside soil and earthing up to thicken the soil layer.

4. Intercropping and ground cover. In young and immature lychee orchards, make full use of space for intercropping and relay intercropping. Soil cover can lower soil temperature in summer, keep warm in winter, prevent drought and retain moisture, reduce weed growth, and increase soil organic matter. Covering methods can include planting green manure and growing grass, then after cutting in the dry season covering it on the soil surface or burying it in the soil layer around the roots. Dead cover usually uses field weeds, crop stalks, etc. to cover the tree basin, with a thin layer of soil on top.

5. Training and pruning of young lychee trees. Training and pruning focus on cultivating 3-4 main branches so that their growth angles are suitable and their distribution is even. The pruning principle is to prune lightly rather than heavily, mainly removing crossing branches, overly dense branches, curved branches, weak and small branches, and flower spikes that are not allowed to bear fruit, so that nutrients are effectively used to expand the canopy. Branches that may or may not be pruned can be retained temporarily. The pruning period is before new shoots sprout. Training and pruning can use methods such as branch pruning, pinching, branch pulling, branch hanging, and propping open.

6. Cold protection and tree protection. In winter, if the temperature drops below -2°C, frost damage will occur, especially for young trees that sprout many times, stop growing late, and have shoots and leaves that are not fully mature before the cold arrives, so their cold resistance is low. Early measures can be taken to promote full maturation of the last shoot and prevent winter shoots from sprouting after November; cover the top of the young tree canopy with rice straw to prevent frost damage; pile turf and leaves in the lychee orchard and, according to forecasts, smoke before frost arrives to prevent frost; cover the soil surface within the root growth range with green manure, crop branches and leaves, or garbage, and then cover with a thin layer of mud.