Arborealists

[ajarnpim]

Ive got 8 lovely longan trees in my garden. One or two produce fruit each year. Is there any way to encourage the others to bear fruit.

No innuendos thanks

Edited February 8, 2009 by ajarnpim

[adjan jb]

Have they already borne fruits or never?

Some years they don't produce much. Some other years, depending on the size of the tree and the fruits, a tree can bring in a few hundred bahts. I've got 5 in my garden but I also have got an orchard (1 rai). Last year was a very bad year.

If your trees have never produced any fruits, maybe you should trim them, put some manure and water a lot (using a big hose. You don't want to spend 30 minutes per tree!).

You could also look (or ask) in the specialized forum. Lots of knowledgeables farmers (I'm not one).

Edited February 8, 2009 by adjan jb

[adjan jb]

I've got 5 in my garden but I also have got an orchard (1 rai).

Actually 6. I just went to the garden to count them. Not that it makes a difference. Just for the sake of accuracy.

[adjan jb]

One or two produce fruit each year. Is there any way to encourage the others to bear fruit.

Some threads don't produce many posts.

Lack of manure?

[Nienke]

Got loads of manure. Interested?

Google (longan tree cultivation Thailand):

http://www.google.co.th/search?hl=th&q...B8%B2&meta=

Google (longan fruit bearing Thialand):

http://www.google.co.th/search?as_q=longan...&as_rights=

Thai visa:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Lamyai-Farmi...l&hl=longan

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Grow-Fruit-M...l&hl=longan

And the rest of the search results on ‘longan’ on the ‘farming in Thailand’ forum: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/search.html&...hlite=%2Blongan

You can, of course, ask your question there as well.

[bunta71]

The question still remains... anyone know of an "arborist" or tree doctor here locally in CM?

[Nienke]

http://www.chiangmainews.com/indepth/details.php?id=549 I think Don W. Cox still lives in CM.

Maybe he is drtreelove? http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...t&p=2443473

drtreelove 2009-01-03 05:51:58 Post #13

Just noticed your great forum so registered as a new member. I am a retired arborist and urban forestry specialist from San Francisco California USA, living in Chiang Mai.

[adjan jb]

From the "Farming in Thailand Forum" (thanks to Nienke):

We have a number of trees on the two rai around the house. Two of them are bearing fruit for the second year. My wife does no spraying. She puts manure around the trunk and mulch on top of the manure. Just when the trees start to blossom, she waters them everyday. Since they are now heavy with fruit, it must work.

Edited February 9, 2009 by adjan jb

[kimincm]

Firstly,no,I don't know an Arborist and neither do the thousands upon thousands of longan trees in CM.

I watched the 30+ rai of trees over the road from me get their annual heavy pruning last year,just after

fruiting finished, no Arborist,two women,ladder and chain saw,600B/day the whole show.

Why not try asking around some little back soi locals watering hole close to you for somebody who knows

about this,and if they don't they'll know somebody who does.

MY only advice would be,deal with an older guy. chok dee.

[adjan jb]

I'm a little worried about Ajarpim. She hasn't shown up for a while. Do you think I should start to call the hospitals and the police stations (just to make sure she's safe)?

P.S.: Please PM me if you have any (good) news. Not knowing is killing me.

Edited February 10, 2009 by adjan jb

[adjan jb]

Ajarnpim, you're very rude. I hate that.

[Nienke]

Duhhhh, maybe the wine and chocolates approach will work better?

[adjan jb]

Ive got 8 lovely longan trees in my garden. One or two produce fruit each year. Is there any way to encourage the others to bear fruit.

Longan trees are very sensitive trees. I believe that you scare them.

[drtreelove]

The question still remains... anyone know of an "arborist" or tree doctor here locally in CM?

I know a tree guy. But he still has a lot to learn; so don't blame me if he can't answer all your questions. But if he doesn't know first hand, he usually can find out. PM me or ask it on the Farming inThailand or Plants Pets and Vets forums, I'm more regular there. Don

[drtreelove]

Ive got 8 lovely longan trees in my garden. One or two produce fruit each year. Is there any way to encourage the others to bear fruit.

No innuendos thanks

Deep watering through the dry season is a key element; best is flood irrigation where you are putting on a large enough volume of water to get substantial depth of water saturation into the soil. Do this every ten days. Fertilization and pest control are important considerations.

I managed a 2+rai orchard with 73 trees a few years ago and had some good advisors through the process, so learned a lot. I went all out with irrigation, fertilization including foliar sprays with seaweed micronutrient solutions, green manure crops and diligent pest and disease control. We had bee hives placed for pollination. We got good crops, but it was hardly worth it financially because the market price was so depressed.

Now in a new home, I only have two young lamyai trees. One is loaded with flowers right now, the other is putting out lots of new growth and just starting to show some flower buds. I am watering regularly. I fertilized with 15-15-15 a couple of months ago to bring them out of the depressed condition that existed when I moved in. I now have mulched with 6 inches of rice straw and started building soil organic matter with compost and manure, so I probably won't use chemical fertilizer again. I was spraying about every 10 days with neem oil extract to repel insect pests from chewing on the leaves, but I have stopped now for the flowering process.

If your trees are not flowering now or very soon, there may be stress factors and you won't get a crop this year. But in any case, start now to cultivate good conditions.

You have to decide if you are going for maximum crop production, or just some good lamyai to eat and give to friends. If you want to produce maximum fruit, then you must minimize weeds and grasses within the area under the foliar canopy of the trees to cut down on competition for water and nutrients. You say the trees are in your garden, so maybe you can't avoid having plantings in the tree root zone. In that case, the deep watering is very important. Trees in lawns sometimes are drought stressed because the grasses take the majority of the water and not much gets through to the tree roots. The same applies for nutrients, if you have lawns under the trees you may need extra or subsurface fertilization.

Honey bees are important pollinators, so don't let anyone talk you into spraying pestcides throughout the flowering process. To maximize pollination, bring in a bee hive from a commercial honey producer. If your trees are already flowering, it may be too late to arrange for this year.

Some commercial growers head back the tree branch structure very severely after the fruit is picked, to promote thick new growth. I don't advise this; it's ugly and I think that proper thinning and light shaping is enough to stimulate growth and still have a beautiful tree and not a large hat rack.

There are probably more lamyai farmers on the TV Farming in Thailand forum, they may be able to give you more or better info than I can. But thanks for the opportunity to recall my many happy hard working days in the orchard. don

[drtreelove]

I would be interested to know if any CM residents have had experience with a tree pruning/removal contractor, not just a machete mutilation crew like kimincm witnessed:

"I watched the 30+ rai of trees over the road from me get their annual heavy pruning last year,just after

fruiting finished, no Arborist,two women,ladder and chain saw,600B/day the whole show."

but climbers and possibly big-tree equipment like aerial lift truck and crane. If so please let me know; we're trying to put together some resources for tree work here. I've been asked to be a Thailand representative for a regional branch of the ISA (International Society of Arboriculture www.isa-arbor.com) Thailand has a long way to go at promoting good tree care. don