Lychee trees in Elisabeth Ladoux's orchard

Elisabeth Ladoux owns a 60-year old lychee orchard with trees over 60 feet tall. Although the trees have a high rate of production, the size of the trees has made harvesting difficult and dangerous. A recent study from the University of Hawaii recommended pruning and strict fertilization schedules for managing lychee orchards. With the help of a Western SARE Farmer/Rancher grant, Ladoux wants to test these findings on her orchard.

Ladoux will prune 52 of her trees to the height of 6 to 9 feet. Fifteen of the trees will be fertilized with specific rates of nitrogen while the remaining 37 will be serve as buffer plants to separate treatments. Ladoux plans to keep a weekly journal on the development of these trees. She will also collect data on the yield of each tree and the time and length of harvest. Interested growers will be invited to participate in a field day to see the results of the experiment.