#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Farming & Gardening In Thailand >  >  Tips on Growing Longan fruit in a temperate climate

## Narachon

I brought back from Chiang Mai some seeds of the Longan fruit , and I plan to grow the saplings indoors during the cold winter months.
Anyone have any infomation or knowledge on how to propagate from seed, and what conditions to use? All I know so far is that they prefer sandy soil, and should not below 40 degrees Farenheit. I planted them about a month ago, but I still have not seen any shoots - Germination is supposed to take place within a week or 10 days.
I've already sucessfully grown Oranges in pots, so I want to see if I can do the same for Longan fruit.While I do not have access to a greenhouse, light and heat conditons indoors for the plants during the winter would not be a problem.
Thanks in advance!

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## Fstop

I can't really help you, but I assume that growing Thai fruits such as Longan, Durian, Mangosteen, Dragonfruit, etc. isn't possible in temperate climates because of the lack of sunshine.

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## Narachon

> I can't really help you, but I assume that growing Thai fruits such as Longan, Durian, Mangosteen, Dragonfruit, etc. isn't possible in temperate climates because of the lack of sunshine.


 
I don't mean growing outdoors in the ground, I mean propagating them when one is in a temperate climate. 
If one can grow tropical Orchids in a temperate climate, there is no reason why one can't do the same with tropical fruit plants. I know it can be done, I've been to the huge conservatory greenhouse in the New York Botanical Garden.
like I said, Natural Sunshine is no problem , I have that covered with a good winter sunlight location, supplemented with Full Spectrum Growth lights.

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## Propagator

I think your main problem would be size, grows up to a height of with a spread about the same 40 feet.

According to what I have read the seed lose viability very quickly.    Should be dried for 3 or 4 days in the shade and then planted straight away - as you say germination in 7 to 10 days.

An irregular bearing fruit, one good year 3 or 4 bad, does require pruning to enhance the fruit size.     Also maybe up to 4 or 5 years for fruit bearing from germination.    Require also lots of water.

Anything can be grown under the right conditions, but being able to generate the conditions maintained by Botanical Gardens will be difficult.

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## Narachon

> I think your main problem would be size, grows up to a height of with a spread about the same 40 feet.
> 
> According to what I have read the seed lose viability very quickly. Should be dried for 3 or 4 days in the shade and then planted straight away - as you say germination in 7 to 10 days.
> 
> An irregular bearing fruit, one good year 3 or 4 bad, does require pruning to enhance the fruit size. Also maybe up to 4 or 5 years for fruit bearing from germination. Require also lots of water.
> 
> Anything can be grown under the right conditions, but being able to generate the conditions maintained by Botanical Gardens will be difficult.


 
I was thinking of starting from seed at first, then eventually transfer the young tree(s) to the land at my grandparents house is in Florida (where Longan Trees do and are able to grow ). There is more than enough space for them to grow there.
As for the seed viablity, I had no idea that it was so short. That may be the main problem that I'm facing. It was about around one week time, from fruit in Thailand, until I actually planted the seeds here in New York. I had the seeds in a little plastic bag during that period of time.

So my main concern in actually propagating from seeds and then growing the saplings during the wintertime in indoor conditions, until the time I can transfer them to a more permanent location.

If worse comes to worse, I can always try to get more Longan seeds from Longan fruit sold in Chinatown here.

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## Fstop

This may be a bit off-topic, but if Longan is able to grow in Florida, then why don't they sell the fruit in the US? I know I'd definitely buy it. The only place I've ever seen Longan, durian, dragon fruit, etc. is in the Asian markets, and it's always imported from Thailand or the Philippines.

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## El Gibbon

The most successful longan, durian, mangosteen or jack fruit I've seen are most always cuttings from a producing tree. Not to say that seed germination isn't possible but the cuttings seem to bear fruit more easily.

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## Narachon

> This may be a bit off-topic, but if Longan is able to grow in Florida, then why don't they sell the fruit in the US? I know I'd definitely buy it. The only place I've ever seen Longan, durian, dragon fruit, etc. is in the Asian markets, and it's always imported from Thailand or the Philippines.


That's probably because there is little or no domestic market for "exotic" asian fruits in America right now. Costwise, it's presently much cheaper to import them, for a small niche Asian market, than to set up and maintain whole orchards of their trees.

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## Lily

> The only place I've ever seen Longan, durian, dragon fruit, etc. is in the Asian markets,


They all grow in North Queensland (although I haven't seen Durian) and also Rambuttan and can be found in greengrocers.

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## DrAndy

I am sure you can grow them in temperate climates, just protect from frost

as was said, cuttings would be better than seeds, but try them anyway

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## beerzy

> I am sure you can grow them in temperate climates, just protect from frost
> 
> as was said, cuttings would be better than seeds, but try them anyway


I have seeds as well and live in Perth - I have planted them before but none have germinated- After drying them do you put them in hot water to help germinate them?
Sorry guys do not know how Thailand came up and I have germinated a Rambutan tree successfully

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