Growing Lychees In Phoenix Arizona

Photo
The Brewster lychee tree pictured on the right was planted 3 years ago and the fruit shown are part of its first significant crop. It is located on the eastern side of the house part way under an overhang and has a peach tree planted on its east side approximately 10 feet away. The house gives the lychee afternoon shade and since the peach tree is deciduous it provides partial shade during the hottest parts of the year and allows more sun to come through during the cooler months. The fruit from this tree were surprisingly sweet and juicy, despite the fact that they matured in the middle of July, the hottest time of the year.

Overview
Lychee trees grow and produce in Phoenix Arizona when they are given a good microclimate and sufficient water. They can handle the lower desert heat as long as they have some protection from the sun during the hottest part of the day. Lychees are relatively hardy for subtropicals, so freeze damage is not a problem unless one lives in a cold spot. Since lychees are slow growers they should be given little to no chemical fertilizers, but they do benefit from occasional amending with gypsum and a layer of compost.

Fruit
Lychee fruit are about 2 inches in length and look like spiny strawberries. The spiny shell looks more menacing than it is, so lychee fruit can be easily held in the hand. The shell is not edible and is easy to peel away using fingers once a tear has been started. Inside is a gelatinous flesh, the consistancy of a peeled grape, that is very delicious. The black seed in the middle is discarded.

Brewster lychee fruit are ripe when they go from a bright red to a very dark red. Lychees add a lot of edible mass in their final ripening stage so it is important to let them fully ripen.

Heat Tolerance and Sun Exposure
Lychee trees are able to handle the heat but the lower desert sun is somewhat hard on them, so it is best to plant them in eastern exposure. Planting a lychee in the shade of a decidious tree is a good way to give it more sun during the cooler months and protect it during the hottest months.

Cold Tolerance
Lychees are hardy down to 25 degrees Fahrenheit so frost damage is generally not a problem.

Planting
Dig a hole at least twice the size of the rootball. At a minimum, make the hole 2 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep. Work in a 50/50 mix of compost to soil. Be sure to mix the compost and soil as thoroughly as possible. It also is a good idea to finish with the hole an inch or two recessed so that a watering basin is formed.

Watering frequency
Lychees do well on a grass watering schedule.

Watering method
Basin or flood irrigation is recommended because it helps keep the salt in our salty water from accumulating around the roots. Furthermore, deep watering will encourage the plant to develop deeper roots, making the plant tougher when the weather gets hot and dry.

Fertilizing and Growth Rate
Lychee trees are slow growers and salt burn easily, especially in the salty alkaline soil present in the Phoenix area. Therefore, chemical fertilizers should be used very sparingly if at all. The most conservative chemical fertilizer to use on a lychee tree is a slow release soil acidifying fertilizer, and it should be used at much lower doses than the standard recommendation.

Lychee trees benefit from an occasional amending with gypsum when salt burn needs to be controlled. However, they always seem to have a little bit of salt burn in our soil, so gypsum doesn't need to be used unless the burn starts to look worse than normal.

Maintaining a layer of compost around the base of a lychee tree will benefit it greatly. The compost will help to keep the soil moist and cool underneath, acidify the soil, and provide nutrients.

Propagation
Lychees are most commonly propagated using air-laying.

Pests
Lychees do not have any significant pest problems in the lower Arizona desert.

Links to more lychee information

Julia Morton California Rare Fruit Growers