Emperor Lychee Tree

About the Emperor Lychee Tree

Emperor is prized for producing some of the largest lychees of any variety: big, bright-red fruit with crisp, juicy, translucent white flesh and a sweet, floral flavour. It is also naturally compact and slow-growing, so it fits smaller gardens and even large containers better than most lychees. Like all lychees it fruits best where a cool, dry winter follows a warm, humid summer, which makes subtropical areas and mild mid-elevation valleys of Mexico ideal; in hot lowlands flowering can be irregular. Grown on our farms in Yucatán and Chiapas and shipped via DHL.

How to Care for It

Give full sun and slightly acidic, rich, well-drained soil. Water regularly during growth and fruit development, then reduce watering in winter to help trigger flowering. Feed lightly with a balanced fertiliser in spring and summer; lychee roots are sensitive to strong doses. Mature trees handle brief light frost, but protect young plants below 0 °C. Prune lightly right after harvest to keep the canopy open.

Grow fruit most people have never tasted. Our exotic fruit trees, from Monthong durian and Emperor lychee to jaboticaba, achachairú and red finger lime, are raised on our farms in Yucatán and Chiapas and shipped by DHL across Mexico. Most love heat and humidity; several do beautifully in large pots.

Growing Profile

Botanical name

Litchi chinensis 'Emperor'

Family

Sapindaceae

Native to

Southern China

Mature height

4–7 m

Plant spacing

6 m

Years to first fruit

3–5 years

Light

Full sun

Water

Moderate

Cold tolerance

down to -1 °C

Best climates

Subtropical, Mild highlands

Grows in a pot

Yes

Ships from

Our farms in Yucatán & Chiapas