Waiting anxiously for Thanh Ha litchi to flower and bear fruit

The rate of early flowering and fruiting of lychee is quite high.

Hope for fabric soon

These days, when visiting the Ha Dong communes of Thanh Ha district, the lychee flower gardens look like giant raspberries. Mr. Pham Huy Nhuan in Thieu My village, Vinh Lap commune (Thanh Ha) planted 2 hectares of early lychee including white egg-shaped lychee, thorny egg-shaped lychee, pink lychee, and hybrid lychee. The flowering rate reached an average of 80%. The white egg-shaped lychee variety has bloomed female flowers, and many trees have set fruit. Although this year this lychee variety sets fruit about 10-15 days later due to severe cold, the fruit set rate is higher than last year. "Early lychee is often priced high, like last year, at times it was up to 180,000 VND/kg. This year, if the output is favorable, my family's white egg-shaped lychee area alone is expected to earn about 300 million VND," said Mr. Nhuan.

In Thieu My village, Vinh Lap commune, but the early lychee garden of Mr. Vu Van Nhuan's family is considered the most beautiful in the region due to his many years of experience in growing and caring for lychees. Each type of lychee is grown separately by Mr. Nhuan with a total area of 2.7 hectares. Mr. Nhuan shared: "Drizzle and cold like these past few days, if the flowers have been pollinated and formed fruit, will not affect much, only slow down the growth. I am spraying insecticide to prevent maggots from eating young fruit because my lychee flowers bloom prominently, evenly, and in many areas, they reach nearly 100%, so they attract some types of worms around. In the previous humid weather, I sprayed Bordeaux solution to prevent downy mildew. If I did not treat with this solution, the lychee flowers would be burned by downy mildew."

Mr. Vu Van Nhuan in Thieu My village, Vinh Lap commune (Thanh Ha) sprays insecticide to prevent young fruit maggots from eating the white egg lychee.

This year, Thanh Ha district has 3,285 hectares of lychee, of which 1,700 hectares are early lychee, accounting for 52% of the area, mainly grown in Thanh Quang commune and Ha Dong area. Early lychee tea concentrates on blooming and fruiting from late February to mid-March, while main-season lychee tea concentrates on blooming and fruiting from the second half of March.

Holding my breath waiting

As much as Thanh Ha lychee growers are hoping for a good early crop, they are also anxious and worried about the main crop of lychees. Because up to this point, many lychee areas are still quiet.

According to the experience of lychee growers, lychee trees prefer dry cold weather for the lychee to differentiate flower buds, but it must be at the right time, before spring. By about January 20, the lychee will be in full bloom. If it is cold and rainy at this time, it is too late and not suitable for the lychee tree.

Some lychee areas have bloomed and budded.

More than 1 hectare of lychee belonging to Mrs. Nguyen Thi Gai's family in Hamlet 3, Thanh Xa Commune (Thanh Ha) has not shown any signs of blooming, although the lychee leaves are very green. Mrs. Gai said: "There has never been a year like this year, it has been silent, no buds, no flowers. I checked and it kept turning dark. Like every year, by this time the frog eggs are completely white. The reason is the weather, December is cold and dry but the temperature difference between day and night is large. High daytime temperatures also make it difficult for lychee to differentiate flower buds."

This is a common situation in many lychee gardens in Thanh Xa and Thanh Thuy communes (Thanh Ha). Mr. Nguyen Van Thin in Hamlet 3, Thanh Xa commune said that some lychee areas have flowers and shoots, but the flower ratio is not high, making it difficult to handle the shoots. The stunted lychee trees from last year have flowered for a long time this year.

According to the forecast of the Hai Duong Province Hydrometeorological Station, the first half of March will still be cold, freezing and drizzly. This type of weather makes Thanh Ha lychee growers even more anxious.

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