Manures and fertilizers:

• FYM- 50 kg/plant,
• Fertilizer : DAP-34.78 g, Urea- 134.22 g, Murate of Potash- 1000 per plant.
• All fertilizer except N2 applied in autumn. N2 applied in two doses- Jan-Feb and Sept-Oct.
• Fertilizer should be applied just after harvesting during the rainy season. Applying fertilizers late in the season results in more vegetative growth and less fruiting.

Training & Pruning:

• Modified central leader system of training is followed and pruning is not done in litchi, except removing dried, diseased and criss crossed branches.

Irrigation :

• January end to the onset of monsoon is a critical period for irrigation since vegetative growth and fruit development takes place.
• Four months prior to normal floral initiation period (December to January) in northern India, the plants should not be irrigated.
• To achieve faster growth of the plant no water stress should be permitted, while in the reproductive phase water stress is beneficial at the time of fruit bud differentiation.
• Irrigation at the intervals of 2-3 days during the initial stage of plant establishment is considered essential. Further, the young plants should be irrigated during dry periods and winter months at intervals of 3-5 days.

Interculture and intercropping

• Tillage operations should be limited to upper 7-10cm depth of the soil layers.
• Litchi orchards should be given tillage for 3-4 times a year and must be kept of weeds.
• Leguminous crops like peas, beans, and grams are to be preferred for this purpose.
• The young orchard can also be planted with filler trees of papaya.

Harvesting

• Generally, litchi fruits mature 50 to 60 days after fruit set.
• Generally, fruits turn deep red when fully ripe.
• Maturity of fruit is also determined by the shape of the tubercles which on ripening becomes somewhat flattened and the epicarp becomes smooth.
• The fruits are harvested in bunches along with a portion of the branch and a few leaves.
• Harvesting of litchi is usually done in May and June.
• The fruits for local market should be harvested at their full ripe stage, while for distant markets when they start turning reddish.

Yield and storage

• Yield varies from 80 to 150 kg fruits / tree / year depending upon variety and tree vigor.
• It can be stored for 5 weeks at a temperature of 1.6-7.2°C in perforated polythene bags.
• Dipping of fruits in 250 ppm ethrel a improves the fruit colour.