Grow and Care for Longan

Grow longan in full sun on soil that drains, and keep it frost-free. It is also called dragon's eye. The genus is Dimocarpus.

Give it full sun, soil that drains, and a frost-free winter

Longan wants heat, sun, and a dry spell in fall so the next panicles can form, then steady water once flowers open. [1] longan is Dimocarpus longan, an evergreen tree in the soapberry family with dense pinnate leaves and tan fruit. Give it a warm spot that never sits wet after a summer storm. [2] Young wood burns at a light freeze. Cover it, or roll a potted tree under cover, before the night drops near freezing. Plant the tree on Planting Longan. Cut after harvest on Pruning Longan.

Water a young tree often, then from bloom through harvest

A newly planted longan has a small root system, so dry weeks in the first years set it back. Soak the soil, then let the surface dry before you water again. Once the tree is bearing, water from the first bloom through harvest so fruit can fill. After the crop is off, ease off so new shoots do not keep running into winter. [3]

1. Water a young tree regularly until it is established, especially in a dry week.
2. Once flowers open, water from bloom through harvest so fruit does not drop small.
3. After August, stop routine watering unless the tree is dropping leaves in a long drought.
4. Do not flood the hole, and do not run a lawn sprinkler on a timer against the trunk.

Keep a young tree in a pot you can move

A young longan can live in a pot with a drainage hole while you protect it from frost. Open ground is still the home for a fruiting tree.

1. Use a pot with a drainage hole, large enough for the nursery can it came in.
2. Fill it with a mix that drains, and set the mix even with the old soil line.
3. Keep the pot in full sun outdoors in warm weather.
4. Roll it under cover before a freeze, then move it back out once nights are safe.
5. Do not try to fruit it as a houseplant in a dim room.

Not lychee — and not dragon fruit

Lychee is Litchi chinensis, a cousin with warty pink-red skin and a more floral aril. Longan fruit is smaller, with a smooth tan peel and a muskier taste. [4] If the tag is lychee, you still want sun and drain, but it is not this tree.

Dragon fruit is a cactus sold for night flowers and pitaya. If the tag is a three-winged cactus, read How to Grow Dragon Fruit. Dragon's eye is the longan nickname, not that cactus. Rambutan is another cousin with a hairy red shell, not a longan. Ackee is a more distant relative grown for a splitting pod; if that is the fruit you want, read How to Grow Ackee.

Keep water going from bloom through harvest, then ease off in fall so the next flowers can set.