Collection: Lychee Trees

Looking for a lychee tree that actually fruits in your backyard? At Everglades Farm we sell premium air-layered lychee trees (Litchi chinensis) bred for home growers across Florida, Texas, and the subtropical U.S. Air layering means our trees keep the exact flavor of their parent and can produce sweet, rose-scented fruit in just 2–5 years instead of a decade. Browse proven varieties below, from the giant Emperor to cold-tolerant Brewster, and pick the lychee tree that fits your yard or patio container.

Benefits of Growing a Lychee Tree at Home

Native to southern China and Southeast Asia, the lychee tree produces clusters of round, reddish-brown lychee fruits with juicy, translucent white flesh and a flavor often described as grape crossed with rose. Beyond the taste, lychees are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants, and a mature tree brings real tropical elegance to a subtropical landscape: glossy evergreen leaves year round, sprays of small fragrant flowers in late winter, and heavy fruit clusters by early summer.

Home growers get a second benefit that commercial orchards do not. You control the harvest window. Fruit picked ripe off your own tree keeps a sweetness that shipped lychees lose within days.

Every lychee tree we sell is propagated by air layering, not grown from seed. That preserves the parent tree's exact flavor and fruit quality, builds a strong root ball that resists root rot, and gets you to harvest years sooner. Prefer that method across your whole orchard? Explore our full range of grafted & air-layered fruit trees.

It is worth knowing the challenges before you plant. Lychee roots are shallow and sensitive, so steady soil moisture matters more than volume of water, and standing water invites root rot. Pollinated flowers set fruit unevenly from one season to the next, and a young tree may skip a year entirely. Container gardening solves the space problem but adds a watering discipline. Mulching lychee trees with two to three inches of coarse organic mulch, kept off the trunk, handles most of the moisture problem on its own.

Lychee Tree Varieties and Selection

All seven varieties in this collection are the same species, Litchi chinensis, but they differ in fruit size, flesh-to-seed ratio, canopy habit, and how they handle a cold night. Here is what separates them.

• SweetHeart Lychee Tree — large fruit, dependable sweetness, and the most forgiving variety for a first-time grower.
• Mauritius Lychee Tree — the consistent producer. Sweet pink-red fruit and a dense canopy that fills in quickly.
• Emperor Lychee Tree — a true dwarf tree that stays compact while carrying the largest lychee fruit of any variety we grow. The container pick.
• Brewster Lychee Tree — the cold-tolerant Brewster is the Florida standard for heavy production in marginal zones.
• Hakip Lychee Tree — prized for rich floral flavor and a high flesh-to-seed ratio, so more of each fruit is edible.
• Bengal Lychee Tree — vigorous and productive, with large fruit and good tolerance of humid summers.
• Gee Kee Lychee Tree — less common, small-seeded, and a collector's pick for flavor over yield.

Every one of them is offered as an air-layered tree rather than a seedling. If you are comparing across species, the same propagation logic applies to our other grafted fruit trees.

How to Choose the Right Lychee Tree

The best variety depends on your climate, your space, and how you plan to grow. Use this quick guide before you buy.

By Climate & Cold Tolerance

Cooler or marginal zones: The Brewster Lychee Tree is the Florida favorite for cold tolerance and heavy production. If late frosts are a concern, pair it with picks from our cold-hardy fruit trees collection.

Reliable all-rounder: The Mauritius Lychee Tree is a consistent producer with sweet, pink-red fruit that performs well across most subtropical yards.

By Space — Yard or Container

Small yards & patios: The dwarf-habit Emperor Lychee Tree grows slowly and stays compact while producing the largest lychee fruit of all, ideal for containers.

Full-size in-ground trees: Give a mature tree room to reach its full canopy. Browsing for big specimens? See our large trees for containers.

By Flavor

Beginner-friendly sweetness: The dependable SweetHeart Lychee Tree offers large fruit and excellent sweet taste, a great first lychee.

For connoisseurs: The Hakip Lychee Tree is prized for its rich, floral flavor and high flesh-to-seed ratio, while the Gee Kee Lychee Tree is a less common, high-quality pick for collectors.

Planting and Care Instructions

A lychee tree is not demanding, but it is specific. Get the site and the soil right in the first month and the rest of the work is seasonal maintenance.

Site and Soil

1. Pick full sun. Six or more direct hours. Shade produces leaves and no flowers.
2. Build well-draining soil. Slightly acidic sandy loam, pH 5.0 to 5.5. On heavy ground, plant on a raised mound eight to twelve inches high rather than digging a deeper hole.
3. Dig wide, not deep. Twice the width of the root ball, the same depth. Set the tree so the top of the root ball sits slightly above grade.
4. Inoculate the planting hole. Mycorrhizal fungi established at planting help a shallow lychee root system reach water and phosphorus it cannot reach alone.
5. Backfill with native soil and well cured compost at roughly four parts soil to one part compost. Raw or hot compost burns new roots.
6. Mulch and water in. Two to three inches of coarse mulch, pulled back from the trunk.

Water

Lychee wants moisture controlled soil rather than a fixed schedule. Keep the top few inches damp and never soggy. Water deeply two or three times a week through the first two summers, then taper. In a patio pot, an automatic watering pot or a simple drip emitter on a timer removes the guesswork, which is where most container lychees are lost.

Feeding

Lychee responds better to light, frequent feeding than to a heavy spring dose. Use organic fertilizers through the growing season: fish and kelp for nitrogen and trace minerals, compost extracts as a soil drench every four to six weeks, and liquid phosphorus ahead of flowering to support fruit set. Stop nitrogen by late summer so the tree hardens off before winter.

Pruning

Two kinds of cutting matter here. Canopy thinning/pruning after harvest opens the center, keeps the tree at a picking height, and drives the new growth that carries next season's flowers. Root pruning applies to container trees: lift every second or third year, shave an inch off the outside of the root mass, and repot into fresh mix rather than a larger pot.

Pests

Watch for root weevils at the soil line and lychee erinose mite on new leaf flushes. Both are manageable when caught early, and neither is common on trees kept in full sun with good airflow.

Love this growing style? The lychee's close cousin the longan tree has nearly identical care, and you'll find dozens more easy subtropical picks in our tropical trees and exotic fruit trees collections.

Time to Fruit Production

Our air-layered lychee trees typically fruit in 2 to 5 years. Seed-grown trees take eight to twelve, and the fruit does not come true to the parent. That gap is the single strongest argument for buying an air-layered tree.

Four things move the date:

• Maturity at planting. A three-gallon tree with established branching fruits ahead of a one-gallon whip by a season or more.
• Climate. Lychee needs a cool, dry winter to initiate flowering. Zones 9 to 11 deliver it. In a frost-free tropical pocket the tree grows well and flowers poorly.
• Full sun and fertilizing. Steady light feeding through the growing season builds the wood that flowers. Heavy nitrogen late in the year does the opposite.
• Winter irrigation. Withholding irrigation for four to six weeks once night temperatures drop is the standard trigger commercial groves use to push flowering.

Lychee is self-pollinating, so a single tree will set fruit on its own. Bees improve the set noticeably, and two trees near each other usually out-produce one. Expect a light first crop, then a real one the following year. Yearly trimming right after harvest keeps that cycle on schedule instead of pushing the tree into alternate bearing.

What Growers Are Saying

Our lychee trees carry hundreds of verified customer reviews. The SweetHeart averages 4.56 stars across 90 reviews and the Brewster 4.47 stars across 17 reviews. Here's what real buyers reported after their trees arrived.

“I was really impressed with this lychee tree. It arrived healthy, full, and much more established than I expected, with a thick trunk, strong branching, and plenty of fresh new growth.”
★★★★★ Verified buyer — SweetHeart Lychee Tree, April 2026

“This order exceeded my expectations. The quality of the tree is amazing and the packing was incredible. Very fast shipping as well. Thank you Everglades!”
★★★★★ Verified buyer — Mauritius Lychee Tree, April 2026

“My lychee tree arrived in perfect condition and has adapted to my garden wonderfully. Can't wait to watch this baby grow.”
★★★★★ Verified buyer — Emperor Lychee Tree, September 2025

“The tree was a very decent size and seemed to handle the shipping well. I have planted it and it is growing well so far.”
★★★★★ Verified buyer — Brewster Lychee Tree, April 2026

“Arrived fast and healthy. Can't go wrong with Everglades Farm.”
★★★★★ Verified buyer — Hakip Lychee Tree, March 2026

You can read every review, including detailed grower notes on shipping, establishment, and first-season growth, on each individual variety's product page above.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a lychee tree?

The lychee (Litchi chinensis) is a tropical and subtropical evergreen tree from southern China and Southeast Asia. It is a medium-sized tree, typically 20 to 40 feet in the ground and far smaller in a container, with a dense rounded canopy, small fragrant flowers in late winter, and clusters of reddish-brown lychee fruits in early summer.

How long does a lychee tree take to bear fruit?

Our air-layered lychee trees typically fruit in 2–5 years, far faster than seed-grown trees, which can take a decade or more. Consistent full sun and proper care speed things along.

Can you grow a lychee tree in a container?

Yes. Compact varieties like the Emperor and SweetHeart do well in large pots, stay smaller, and can be moved indoors to protect from cold or wind in cooler climates. Lychees are not house plants and will not fruit in permanent low light, so treat indoor time as winter shelter, not a growing location.

Is a lychee tree easy to grow?

In Zones 9–11 it's straightforward: give it full sun, slightly acidic well-draining soil, and steady moisture. The main requirements are avoiding hard freezes and preventing soggy roots.

Is the lychee tree drought tolerant?

Not really. A mature tree survives short dry spells, but drought tolerance is the weakest trait of this species because the root system is shallow. The one exception is deliberate: a controlled dry period in winter is used to trigger flowering.

What pests affect lychee trees?

Root weevils feed on roots at the soil line and lychee erinose mite deforms new leaf flushes into a felted, blistered growth. Inspect new flushes through spring and treat early. Neither pest is common on healthy trees in full sun.

Are lychees good for you?

Lychee fruit is high in vitamin C and supplies potassium, copper, and other essential nutrients along with polyphenol antioxidants. The fruit is eaten fresh, dried, or used across Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Caribbean cuisines in drinks, desserts, and sauces.

Why buy an air-layered lychee tree instead of a seedling?

Air-layered trees are clones of a proven parent, so you get the exact flavor and reliable fruiting years sooner, plus a stronger, rot-resistant root system.

Which lychee variety is best for beginners?

The SweetHeart and Brewster are the most forgiving and dependable choices for first-time growers in Florida and Texas.