Lamyai: Why Small And Large Fruit On Same Tree?

[JR Texas]

Hi.......I am harvesting lamyai in Chantaburi right now. The trees are very large. BUT, each tree has about 20% top quality, large lamyai.......and 80% small lamyai too small to harvest (will harvest again in two months).

Does anybody have an explanation for this? Why do we have both small and large lamyai on same the tree? Was this a problem with the unusually cold weather? fertlizer? other? Thanks.

[slapout]

Did you have double bloom? There are always a few (10 to 15%) of the fruit that develops late but normally is mature within 3 weeks of the first harvest. We see a normal harvest of about 65% grade A and the rest will be the lower grades about 50/50. Did you prune the trees after last year harvest? Lack of large fruit can probably be traced back to the fertilizer/lack of, when applied, etc. I would not think cold weather would affect the quality/grade as much as quantity of fruit. I am no expert but just throwing out some thoughts that came to mind vs our lamyai production, past and present. This year looks like the fruit set is about 50 to 60% of past crops, will be interesting to see if grade ratio remains constant at harvest in a couple months.

[JR Texas]

Did you have double bloom? There are always a few (10 to 15%) of the fruit that develops late but normally is mature within 3 weeks of the first harvest. We see a normal harvest of about 65% grade A and the rest will be the lower grades about 50/50. Did you prune the trees after last year harvest? Lack of large fruit can probably be traced back to the fertilizer/lack of, when applied, etc. I would not think cold weather would affect the quality/grade as much as quantity of fruit. I am no expert but just throwing out some thoughts that came to mind vs our lamyai production, past and present. This year looks like the fruit set is about 50 to 60% of past crops, will be interesting to see if grade ratio remains constant at harvest in a couple months.

Actually I give money to my wife who gives money to the "farm manager." I never even see the orchard until harvest. I was asking primarily to see if the farm manager messed up or if it is a normal state of affairs.

We just finished three days of harvesting..........good prices from 27 - 45 per kilo (this is around Soi Dao, Pong Nam Ron).

We only picked the large lamyai. The rest are very small.....maybe 80% (seems odd given that trees were pruned 7 months ago)...........trees look full of the small ones........farm manager said they will be large in two months.

Double bloom.......no idea

10-15% always develop late.......thanks for that info.

Prune trees: yes......we rented an orchard that had not been used, cleared everything out from beneath the trees, put in water pipes, etc., and gave fertilizer and sprayed pesticides.

Since I was not there, I don't know if the farm manager actually gave the trees the proper amount of fertilizer or not (probably took the money and did nothing except tell me he did the job).

Anyway..........maybe in two months it will be fine (doubt it......do not in any way, shape, or form trust the farm manager).

[Lickey]

bamboo_and_lamyai_009.bmpAs you will see in the Pic, large and small fruits on the same sprig, [& mrs deciding which to cut] after nearly 3 years of watching fruit development on many trees on the 40rai farm, it seems only Lychee happen all at once, if you dont harvest these in 3 weeks, they are lost,

Getting back to lamyai, mrs says you can leave the fruit till its of a good size, but you will risk sunburn in the larger fruit, ie a grey area in the flesh of the fruit, makes it a bit chewy and tasteless,

The pic is of 1 of 40 lamyai trees that has had nothing extra, no fert, no extra water, they grow in red clay soil on a hillside farm, the pic was taken Oct 20 last year, we havent had a good rain for 5+months now.

Cheers Lickey,

[JR Texas]

bamboo_and_lamyai_009.bmpAs you will see in the Pic, large and small fruits on the same sprig, [& mrs deciding which to cut] after nearly 3 years of watching fruit development on many trees on the 40rai farm, it seems only Lychee happen all at once, if you dont harvest these in 3 weeks, they are lost,

Getting back to lamyai, mrs says you can leave the fruit till its of a good size, but you will risk sunburn in the larger fruit, ie a grey area in the flesh of the fruit, makes it a bit chewy and tasteless,

The pic is of 1 of 40 lamyai trees that has had nothing extra, no fert, no extra water, they grow in red clay soil on a hillside farm, the pic was taken Oct 20 last year, we havent had a good rain for 5+months now.

Cheers Lickey,

Thanks for that picture.........really nice-looking, large lamyai. But, in my case, we have similar large lamyai but much smaller, small lamyai.

I would say the large lamyai are about 3 times the size of the small lamyai. Maybe that is why it will take two months for them to mature.

Did I mention that these trees are HUGE. They are some of the largest lamyai trees in the region.......old and big. Maybe that has something to do with it.

I am worried that the small fruit will not actually reach maturity.......but maybe I worry too much.

Thanks for letting me know that this is "normal." And only lychee happen all at once.

Maybe things will work out..........the huge trees are literally covered in small lamyai now......maybe 7-10 centimeters in diameter.

[slapout]

If you are getting 46 baht/kilo for grade A you better put armed guards around the field. Been here for 16 plus years and never remember lamyai over 35 baht/kilo, (long time ago) Past few years less than 10 baht, downward was normal.

[slapout]

Went to Lampun for family visit couple days back. They are into lamyai quite extensively and have been for years. Said they are dealing for this years crop to buyers in the 15 baht/kilo range. (early stages of talks) If Chinese are wanting large quantities as indicated (dried), price may hold. This is double last year price.

[indo]

are you still in Chantaburi and having this lamyai orchard ?

my family lives in your neighbourhood and wants me to buy an orchard (10 rai for 2,5 million baht) you think it will be worthwhile capitalwise ?

thanks

[slapout]

Lots of info needed to give a answer to your question. Age of trees, size of tree, spacing, number of trees on the 10 rai. water avaliable, channel irrigation in place or other, past history of care/production, security of orchard, type land paper, soil type, etc. Probably missed something that would come up on a walk thru the orchard. good luck

[indo]

Lots of info needed to give a answer to your question. Age of trees, size of tree, spacing, number of trees on the 10 rai. water avaliable, channel irrigation in place or other, past history of care/production, security of orchard, type land paper, soil type, etc. Probably missed something that would come up on a walk thru the orchard. good luck

Thanks for your reply,Will go to Chantaburi and family in July and will let you know.

My family in law are growing lamyai a very long time (20 years) in Chantaburi so they should know the answers

[andser]

Hi

If someone is interested about lam yai around chantaburi please contact me , i like to share experinces about lam yai and growing lam yai.

thanks

Andy

my email is :

[email protected]

[cooked]

I had to ggogle Lam yai , it's Longan, right? We saw these selling on the market, Buriram, for ฿90.- / Kg! Down to 45 now.