Which Lychee Seedling Varieties Are Good? A Full Guide to Raising Seedlings

Lychee is an evergreen tree, with a scaly, bumpy skin and a fresh, sweet taste. Whether eaten as fresh flesh or as dried lychee, it is loved by many friends. Growers who want to plant lychee should first reasonably choose the lychee seedlings that suit them. So which lychee seedling varieties are better now?

I. Which lychee seedling varieties are good?

1. Sanyuehong

Because this variety ripens in the last ten days of the third lunar month, it is named Sanyuehong (Third Month Red) and is the earliest-ripening variety. The fruit is heart-shaped, broad at the top and pointed at the bottom; the (cracking segments) vary in size and are irregularly arranged, and the suture line is not very obvious; the skin is thick and light red; the flesh is yellow-white, slightly chewy, with a coarse texture, a large pit, and a sour-sweet taste, leaving some residue after eating.

2. Feizixiao

Feizixiao is a variety of lychee, also known as Luotangpu and Yuhebao. The late Tang poet Du Mu wrote: "A rider in the red dust brings a smile from the concubine, no one knows it is the lychee that arrives." This is how the Feizixiao variety got its name. This variety has large fruit, thick flesh, beautiful color, a small pit and a sweet taste, with excellent quality and flavor. It is mainly distributed in Guangdong, Guangxi and other areas, and is one of the medium-early ripening high-quality varieties.

3. Zhuangyuanhong

Zhuangyuanhong lychee is a medium-ripening lychee variety. There is a small distribution in Shitan, Licheng, Xiancun, Zhucun and other places. The flesh is white wax-colored, crisp and juicy; only when fully ripe is the taste sweet and fragrant, with an edible rate of 70%.

II. Methods for raising lychee seedlings

1. Fertilizing

Fertilizing can begin one month after planting. Within two to three years, the main goals are to increase root mass, promote shoots and strengthen shoots. Master "one shoot, two fertilizers" or "one shoot, three fertilizers", that is, when the terminal bud of the branch shoot begins to sprout, apply a fast-acting fertilizer mainly of nitrogen to prompt rapid growth of the new shoot and leaf growth; when the new shoot has basically stopped growing and the leaf color turns from red to green, apply the second fertilizer to prompt the new shoot to turn green quickly and thicken the branches and trunk.

After the new shoot turns green, apply the third fertilizer to accelerate the maturing of the new shoot. In the first year after planting, the roots are few and the tree is small; use 25 grams of compound fertilizer, about 15 grams of urea, 10 grams of potassium chloride and 50 grams of superphosphate mixed and applied per plant each time. Young trees have few roots and weak fertilizer uptake ability, so foliar fertilizer can be sprayed 5-6 times per year.

2. Watering

Irrigation and drainage: water is an important component of the lychee tree body. Young lychee trees have few and shallow roots and are greatly affected by changes in topsoil moisture. Under conditions of soil drought and dry air, attention should be paid to watering to preserve moisture. In the rainy season, prevent water accumulation in the planting hole; for sunken plants, the planting position should be appropriately raised to facilitate normal growth.

3. Weeding

Lychee mycorrhizae are aerobic, and weeding and loosening the soil help make the soil loose and ventilated, which can promote root development. Young trees can be weeded and the soil loosened in combination with the management of intercrops. In summer and autumn, with high temperatures and frequent rain, weeds grow quickly and the soil easily becomes compacted, so weeding and loosening should be done more often; in winter and spring, when temperatures are low and it is dry, weeds grow slowly, so weeding and loosening should be done less often. Young trees have shallow roots, so loosening the soil within the root zone should be shallow, preferably 8-10 cm, and outside the root zone it can be as deep as about 15 cm.

4. Training

When the main trunk is 30-60 cm high, pinch (cut) the top to prompt the growth of 3-4 evenly distributed first-level branches (main branches); when the first-level branches reach 40-50 cm long, pinch (cut) the top again to prompt the growth of 2-3 second-level branches (sub-main branches), of which the front one is not topped so that it extends outward, and the 2 below it are pinched (cut) again to form third-level branches (side branches).

The main branches and many large side branches form the framework of the canopy, so they are called skeletal branches. The third-level branches are then pinched (cut) at the top to produce fourth-level branches. Repeat this 2-3 more times to form a compact tree shape and increase the number of fruiting mother branches.

5. Pruning

The shaping and pruning of young lychee trees requires that young trees can develop a trunk 30-40 cm high and 3-4 evenly distributed main branches with suitable growth angles. Therefore, the objects of pruning are: crossing branches, overly dense branches, weak and small branches, and flower spikes that are not allowed to bear fruit. Pruning can use methods such as branch pruning, pinching, branch bending, branch hanging and propping open; branches that can be pruned or not can be temporarily retained, so that nutrients are effectively used to expand the canopy.

Pruning should be carried out once every winter, cutting off overly dense shaded branches, crossing branches, overlapping branches, diseased and pest-damaged branches, weak branches and dead branches, so that nutrients are effectively used to expand the canopy and the inside of the canopy is ventilated and light-transmitting, reducing diseases and pests. After each new shoot matures and before the next new shoot sprouts, shorten overly vigorous water sprouts and upright branches by leaving 20-30 cm.

In summary, this is all the content about lychee seedlings. If you also want to plant lychee seedlings, you can consider and choose according to your local geographical and climatic environment.

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