Lychee trees can be grown in containers, even though it is not the
optimal growing conditions for them. Here are some tips to help you keep
your lychee tree healthy:
Lots of Sunlight
Your Lychee Tree will grow the best in full sun on all sides of the tree. If you are going to put your lychee in an area with sunlight on only one side you should turn the tree as often as possible. Lychee trees in containers grow very well outside where they can get full sun around the entire tree.
Fertilizer
We don't recommend fertilizing your containered lychee tree very often or your tree will quickly outgrow its container. Low concentration, organic fertilizers like kelp and fish emulsion are best. When you do fertilize make sure you spray minor elements on the leaves. Spray liquid phosphorous fertilizer on the leaves when you transplant your lychee tree into a new container and annually in September or October to promote flowering and fruiting of the lychee tree. As you probably know, the pollinated flowers become the fruit.
Mycorrhizal Fungi
The soil quality in potting mix is nothing like the original natural forest environment of lychee trees in Southern China. If you grow a lychee tree in a container, you must take measures to improve and rejuvinate the soil quality or your tree will slowly die within a few years. Mycorrhizal Fungi is a soil treatment that will increase the roots ability to absorb and distribute nutrients and water and innoculate the tree against many plant diseases and pathogens.
Trim the Roots
Once a year take your lychee tree out of its container and trim back the roots. Even if you are moving your lychee tree to a larger container, you should still trim back the roots. If you let the roots of your containered tree grow uncontrolled, you risk having an unhealthy tree. When the roots are all matted together, the root system does not breathe or absorb water and nutrients evenly which can eventually kill your tree or cause it to decline.
Flower Pollination and Fruit
In order for your lychee tree to bear fruit, you must to have a way to pollinate the female flowers. Outdoors bees, wasps, and other insects do the job for you. In our grove we have large beehives to make sure that our grove produces fruit every year.
If your lychee tree is indoors or in a screened patio, you will have to manually pollinate the flowers if you want fruit.
