How to grow longan at home?

In recent years, the people of the post-Soviet space have greatly enriched their knowledge (and skills!) In cooking, and also discovered many different previously unfamiliar products. However, some still keep their secrets, which it would be nice to reveal. These riddles include fruits from the Sapindova family: pulasan, longan, lychee, aki, rambutan, corlan and a funny sounding mammonchillo. The thing is that it is almost impossible to find such fruits in the free sale, in the recipes according to which even exotic dishes are prepared, these fruits are rarely used, so only people who have traveled to Asia can tell about them. Meanwhile, there is an opportunity to make an interesting experiment: it is relatively easy to grow the same longan at home, but then you can try this fruit yourself and brag to your friends.

What is this strange plant?

In fact, this is the name of a tree that grows, and almost everywhere, in Taiwan, China, Indonesia, Vietnam. In Asian countries it is called Lam Yai. And in translation from Chinese the name is translated as "dragon's eye". The fruits growing on it have a dense but thin skin; it protects the fruit well from infections and insects, but at the same time it is easily peeled off, which is an additional bonus for fruit consumers.

In the early years, Longan was grown almost commercially by Indians and Sri Lankans. Then it gradually spread to nearby countries. Where longan can be bought, it is sold in bunches. Moreover, the most delicious is the one that not only from the branch, but has already lain a little in a warehouse or in a store.

Useful exotic

Why is it proposed to grow longan at home? This is just a storehouse of positive qualities. Women simply have to fall in love with him: the fruit has a magical effect on the skin. At the same time, it also stops general aging, contains a lot of necessary microelements and vitamins and contains compounds that perfectly protect the liver from the chemicals and toxins it processes. Longan is also invaluable for those who are losing weight: no fats, no proteins. Simply by eating this fruit, you can get rid of dizziness and fatigue, relieve stress and nervous tension, improve sleep and get rid of fever. All these reasons are quite conducive to attempts to cultivate longan at home.

How to choose the right and most beneficially eat longan

If you managed to find a place where they sell this wonderful product - remember it! At least until you figure out how to grow your own longan. However, remember that you and the seller have different interests, and you need to look after yours.Choose the fruit correctly, that is, first of all, reject clusters, on the berries of which there are cracks. It is advisable that you are allowed to taste one berry, since depending on where the longan was grown, it can be too sour or too sweet.

If you want to enjoy the gifts of Asian nature longer - keep the fruits in the refrigerator. This way they won't go bad for almost a week. In the warmth (and not in summer), three days is the limit.

Longan can be eaten fresh as a stand-alone product - this is the most popular Thai way. But it is especially good with coconut milk and rice (always sticky). Alternatively, boil dried longan with sugar and combine with ice. The drink refreshes, quenches thirst well and awakens appetite.

It is also good with ice cream and salads; the filling for pancakes and pies is also wonderful. Longan is simply irreplaceable in sauces (especially fish). And for medical purposes, it is used for diarrhea - it stops diarrhea almost instantly, and even disinfects the intestines.

How to Enrich Your Home Garden: Bone Care

It is almost impossible to buy the seeds of this tree; and if you find them, the price will obviously not please. So if you come across a fruit in a supermarket, think about it: shouldn't you grow a longan from a bone? It's not very difficult, but very entertaining. The only "ambush": fruiting will have to wait eight years (at least). Or you will have to look for an already fruiting tree and graft a petiole from it.

So, let's imagine that you managed to find (buy, steal, exchange) a tree bone, from which a longan will subsequently grow. Growing at home begins with proper handling of the planting material. That is, the bone must be thoroughly rinsed, the un-eaten fruit residues must be cleaned off, a pot with moistened earth must be prepared and the bone must be pressed into it. This should be done not very deeply and not too superficially - by 4 centimeters (one and a half "growth" of the bone). The pot is wrapped in plastic wrap, which is removed every day for ventilation; the soil is kept moist. The bone can hatch from a week to four.

You can speed up this process. This recommendation is especially good if, in your opinion, the fruit has been stored in a store or warehouse for a long time. In order for a longan, grown at home, to ascend successfully, it is worth soaking the bone for about three days, and then putting it in the refrigerator for five days.

How to protect sprouts

Not less than 2 weeks later, seedlings will appear. They will grow rapidly for the same amount of time, and then the growth will slow down significantly. By that time, the sprout will be 15 centimeters long. You should not worry about stopping growth - this is a plant that rises slowly. However, this applies to all stone fruits. Console yourself with the thought that you have already got hold of a longan in your home greenhouse. Growing this plant at home in the future does not differ much from most others.

If fruits have already appeared

It will take several years to wait, so be patient. However, sooner or later this moment will come, and one must be prepared for the correct handling of fruits. The best solution would be to dry them. All the beneficial properties and taste of the fruit are preserved, and they can be used after many years. At the same time, the option of harvesting dried fruits that are familiar to us will not work here: first you have to cook the fruits, and only then dry them - in the oven or naturally (as circumstances allow).

In short, if you have the opportunity and you are not against the "apartment" garden work, try to grow longan. The photo shows well that even without fruits, it is quite capable of decorating your collection of indoor plants.

The world is full of unusual things.This also applies to our sweet food, which is found on trees in the form of fruits, the existence of which we do not even know or have heard very distantly. These include a very unusual, tasty and healthy fruit called "longan". This exotic tree is considered by gardeners to be quite finicky, but it is quite capable of "surviving" at home with proper cultivation. Further, about the features of growing fruit at home: reproduction, care, etc. (photos of the plant are attached).

Longan: description and useful properties

Longan is an exotic fruit, whose homeland is rightfully considered to be China. This plant is popular not only in its historical homeland, but also far beyond its borders (Vietnam, Indonesia, etc.). And all thanks to the excellent taste of the fruit and their incredible benefits.

Longan is a medium-sized tree belonging to the Sapinov family. Longan fruits are medium in size, collected in small clusters. Outwardly, they very much resemble a nut. The rind is rather thin, but at the same time very strong, cinnamon in color (shades can be different - from light yellow to reddish-brown). On fully ripe fruit, the skin may crack easily. A rather large bone is located inside the fruit, which is enveloped by a fleshy, dense, whitish pulp (arillus). She is very juicy, sweet.

Longan fruit

Longan fruits are used in food both raw and dried, canned, and even as additives in confectionery. Longan is considered a very healthy fruit: in addition to a large amount of vitamins, it contains useful organic acids, calcium and other trace elements. In addition, Longan is considered a real "storehouse" of antioxidants, as well as an excellent "antidepressant" that eliminates any stress.

Reproduction of longan at home

Although longan is a tree that grows in tropical climates, it is quite possible to grow it both in more severe climates and at home, since it is unpretentious. Reproduction of the plant is carried out mainly by the seed method, although it is quite possible to carry out cultivation by cuttings (which is unlikely in our climate). The plant is thermophilic, loves moisture very much and needs a rest period.

Advice. The seeds do not need pre-sowing preparation and any mechanical manipulations. There is no need to try to split them or make cuts.

The soil for planting a longan must be prepared very carefully. The soil must be loose and light. The best option would be a ready-made fertile soil mixture for exotic plants, which can be purchased at any specialized store.

Longan is grown at home from seeds.

A small drainage layer should be laid out at the bottom of the container: ordinary pebbles and coarse river sand will do. Pour the prepared soil on top and water it. Then carefully cleaned from the remnants of sweet pulp and dried bone, slightly press it into the ground (to a depth of about 3-4 cm, it should not be deeper).

Advice. The container for growing longan should be quite large and necessarily deep, since the root of the tree is powerful and, with proper care, will grow quickly and strongly. If there is not enough free space, the plant will stop developing.

The first shoots should appear on the surface of the soil quickly, but on condition that the air temperature in the room is at least +25 degrees.

The subtleties of plant care

If you want to achieve not only active growth from longan, but also to pamper yourself with its unusual fruits, you must follow the strict technology of caring for this plant:

• Temperature and light conditions.In order for the plant to go up rapidly, it is important to observe a clear temperature regime: the air in the room where the longan grows must be warmed up with high quality (if the temperature drops below +25 degrees, it is highly likely that the plant will die). After the seeds turn into stronger sprouts, it is advisable to build a mini-greenhouse for the plant. It is also important to provide the plant with a sufficient amount of light: daylight hours should be at least 12 hours. If necessary, the missing hours are "illuminated" with a special lamp.
• Watering. Since Lognan is accustomed to tropical climates, it needs a lot of moisture: watering should be frequent and generous. The soil should never dry out. Remember to spray the plant regularly. Remember: let the water stand in the pot with the growing longan rather than dry out the soil.

Longan in an apartment

• Pruning. Since we are talking about closed ground, the longan will need periodic pruning, which will help the tree to form correctly and luxuriantly.
• Disease and pest control. Indoors, the plant is rarely affected by pests. The most frequent "guests" of the Longan are the scale insect and the spider mite. To get rid of the latter, it is enough to spray the plant with warm water from time to time.

That's all the subtleties that should be taken into account if you want to achieve a longan fruiting period, which usually occurs 3-7 years after planting and, by the way, few people are able to wait for this period. Therefore, if you want to grow a full-fledged fruiting tree, please be patient. Good luck!

Growing longan at home: video

Longan fruit in Chinese sounds like - Lun Yan, which means - "Dragon's Eye". This sweet and delicious fruit was cultivated in China centuries ago, and today it is grown and sold in markets throughout Asia.
Longan fruit - what does it taste like? Is Longan good for you and when should you try it? Is it possible to grow and how to grow a longan at home? What does a longan look like, and how is it?
This and more in today's article.

Fruit Longan - A Bit of History

Longan Fruit - How to grow at home

Longan belongs to the sapind family and its relatives, these are rambutan, lychee, laacon, petitba. Longan's homeland is China, where these juicy and tasty fruits have been cultivated for many centuries.
At present, longan grows throughout Asia, including Thailand.

Interesting fact. Longan came to Thailand as a gift. One traveler from China brought 4 longan seedlings as a gift to the great and beloved King Rama the fifth Chulalongkorn.
Rama 5 Chulalongkorn ordered to plant 2 seedlings in Bangkok, and 2 more, in Chiang Mai. It was from these trees that the Longan spread in Thailand at the end of the 19th century.

The Longan fruit grows and ripens in huge bunches on the tree. Its season in Thailand is usually from May to September, it is at this time that longan is the cheapest on the market.
But, like many other Thai fruits, longan is sold all year round, as longan trees bear fruit throughout the year, just in different regions of the country.
In winter, Longan in Thailand costs between 50 and 70 baht per kg. (80-120r) In the summer, you can enjoy juicy fruits and 20-40 baht per kg.

How to eat Longan and How to clean Longan?

Longan fruit is a hard ball with pulp inside that grow in clusters on a branch. Here on the branch they are sold in the market or in the store. In bunches.

To choose a ripe and juicy Longan without damage, pay attention to its peel, it must be dry and rough, when pressed, it can crack easily, releasing a transparent watery fruit.

DRAGON EYE LONGAN

Longan is very easy to clean. Tear off the required number of balls from the longan branch and pressing lightly on each ball between your thumb and forefinger.It will burst, longan skin peels off easily
fully. It turns out that the skin of a longan itself is dry and rough, and inside it is smooth, hard, white-transparent flesh.

Longan is a watery pulp with a hard bone inside. The bones are quite poisonous, you should not gnaw them. But you don't need to throw it away either. We put it in a cloth or foil, and read on. I'll tell you how
grow longan at home.

You can store Longan both in the refrigerator and without. The fruits on the branch do not rot, the peel simply hardens to the point of impossibility and if you cannot press lightly
peel the longan, which means that the fruit and the fruit are not fresh, there is no need to eat one.

What does Longan taste like?

GOOD GROUND LONGAN WITHOUT ROT AND DEFECTS

The taste of exotic fruits is generally difficult to describe, since by and large, some similarity is hard to find, but still it is.
Longan - in texture and consistency is somewhat similar to peeled grapes, but to my taste it personally reminds me of a melon. Very satisfying melon!
The taste is sweet, rich, heavy. Of course, you can eat a lot of longans at a time, but not worth it.

Longan is very rich in vitamins, microelements, useful properties, and like everything useful, you need to take-eat longan in moderation, because otherwise, instead of benefit, there will be heaviness and nausea.

Longan Benefits - What is Longan rich in?

Longan Fruit - How to grow at home

Firstly, those who care about their figure, counting calories and carbohydrates, should know that sweet longan balls can be added to their smoothies, fruit salads and more.
100g of longan contains only 50 kcal.

Longans have a lot of vitamin B. B12, B6, B1, B2, B3. I think many people know that the vitamin B complex is simply necessary for smokers, those who are tired and always feel depressed, overwhelmed and unhappy,
because it is the lack of vitamin B that makes us think that everything is bad, despair, get depressed, feel a lack of energy, and so on.

Longan is also rich in vitamin C and contains - calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, iron and manganese.As you would expect, vitamins from fruits and minerals directly enter the body and are absorbed faster than
in the case of vitamins from a jar.

Fruit Longan - By eating longan you improve your mood, fight general weakness, help with poor eyesight, palpitations, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
Those who come to Thailand and have problems digesting food should eat plenty of Longan, as it improves the functioning of the intestines and normalizes the flora in the stomach.
Longan is recommended for memory problems, stressful situations, and insomnia.

If you are going on vacation to Asia, Thailand, Vietnam, India or somewhere else, I strongly advise you to read the article about "All Fruits of Thailand - Ripening Seasons and Prices", everything is very detailed there
it is written about all the fruits, when and how to eat them, where to buy and at what time of the year

How to grow Longan at home

Longan Fruit - How to grow at home

Growing Longan at home and even getting the fruits of this tree is very easy, even if you have never grown anything at all.

To do this, you need to collect a sufficient number of Longan seeds, dry them, wipe them from excess pulp, wrap them in foil or a cloth for transportation to Russia, if you collect bones in the Homeland of Longan,
in China, Thailand, or another Asian country.

Why longan seeds bought in Russia are not suitable for cultivation? The fact is that Longan is imported to other countries still green, that is, immature, and the germination of such fruits is practically zero.
Remember that the sweeter, juicier, more ripe longan fruits, the more seeds from such fruits will hatch and rise.

Prepare a soft and loose soil, deeply and often sink longan bones into it about the phalanx of your finger.

Water liberally. Longan loves warmth and moisture.Cover with gauze or a jar on top to create a greenhouse effect, then the longan seeds will grow faster and better.
Do not forget to lift the gauze or jar, let the earth "breathe", and also so that the earth and bones do not rot or mold.

After about 2-4 weeks, the sprouts should hatch. This is half the battle. Water, hide from drafts and cold. Better if you put the longan bones cut in the ground on the battery, but not directly on the battery,
and placing a plank or something like that under the seedlings. The air temperature should be around 30 degrees for good germination.

Then you just need to water and wait. Transplant the grown seedlings into a large pot and in just 3-5 years a wonderful Longan tree will bear fruit in your house :)

I recently attended a Thai fair, including the culture of cultivating Thai plants, fruit trees, cereals, flowers.
A lot of samples, seedlings, seeds were presented. So I would like to say about seeds. Most often, seeds are the most common seeds that you can prepare yourself while relaxing in Thailand.
Just do not throw away the bones of what you want to grow and you will succeed. My mother is fond of similar gardening and has already dotted half of the dacha and safely raised the Thai heritage)))

Local Thai watermelons have grown in a cosmically fast time frame. They turned out exactly the same as in Thailand, small, (1.5-3 kg), very sweet, with bright red elastic flesh.
Mom also managed to grow flowers, peck mangoes, rambutans, lychees, and much more.

Keep in mind that it is prohibited to export land from Thailand. That is, even if you are carrying an orchid in a lump of earth, this is a big violation and you may be subject to a serious fine. The best thing is not to carry large seedlings,
(which is a pity), but be content with collected or purchased seeds, seeds, leaves of plants, which easily multiply in this way.

Also at that fair I remember the pavilion with the black Venus flytrap. Awesome plant! In general, dare, do not be afraid! Exotic is not so difficult to grow, especially if you have at least minimal
knowledge of gardening.

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The evergreen tropical Longan tree grows in China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. Its juicy, sweet fruit tastes somewhat like grapes. The whitish transparent pulp with a black or red bone inside resembles a dragon's eye in a section, and this is how the name of the fruit is translated from Chinese.

Longan: description and useful properties

The longan fruit is small in size and resembles a small potato. Its juicy flesh is covered with a thin, inedible rind that is easy to clean with your hands. The pulp has a pleasant, unobtrusive grapefruit aroma.

The fruits contain less than 1% protein, about 18% carbohydrates, as well as such useful substances:

• calcium;
• magnesium;
• potassium;
• phosphorus;
• iron;
• manganese;
• zinc;
• copper;
• vitamins C, B1, B2, B3;
• bioacids.

Eating longan is beneficial for skin health and youthfulness. The fruit is used in traditional Chinese medicine because it is believed that when dried, it has a calming effect on the human nervous system.

• Fresh fruits are eaten to raise the tone, relieve fatigue, dizziness and heart palpitations.
• Phenols are found in the pulp of longan, which have a healing effect on liver cells, reduce the negative effects of chemotherapy on the body.
• The fruits have anti-inflammatory and antipyretic properties. They are useful for treating gastrointestinal disorders, blurred vision and fever.

In China, not only the pulp of the fruit is considered healing, but also the seeds, leaves and flowers of the longan.

The seeds, according to traditional healers, can absorb snake venom if they are applied to the site of the bite. In a crushed form, they are used to reduce perspiration and as a hemostatic agent.

The nuances of growing at home

When grown in an apartment, Longan rarely bears fruit and is quite capricious. This thermophilic plant does not tolerate air temperatures below -2 ° C, therefore, it cannot be grown on a personal plot in central Russia.

Tubs with a plant in the summer are taken out to an open loggia or to a garden, since longan is useful for fresh air and an abundance of sun. In winter, it must be protected from drafts and cold.

The plant does not tolerate dry land at all and consumes water in large quantities. Care must be taken to ensure that there is good drainage in the planting tub. Top dressing is added in the form of granules or liquid. They can be applied all year round, since the plant does not have a dormant period. In winter, longan stops growing a little, but does not shed leaves.

Planting material and planting dates

For planting, use the bones of a ripe longan. They have 100% germination when taken from fresh, ripe fruits. It is worth noting that the shelf life of ripe fruits does not exceed 5-6 days, therefore unripe fruits are picked for export. And their seeds may not germinate well or not at all.

It is advisable to buy longan for seeds in those countries where it is cultivated.

Longan can also be grown from cuttings and seedlings. Various varieties and varieties are sold in China. Planting dates in indoor conditions are not tied to the season, but seedlings planted in spring develop best of all.

Growing soil and container

The plant has no special requirements for the soil. For its normal development, a universal soil with neutral acidity is suitable.

A volumetric container is needed for growing, since the tree has a large, well-developed root system.

Longan is a plant that needs an annual transplant, during which the planting capacity increases as the roots grow.

After watering, the soil must be loosened so that it has good permeability, is light and fertile.

Sowing fruit seeds

The seeds are planted in small containers with universal soil or in peat tablets. It is advisable to place each seed in a separate planting container. This is not difficult to do, since the seeds are quite large.

When planting, the seed is placed in the ground with a light spot to the side and buried in moist soil by 1 cm. You can cover the seed with a transparent jar until a sprout appears, but this is not necessary.

Crops and seedlings care

Seedlings after planting the seed in the soil appear rather quickly, within a week.

1. They need an air temperature of about + 24 ° C.
2. When the seeds hatch, the sprouts will need bright lighting. You can use a round-the-clock illumination with a fluorescent lamp in the first decade of seedling development. On short winter days, they must be highlighted so that the plants grow strong and do not stretch out.
3. Watered frequently with filtered water at room temperature. Saplings, like adult plants, are very fond of moisture, and if it is lacking, they stop developing, they can shed their foliage and die.
4. The soil must be constantly moist.
5. They also maintain high air humidity by spraying the leaves of the seedling with a spray bottle.

Picking

It is advisable to plant longan seeds in separate deep glasses, because these exotics grow quickly. In this case, the dive can not be done, and when the seedling grows up, it is simply moved into a large planting container, without destroying the earthen coma.

Longan tree care at home

In indoor conditions, the plant suffers especially from drying out of the soil in the pot, poor lighting and drafts. But with skillful longan care, a pretty evergreen tree with large leaves can grow.

For the plant, it is necessary to allocate a place at the lightest window, often spray, water and fertilize with dressings for decorative deciduous indoor crops.

It is advisable to alternate mineral and organic supplements. In warm weather, the intensity of dressing is the same as that of most indoor plants - 2 times a month.

Fruiting period

The fruiting period begins at the 3rd or 7th year of the tree's life. In indoor conditions, the tree does not reach large crown sizes due to the limited space for root growth. The height of an adult plant grown in a room is about 2 meters. In nature, however, these trees reach more than 10 meters in height.

Under indoor conditions, it is difficult to achieve longan fruiting; there is no available information about the fruits obtained by someone. In southern regions with a warm tropical climate, the tree bears fruit successfully in the garden. The fruits appear in large clusters, they are harvested in summer.

What to do if longan leaves turn black

At home, longan can be attacked by insect pests, like other indoor plants. Especially carefully you need to observe the plant in the summer, when it stands outdoors in the garden or on the loggia.

Dry air encourages spider mites to multiply. The appearance of an insect on a plant can be detected by a thin cobweb entangling the leaves. Simply spraying the leaves with water does not fix the problem; acaricides must be used. Fitoverm is a relatively safe preparation with acaricidal and insecticidal action. It helps to kill not only spider mites, but also scale insects, aphids, mealybugs and thrips.

Lovers of exotic plants will be interested in growing a healthy fruit from a small seed. The fruiting of an indoor tree will be a real triumph, but even if this does not happen, its appearance will not disappoint amateur flower growers. The large green leaves make Longan quite attractive to grow at home.