Phoenix Tropicals Gardening

[phoenixtropicals]

Here is discussion about longans I had recently with a gardener from Phoenix. It is pasted from an e-mail thread.

Gardener:
I am looking to grow something similar to a Rambutan tree found in Costa Rica that produces Mamon Chino fruit. I am finding the closest I will get is a Brewster Lychee tree. Is this something you sell or can lead me in another direction? I live in Phoenix. Thank you,

Phoenixtropicals:
I have both a lychee and a longan and longans are much easier to grow here and have very similar fruit to what you want. I bought mine from these guys. http://www.toptropicals.com The variety I bought was Kohala, which is really growing well. I don't have it on my website yet because I have been growing it for less than a year and don't have fruit yet, but I have friends that have rather large ones and lots of fruit. I wouldn't recommend you order/plant it until October though. This heat is just too tough for a plant to get established and grow its roots in.

Gardener:
Thank you very much for the information. I see that Toptropicals has a Euphoria Longana var. Biew Kiew in a 3 gal pot and a var. Kohala. Do you think it is reasonable to purchase now and leave it in the pot until I can plant later in year or wait? Thanks again for the response.

Phoenixtropicals:
I recommend waiting. The plant will take a real beating in the mail this time of year because of the heat, especially here in town where it has a good chance of being cooked in the back of the mail truck all day. I think early October would be a good time to order, and then just put it straight into the ground. Top tropicals recommendation of putting it in a pot first is unecessary in my experience. I never do that. I plant them immediately.