Introduction

Rambutan trees fruit twice a year, yielding crops beginning late June and August and in December and January. Growing seasons vary, however, in each of the tropical countries where it flourishes. Truly tropical, Rambutan trees love warm humid climates.  The also make great potted plants for indoors for those who live in non-tropical areas.

Demands from Asian immigrant fans have increased the import of this rather rare fruit into Europe, the Middle East and North America. Traditional suppliers include Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia but today Honduras and Australia are entering the raging Rambutan market. An anticipated worldwide demand is the result of improved handling of postharvest fruits, increased production and faster long-distance transporting of this delicate fruit. Thailand exports the most canned Rambutan while Malaysia is the largest exporter of fresh Rambutan.

One of the most exotic looking fruits and closely related to the lychee, very tropical Rambutan, pronounced ram-BYU-tn, varies in type and quality. This striking fruit may be greenish yellow, orange or crimson. Oval or globe-shaped, they are usually one to two inches long with a section of the stem attached. Easy to remove, the soft flexible hairy bristles are about one-half inch long. Long hairs on its leathery exterior make it seem bigger than the litchi but the inner part of the fruit is actually smaller. Prized for its exceptional juicy-sweet texture, Rambutan flavor is really quite subtle. Having a slight resemblance to a sweet chestnut, this unusual fruit gets its name, no surprise, from the Malaysian word for hair, "rambut". Seriously aromatic, the flavor is more acidic than the litchi. The large seed has an almond-like taste.

A source of vitamin C and calcium, Rambutan provides niacin, iron, protein and fiber. An average fruit contains 59 calories. Eating five daily servings of fruits and vegetables lowers the chances of cancer. A recent study found eating nine or ten daily servings of fruits and vegetables, combined with three servings of low-fat dairy products, were effective in lowering blood pressure.

Rambutan is excellent added to a mouthwatering tropical fruit salad. Combine with papaya, mango, pineapple, kumquats, and banana, to name a few. Blend with a brandy-orange juice-lemon juice dressing; chill. Spoon the luscious fruit salad into festive coconut shells or scooped-out pineapples for an impressive decorative eye-catching dessert. Top with whipped cream and a stemmed-cherry. Perfect for canning, rambutan retains its natural good looks and sturdy character. To prepare, cut or tear base of fruit; press out the translucent pulpy flesh. To store, fragile rambutan keeps only a day or two at room temperature. For longer storage, wrap in a perforated plastic bag; refrigerate.

Rambutan is also known as litchi chevelu in France and is called "gente" in Malaysia. Thailand fondly calls this fruit "ngob" (paa) and the Chinese refer to it as "bong mao dan".

Native to the western lowlands of Malaysia, rambutan is now cultivated in Zanzibar where early Arab traders introduced it, in Sri Lanka and in many areas of Southeast Asia. Rambutan is most commonly grown in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The fruit is grown for export in Australia, Sri Lanka, Central America and Vietnam. Other tropical countries grow it for their own domestic consumption. In 1993, only thirty farmers on a combined sixty acres grew the rambutan fruit in Hawaii. Cultivation of rambutan is considered too fragile for the United States. Two types of rambutan include the standard variety and a specially developed green-haired rongrian ancestry that produces a thinner skin and an even more delicate flavor.

Potting

There are many different types of pots available and each has its benefits and drawbacks.  There is plastic with can heat up or freeze quickly, Metal, same as plastic,  Clay and wood dry quicker, ceramic that can be heavy and many others that you can buy at local garden centers.  For the most part all can be used quite successfully with tropical plants.  Choose one based on your own preferences.

These pots should have holes in the bottom for adequate drainage.  When you buy your pot, and before you put in soil, cover these holes with a mesh of some sort to help retain the soil, it is also good to put down an inch or two of gravel to insure good drainage.  With tropical plants drainage is essential to healthy plants.  

Potting soil from the local garden center will suffice if mixed with 1 part sand; however a much better solution would be 1 part Perlite or Vermiculite, 1 part course sand, and 1 part Peat.  This gives good drainage as well as sufficient nutrients.  Make sure your soil is not packed down heavy to allow good drainage but not excessive drainage.

Remove your plant from its original container; look carefully at the root system.  It they are heavily packed in and there is more root then dirt, we want to prune these roots before we plant.  Take some of these roots and loosen them up and then carefully clip the ends to stimulate the plant to root more in its new container.  If pruning is not needed, then just loosen the root ball before planting.

Place the plant in the new container making sure you have filled it half way with the new planting material.  You want to make sure that when you fill the rest of the container with soil, the soil line is the same as the original plant when you pulled it out.  The soil like should be about 1-4 inches below the rim of the pot when you are all finished.

Important key:  Make sure your fully grown plant will be proportional to your pot.  Don’t put an 8 foot tall tree in a 10 inch pot.  Allow the roots to be able to grow, the larger the pot the more fruit it will bear.
    
Light

Rambutan usually require lots of sunlight, anywhere you can place them to receive full sunlight is beneficial to them.  
    
When you receive them they are most likely used to full sunlight, when you are going to bring them indoors, or for winter times, when bringing them indoors, you must acclimate them to your indoor area.  Make sure to put them near a good light source and if possible add additional light

Water

Rambutan are used to lots of water, however they are also used to well drained soil, so their water requirements are different for potted plants.  These dependencies are based on size of the pot, size of the plant, type of plant, temperature where you keep the plant, the humidity and the type of soil you have.  You are usually safe to water, when the upper surface of the soil is dry before you water your plant.  Slowly fill the container watching for runoff at the bottom holes.  Remember that wood or clay pots dry faster, making watering more frequent and cooler weather slows down the growth of the plant, thus reducing the need to water as much.

Temperature

This is probably the key ingredient to successful tropical plant keeping.  NO FREEZING WEATHER.  Rambutan cannot take cold temperatures below 50 F., so you will need to find a way to bring these indoors.  Cold temperatures will lead to root damage, and leave damage.  If you bring them indoors make sure you keep them away from drafts from doors or windows to freeze, and out of the heating vent areas so not to dry out too fast.
    
Fertilizer

Too much fertilizer is very bad for Rambutan.  A good Mango fertilizer will do fine. Read the directions completely.  After spending good money on a beautiful tropical plant, you would hate to kill it by over fertilizing it.  Usually with a tropical plant the mature foliage will show deep green indicating that you are fertilizing on the correct scale.  Make sure your fertilizer has a complete balanced diet of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Lesser amounts of Magnesium, Iron, Manganese, Zinc, Copper, again Read the label.

Pruning
    
With most container Rambutan plants little or no pruning is needed.  However if the plant becomes “leggy” due to poor light conditions then cut it back greatly to force it to bush out.  If the top becomes too large for the root structure, again a large pruning spree is needed.  Also when you start to get leaf shed and twigs die back this is an indication that the root structure is not large enough for the top foliage and pruning is needed.
    
Fruitfulness

Will I get fruit?  This is the question we all ask.  Is it worth the time and effort?  Ask anyone that has a fruit tree planted in a pot, as they pick tropical fruit on a blizzard day of 10 below zero, and they will always tell you “Yes!”  For the most part container tropic plants are dependant on the light source and size of the pot to how much fruit they will have.  Most fruit trees will fruit in pots as long as we keep all of the requirements alive in our head.  The larger the tree the larger the pot that is needed.  Fruit will bear proportional to the size of the pot and plant.  Please keep in mind that some fruit will need a presence of another cultivator to be able to fruit.  Again check the specifics of your plant before you decide to buy it.

Copyright Dr. Peter T. Dixon D.B.S.


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