Log in

View Full Version : lychee and cashew seedlings


island cassie
06-28-2009, 09:36 PM
sprouted today - lychee (litchee) and cashew
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=18836&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=18836&ppuser=628)
http://www.bananas.org/gallery/watermark.php?file=18837&size=1 (http://www.bananas.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=18837&ppuser=628)

conejov
06-28-2009, 09:58 PM
Congratulations! Those should be great in 5 years.

island cassie
06-28-2009, 10:02 PM
haha! the cashew has fruited after 3 years - the lychee - who knows?

Richard
06-28-2009, 10:28 PM
I am soooo jealous!

bigdog
06-30-2009, 11:18 PM
Nice, Cassie! Much to our shock and amazement, we had a cashew bloom from seed in 1 and 1/2 years! I hand-pollinated a bunch of flowers, and we ended up getting 2 mature cashews. Pretty cool for such a young plant!

Frank

P.S. BTW...did not try the cashew apples, even though they smelled heavenly. Maybe next time! The seeds have been sown instead of eaten also.

island cassie
07-01-2009, 11:26 PM
Yes Frank - they do fruit satisfyingly early. We hadn't made a note of the date we planted ours - so guessed the oldest it could be - could have been younger. The nuts germinate quickly too and we have already got a few new plants. Been too busy to do anything with the apples - so just froze them as their shelf life is measured in hours! Nice getting fruit so quickly on yours - bodes well for next year!

Still only the one lychee though.

bigdog
07-02-2009, 07:57 PM
Cassie, is there a special trick to get a container and greenhouse-grown plant to flower? Not sure if we just got lucky or what...It flowered in mid-winter, if I recall correctly. Days were getting longer. I'm repotting it next week. They are heavy feeders in pots! Seems that we can hardly keep up with the fertilizer on it. If you slack off, chlorosis isn't too far behind! Thanks,

Frank

banfan
07-02-2009, 08:03 PM
Cassie which lychee cultivar did you plant?

island cassie
07-03-2009, 12:34 AM
Sigi - we don't have the luxury of choosing cultivars here - this lychee seed was saved from fruit purchased in a store in England.

Frank - this is the first one we have grown and it is in the ground - alkaline soil as we are on limestone/coral and not much feeding other than the odd casual handful of whatever granular fertilizer I happen to have. Never noticed any chlorosis - do you know the ph of your potting soil? I can check mine to compare. To the best of my memory, this plant flowered over a long period in about January/February, it was a while before fruit set, and we picked the fruit in June.

On another note - does anyone know if easy-peel satsumas/clementines would have been irradiated to extend their shelf life? The reason I ask is that I brought back seeds from store fruit bought in England. Normally citrus seed germinates quickly and without any problems. Of all the citrus seed I brought back from market fruit - not one has sprouted in the month it has been planted. Normally it is up in a week and so I am casting about to find the reason - are there hybrids with non-viable seed? But my suspicious mind suggests irradiation!