How to grow a longan at home

In recent years, people of the post-Soviet space have greatly enriched their knowledge (and skills!) In cooking, and also discovered a lot of different previously unfamiliar products. However, some still keep their secrets, which would be nice to open. These riddles include fruits from the family Sapindovye: Pulasan, Longan, Lychee, aki, rambutan, korlan and funny-sounding mamonchillo. The thing is that it is practically impossible to find such fruits in a free sale, in the recipes for which even exotic dishes are prepared , these fruits are rarely involved, so that people who traveled through Asia can tell about them. Meanwhile, there is the opportunity to produce an interesting experience: the same longan at home is relatively easy to grow, but then you can try this fruit yourself, and before your friends boast.

What a strange plant?

In fact, this is the name of a tree that grows, almost everywhere, in Taiwan, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. In Asian countries, it is called Lam Yai. And in Chinese the name translates as "the eye of the dragon." Fruits that grow on it have a dense, but thin skin; It protects the fetus well from infections and insects, but at the same time it is easily scraped off, which is an additional bonus for fruit consumers.

In the "early career", the longan was grown almost industrially by Indians and Sri Lankans. Then it gradually spread to the nearest countries. Where the longan can be bought, it is sold in clusters. And the most delicious is the one that is not only from the branch, but has already lingered a little in the warehouse or in the store.

Useful exotic

Why is it proposed to grow a longan at home? This is just a storehouse of positive qualities. Women simply have to fall in love with him: the fruit has a magical effect on the skin. At the same time, it also stops general aging, contains in itself a mass of necessary microelements and vitamins and contains compounds that perfectly protect the liver from processed chemicals and toxins. For thinning longans too it is priceless: neither fats, nor proteins. Just by eating this fruit, you can get rid of dizziness and fatigue, relieve stress and nervous tension, improve sleep and get rid of fever. All these reasons quite contribute to attempts to cultivate a longan at home.

How to choose the right food with the greatest benefit

If you managed to find a place where you sell this miracle product - remember it! At least until you come up with how to grow your own longan. However, remember that you and the seller have different interests, and you have to keep your own. Choose the fruit correctly, that is, first of all, bunch grapes, on berries which have cracks. It is advisable that you are allowed to try one berry, because depending on the place where the longan was grown, it can be very acidic or too sweet.

Want to enjoy the gifts of Asian nature longer - keep fruits in the refrigerator. So they will not spoil almost a week. In the heat (and not in the summer), three days - the limit.

Longan can be eaten fresh as an independent product - this is the most popular Thai way. But it is especially good with coconut milk and rice (always sticky). As an option - dried longan with sugar to cook a little and combine it with ice. The drink refreshes, quenches thirst well and awakens the appetite.

He is also good with ice cream and salads; Stuffing for pancakes and pies, too, is wonderful. In sauces (especially fish), a longan is simply indispensable. And for medical purposes it is used for diarrhea - it stops diarrhea almost instantaneously, and even disinfects the intestines.

How to enrich your home garden: caring for a bone

It is almost impossible to buy the seeds of this tree; And if you find them, the price clearly will not please. So if you get caught in a fruit store - think: should not a longan grow out of a bone? It's not very difficult, but very entertaining. The only "ambush": fruit bearing will have to wait eight years (at least). Or it is necessary to look for a fruit tree and plant a petiole from it.

So, imagine that you managed to find (buy, steal, barter) the stone of the tree, from which later grows longan. Cultivation at home begins with proper handling of planting material. That is, the bone needs to be thoroughly rinsed, the fruit unroiled remains to clean, prepare the pot with moistened earth and press the stone into it. This should be done not very deeply and not too superficially - centimeter by 4 (one and a half "growth" of the stone). The pot is wrapped in plastic wrap, which is removed every day for ventilation; The soil is kept moist. Bone can be pitted from a week to four.

You can accelerate this process. This recommendation is especially good if, in your opinion, the fruit was stored in a store or in a warehouse for quite some time. To longan, grown at home, has successfully climbed, it is necessary to soak for about three days a bone, and then put it in the refrigerator for five days.

How to take care of sprouts

No less than 2 weeks later, there will be shoots. They will grow rapidly in the same amount of time, and then growth will slow down significantly. By the time the sprouts will stretch to 15 centimeters by 15. There is no need to worry about stopping growth - this is a plant that is rising slowly. However, this applies to all stone fruit. Consolate yourself with the thought that you already have a longan in your home greenhouse. Cultivation in the home of this plant in the future is not much different from most others.

If there are already fruits

It will take several years to wait, so be patient. However, sooner or later this moment will come, and one must be prepared for the proper handling of fruits. The best way is to dry them. All the useful properties and taste qualities of fruits are preserved, and they can be used after many years. In this case, the option of harvesting the dried fruits that are familiar to us here is not suitable: first you will have to weld the fruits, and only then dry them - in the oven or in a natural way (to whom, as the circumstances permit).

In a word, if you have the opportunity and you do not mind "flat" garden works, try growing a longan. The photo shows well that even without fruits, it is quite capable of decorating your collection of indoor plants.