Abstract
Abstract The different propagation systems for litchis are reviewed. After examining the main morphological and developmental characteristics of the plant and the description of the structures and materials, including types of substrate required for the propagation of this species, the different methods for its propagation are discussed. Propagation by seeds is only used for breeding or research purposes or for raising rootstock for grafting. Although propagation by cuttings is done in many countries and stooling has been reported as highly successful in India, air layering is the most common commercial way of propagation for this species. Despite that the cambium activity varies from place to place around the stem with only 30% of the cambium being active at any one time grafting is of current use in China.
Highlights
The most commonly used commercial method of propagation of litchi is air layering
The highly heterozygotic characteristic of this species prevents the commercial propagation by seeds
A peculiar characteristic of litchi which is of great importance for its propagation is the fact that Venning (1949) found that the entire cambium is active only during the earliest phase of secondary growth
Summary
The most commonly used commercial method of propagation of litchi is air layering. Litchis can be propagated by seeds, grafting or cuttings. Litchi seeds have a very short viability and start losing their germinate capacity in less than 5 days, and, even under high humidity conditions, lost it completely in as maximum of 14 days, except if kept inside the fruit which preserve its viability for at least 3-4 weeks (Galán Saúco and Menini, 1989). They are very slow to bear, usually 10 years or more (Menzel, 1985) and because of this are not appropriate for commercial plantings and are only used as rootstocks for grafting and for research and breeding purposes
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