Lychee trees typically begin to flower in the early winter months and
continue to bloom throughout the months of January, February and March..
Lychee flowers appear as a 12 to 30 inch clusters containing both make
and female flowers on the terminal ends of hardened off new growth. If
there has been sufficient chilling and dryness during the winter then
there will generally be a larger portion of bloom instead of simply new
growth.
Starting Fruit
Male flowers are the first to emerge and open. The fruit forms from the
female flower that opens later than the male. When the flower is
pollinated the ovary begins to swell. This is what becomes the actual
lychee fruit.
Green Stage
As the small lychee fruit develop many of the fruits will drop off of the
tree from wind and some simply from natural attrition. A variety of insect
pests can damage the stem on the newly developing fruit leading to drop
off.
Red Stage
Fruit begin to develop some coloration in late April and May. The
commercial Mauritius varieties are the first fruit to show this sign of
ripening followed by the Brewster fruit in Late May and early June. If you
pick and attempt to eat a slightly pink fruit you will find the taste to be
somewhat tart. This is the stage when most lychee growers pick and sell
their crop.
If the Florida rainy season is delayed by a week or two, the
fruit will not begin to size up. If there is a sudden rainfall after a
prolonged dry period many of the fruit on the tree will split. Split fruit
attract insects and birds and lead to collateral damage on adjacent fruits.
Ripe Stage
This is the stage that we are all waiting for. With the advent of the
summer rainy season (around mid-May in Florida) the fruits will begin to
swell with juice and produce lots of sugars. Unlike many other tropical
fruits, much of the size of a lychee is determined in the very last stage
of development, just prior to its peak ripeness.
An excellent indicator of ripeness in lychees is the flattening of the bumps on the surface of
the skin, caused by the fruit swelling with juice and fructose (fruit sugar - mmmmmm). The dark red color
(almost purplish) is a good indicator of maturity along with fruit size
(minimum of 25 mm in diameter.)
