How to grow a potted mango tree Information.

[MangoMan2]

I need some help on Mango tree’s that you can grow in pots. I have been for years giving seminars on growing mangos in the yard or grove, but now would like to teach about the varieties that can be grown in pots and indoors.

I would like to know what pots you guys use, or seem to work best and what size.

Type of potting mix that works best.

Type of fertilizers that work good, and how much and how often.

How often do you water?

And anything else like pruning and a spraying program for them.

Thanks for your help.

Joe.

[KarenRei]

Size depends on the size of the tree.  Soil type, gritty mix (that is, include some sand and gravel).  Mangos are prone to root rot so the worst thing is having their roots sit around in damp organic matter 24/7.  Let the soil dry out between waterings.  A well-ventilated pot is important; I wouldn't just use one with just one tiny drainage hole on the bottom.  Clay breathes bettter than plastic, but plastic words if well-enough ventilated.  I'll defer to others on fertilizer; I do my own thing with a mix of time-release and homemade fertilizers but don't consider myself an expert on mango fertilization.  I currently have just one potted mango, a 7 gallon Carrie; I water it once every six days, thoroughly.  Smaller pots = more frequent watering, larger = less frequent.  I don't prune much.  A little mist on the leaves won't hurt against spider mites but I haven't found that indoor/greenhouse pests tend to pester mangos as much as other plants.  I don't even mist it anymore since I moved to Iceland (I had more spider mite problems in Iowa).  I've never seen aphids or whitefly or scale or anything like that on an indoor mango.  Lastly, as for anything else: light, light, light.  Light is food to plants; don't starve them.  The sun yields 1000W per square meter when shining without clouds and straight overhead, and virtually all of that hits *something*.  Flourescent, MH, and HPS lights have light stray away and lose 70-80% of their energy as heat (the sun does waste about a third of its energy outside the visible spectrum, mind you, but nothing like what light fixtures lose).  Consider how many square meters of area a mango tree is.  Even though the average insolation of the sun, because of clouds, angles, night, etc is more like 200W/m^2 (give or take, depending on your location), you can see that the outdoors gives plants a *ton* of free energy.  Either give your plants sun, compensate sufficiently for their lack of it, or both!    Oh, and note that greenhouse glazing will lose you ~20% of your solar energy, so there's some loss even if you let 100% of the sun in..  If you want to save a bit on the power bill, use LEDs, although the fixtures are expensive.  Some plants hate LED light because of the narrow spectrum causing hormonal issues, but mangos don't appear to be among them.  It not only has a higher quantum efficiency (note: you want to compare quantum efficiency, not lumens/watt), but is also targeted at more ideal frequencies for photosynthesis.  But again, the fixtures are pricey.

Background: I've been growing mangos indoors for three or four years.  The first tree... let's just call it a learning experience about the dangers of mango root rot    My latest tree, however, has been going through growth flushes and is quite healthy.  No fruit yet, but hopefully not too much longer. 

[puglvr1]

I usually recommend using a pot one size bigger than the size the plant came in. I use Pine Bark/orchid bark (small pieces) crushed granite or perlite and turface or good quality potting mx. I mix my own and make it so the mix is fast draining where it retains moisture but doesn't keep the mix soggy/wet. You can go to a bigger pot right away...but you have to be careful if you are heavy waterer or if we get a LOT of rain you can risk "root rot"...which has happened to me more than once...so know for me its best to go up a size gradually.

I fertilize my potted plants with 1/2 the recommended dosage like Miracle Grow All purpose with a 1/4 tsp of epsom salt and a tsp of Fish emulsion. I try and do this every 7-14 days. I also add a tablespoon of slow release fertilizer around the outer section of the pot once every couple of months. I stop fertilizing around the middle of Oct and resume again in February when I see new growths. I foliar feed every couple of months or so  during the growing season.

*edit...its best if you can add the slow release fertilizer the very first time you do a repot...just add a very small amount and mix it well with your potting mix...

As far as watering...I check the moisture with a thin wood dowel inserted all the way to the bottom of the pot...if the stick is moist or wet I wait until the stick comes out fairly dry and then I drench the pot and do it all over again.

I trim my Mango trees once a year...shaping pruning or slightly pugging... depending on the growth and shape of the tree I'm trying to achieve. I will trim more than once if the tree is vigorous and when its young to shape it early before it starts to bear fruit.

I prefer pots that are sturdy...not too tall and ones that don't taper too much on the bottom or the wind has a tendency to knock it down.

[zands]

I usually recommend using a pot one size bigger than the size the plant came in. I use Pine Bark/orchid bark (small pieces) crushed granite or perlite and turface or good quality potting mx. I mix my own and make it so the mix is fast draining where it retains moisture but doesn't keep the mix soggy/wet. You can go to a bigger pot right away...but you have to be careful if you are heavy waterer or if we get a LOT of rain you can risk "root rot"...which has happened to me more than once...so know for me its best to go up a size gradually.

I fertilize my potted plants with 1/2 the recommended dosage like Miracle Grow All purpose with a 1/4 tsp of epsom salt and a tsp of Fish emulsion. I try and do this every 7-14 days. I also add a tablespoon of slow release fertilizer around the outer section of the pot once every couple of months. I stop fertilizing around the middle of Oct and resume again in February when I see new growths. I foliar feed every couple of months or so  during the growing season.

*edit...its best if you can add the slow release fertilizer the very first time you do a repot...just add a very small amount and mix it well with your potting mix...

As far as watering...I check the moisture with a thin wood dowel inserted all the way to the bottom of the pot...if the stick is moist or wet I wait until the stick comes out fairly dry and then I drench the pot and do it all over again.

I trim my Mango trees once a year...shaping pruning or slightly pugging... depending on the growth and shape of the tree I'm trying to achieve. I will trim more than once if the tree is vigorous and when its young to shape it early before it starts to bear fruit.

I prefer pots that are sturdy...not too tall and ones that don't taper too much on the bottom or the wind has a tendency to knock it down.

good advice that I am bookmarking

[MangoMan2]

Thanks Karen and Nancy for your input. Nancy how is the Pickering doing?

Keep the information coming Gang.

Thanks, Joe.

[bsbullie]

Watering is tricky and I don't agree with the dowel method.  If the top half of your soil is wet and you insert the dowel, it will come out wet regardless of if the bottom half is wet or dry (as it has to pass throughthe wet soil to get to the bottom half).

I tip prune my mangoes in a pot the same as I would in the ground (to achieve a dense, wide growing tree with manageable height along the lines of Richard Campbell).  It is done with just about every growth flush (I would limit this if I were wanting the tree to flower and fruit).

I fertilize with the same fertilizer, same quantities and same frequency s if in the ground and I have no ill effects.  I also supplement with a micro-nutrient foliar spray.  Those in colder areas would need to halt their fertilixing in the colder months where their plants are kept outdoors.  Those on warmer regions and those overwintering indoors under heat can continue to fertilize through more of the winter months.  If you are wanting the trees to flower and fruit, you would want to cut back the fertilization with a nitrogen component.

For soil, I use the Fafard 3B and Fafard 3S.  For pots I use the standard black nursery pots.

Mangoes in pots still require copper or sulfer fungicides (depending on the need) and pesticides (IF needed and IF using).

[lkailburn]

Watering is tricky and I don't agree with the dowel method.  If the top half of your soil is wet and you insert the dowel, it will come out wet regardless of if the bottom half is wet or dry (as it has to pass throughthe wet soil to get to the bottom half).

I tip prune my mangoes in a pot the same as I would in the ground (to achieve a dense, wide growing tree with manageable height along the lines of Richard Campbell).  It is done with just about every growth flush (I would limit this if I were wanting the tree to flower and fruit).

I fertilize with the same fertilizer, same quantities and same frequency s if in the ground and I have no ill effects.  I also supplement with a micro-nutrient foliar spray.  Those in colder areas would need to halt their fertilixing in the colder months where their plants are kept outdoors.  Those on warmer regions and those overwintering indoors under heat can continue to fertilize through more of the winter months.  If you are wanting the trees to flower and fruit, you would want to cut back the fertilization with a nitrogen component.

For soil, I use the Fafard 3B and Fafard 3S.  For pots I use the standard black nursery pots.

Mangoes in pots still require copper or sulfer fungicides (depending on the need) and pesticides (IF needed and IF using).

Agreed watering can be tricky. Proper watering techniques, and a good eye on the plant itself helps.
Good point about the dowel passing through the top soil first. I would imagine that if you are good about doing a proper watering(ie a good soak rather then just sprinkling a little water on top) you will always dry out from the top down in which case the dowel will help. I have also seen a stick with notches taken out every 1 or 2" on the side. You insert the stick all the way down and pull it out. Where the soil is still wet, it will come out with the stick in one of the notches. Where the notches have no soil in them, the soil is dry. This works better with finer soil which isn't the case when using straight gritty mix.

-Luke

[KarenRei]

Agreed watering can be tricky. Proper watering techniques, and a good eye on the plant itself helps.
Good point about the dowel passing through the top soil first. I would imagine that if you are good about doing a proper watering(ie a good soak rather then just sprinkling a little water on top) you will always dry out from the top down in which case the dowel will help. I have also seen a stick with notches taken out every 1 or 2" on the side. You insert the stick all the way down and pull it out. Where the soil is still wet, it will come out with the stick in one of the notches. Where the notches have no soil in them, the soil is dry. This works better with finer soil which isn't the case when using straight gritty mix.

-Luke

Good point to stress.  You need to get a sense of how much water your soil holds.  Wait until dry, water it, wait a bit to see if any drains, water more, wait a bit to see if it drains, etc, until water starts coming out the drainage holes.  That's how much your soil holds.  Now when you water, water just a little bit less than that amount.  Retest at regular intervals because it can change a little or your initial estimate could be off.  Also, watering enough that a bit of water drains is good every now and then because you wash out any excess minerals that have built up that you might not want (sodium being the main culprit).  Don't do it too often though or you'll just be washing out your ferts.

If you don't get a sense of how much your soil holds and you water too little, the bottom of the pot will stay dry at all times even while the top could be very wet.  Which obviously isn't a good thing.  My 7 gallons take roughly one and a half "watering cans" of water.  My 15s take roughly one "bucket".  Etc.

[puglvr1]

Hi Joe, the Pickering is doing very well...thanks for asking! I decided to plant the Pickering in the ground. I do have a small LM (PPK) that was given to me in lieu of payment for Cat sitting. I decide to put that one in a pot for a while.

[bsbullie]

Watering is tricky and I don't agree with the dowel method.  If the top half of your soil is wet and you insert the dowel, it will come out wet regardless of if the bottom half is wet or dry (as it has to pass throughthe wet soil to get to the bottom half).

I tip prune my mangoes in a pot the same as I would in the ground (to achieve a dense, wide growing tree with manageable height along the lines of Richard Campbell).  It is done with just about every growth flush (I would limit this if I were wanting the tree to flower and fruit).

I fertilize with the same fertilizer, same quantities and same frequency s if in the ground and I have no ill effects.  I also supplement with a micro-nutrient foliar spray.  Those in colder areas would need to halt their fertilixing in the colder months where their plants are kept outdoors.  Those on warmer regions and those overwintering indoors under heat can continue to fertilize through more of the winter months.  If you are wanting the trees to flower and fruit, you would want to cut back the fertilization with a nitrogen component.

For soil, I use the Fafard 3B and Fafard 3S.  For pots I use the standard black nursery pots.

Mangoes in pots still require copper or sulfer fungicides (depending on the need) and pesticides (IF needed and IF using).

Agreed watering can be tricky. Proper watering techniques, and a good eye on the plant itself helps.
Good point about the dowel passing through the top soil first. I would imagine that if you are good about doing a proper watering(ie a good soak rather then just sprinkling a little water on top) you will always dry out from the top down in which case the dowel will help. I have also seen a stick with notches taken out every 1 or 2" on the side. You insert the stick all the way down and pull it out. Where the soil is still wet, it will come out with the stick in one of the notches. Where the notches have no soil in them, the soil is dry. This works better with finer soil which isn't the case when using straight gritty mix.

-Luke

Only problem with this theory is when it rains.  Depending on the amount and duration, the top could be moistened but not all the way through the pot.

[lkailburn]

That is true, does not take into consideration rain. Although rain will disrupt any set watering schedule no matter what it is.

-Luke

[CoPlantNut]

I don't believe it is possible to ever prescribe a watering schedule for potted plants; it varies tremendously depending on the conditions the plant is kept in.  Full sun, warmer weather, lower humidity, high wind, even the number of pest insects the plant may have can all make the plant need more water.

The best way I've found of knowing when a potted plant needs water is by judging the weight of the pot.  If you lift it when you know it is well-watered such as just after potting it up, and then when you know it is dry at some later point, you'll start to get a feel for what the "ideal weight" should be.  You don't even have to lift the whole pot; you can lift one side up to see how heavy it is.  This doesn't work as well for clay pots; the heavier pot makes the water-content-weight harder to judge.

After a few months or years of taking care of the plant, you'll notice the patterns in how much water it needs and be able to predictably water it without having to weigh it.  For new plants or if I'm ever in question, I still lift the pots to judge how much water they need.

For container growing in general, there is a big difference between growing in a container for a few years with the intent of planting it in the ground, and growing a plant with the intent of keeping it in a container for the rest of it's life.  Normal potting soils and plastic pots work great for the former, but I'm a big fan of fabric pots and gritty mix for long-term container plants.  Fabric pots have never blown over in the wind for me (and it is quite windy here).  They form perfect, well-branched, dense root systems and tend to grow bigger, more vigorous plants for me than solid-sided plastic pots, or even clay.  They do need watering more often than solid-sided pots in low humidity or especially windy conditions, but in constant high humidity (75-80% in my grow room) they don't seem to need more water than solid plastic pots.  For annuals it doesn't make a big difference in plant growth, but after a couple years the benefits really become apparent.

I use the gritty mix, but never use sand; it doesn't drain very well, even though it seems like it should.  For in-ground things sandy soils can work, but in pots I've noticed that only bog-adapted plants seem to do better growing with any sand in the mix.

I'm not a fan of adding time-release fertilizer to potted plants, because you can't really take it back out if you ever need or want to.  You can shock many plants into blooming and fruiting by completely eliminating fertilizer for a while; in pots this is easier to do than in the ground and sometimes it takes only a 3-6 week period of completely stopping fertilization to get the plant to bloom.  Will it stunt the plant? Yes, a bit, but if you're going to grow it in a pot long-term you want to stunt it.  I water with 1/4-strength Dyna-gro fertilizer PH-adjusted to 6.0-6.5 for most plants and 4.5-5.5 for acid-loving plants 4 of every 5 times I water.  I'll sometimes add other macro/micro nutrients, but not often.  But if I flush with plain water for 3-6 weeks after 6-9 months of these "cushy" conditions, I can often get smaller-than-normal plants to start flowering for me.  I'm hoping to try this on my new Pickering next spring, and many of my other tropical fruits this summer.

All that being said, I've never grown a mango tree to fruiting size here.  I only got my first 3-gallon grafted mango a week ago; it was promptly bare-rooted and put in gritty mix in a 5-gallon fabric pot.   I give newly transplanted things a shot of Dyna-Gro KLN according to the label, and I believe it really helps with transplant shock, especially after a plant has been bare-rooted.  Whenever I bare-root transplant, I keep the plant in the shade for at least a week afterward. 

Even though I have no practical experience with mango, I've got a lot of other tropical fruit plants in gritty mix in the fabric pots, and all (except my Carambola) that are of reasonable fruiting age / size have successfully ripened fruit for me.

   Kevin

[samuelforest]

I was always being scared of using the gritty mix. I made some, but I decided not to use it for my mango since it's really well established in 15 gallon pot. The advice I would tell you is that mangos have a really sensible root system, so use some slow realease fertilizer and it's why I don't want to bareroot mine. I suggest to do same thing as me, I called the nursery where I bought my mango to know what soil they used for it and they gave me the recipe and I repotted my mango in it. You could also use something else as long as it drains well. For pruning, tipping is great Richard says on youtube to wait after two flush to tip, so at every to flush, I suggest you to tip. Don't tip only when blooms will come, like in december.Lighthing is very important, the best would be a 1000w mh ,but start with a 400w if you just have one plant. I don't trust leds, results seems less than with a HID, a fact is that pot growers don't use really much leds.

[KarenRei]

I was always being scared of using the gritty mix. I made some, but I decided not to use it for my mango since it's really well established in 15 gallon pot. The advice I would tell you is that mangos have a really sensible root system, so use some slow realease fertilizer and it's why I don't want to bareroot mine. I suggest to do same thing as me, I called the nursery where I bought my mango to know what soil they used for it and they gave me the recipe and I repotted my mango in it. You could also use something else as long as it drains well. For pruning, tipping is great Richard says on youtube to wait after two flush to tip, so at every to flush, I suggest you to tip. Don't tip only when blooms will come, like in december.Lighthing is very important, the best would be a 1000w mh ,but start with a 400w if you just have one plant. I don't trust leds, results seems less than with a HID, a fact is that pot growers don't use really much leds.

I guarantee you you'll get significantly more growth out of 400W of LED than 400W of HID on a plant that's not frequency-sensitive, all else being equal.  The problem is, due to marketing hype and the price of fixtures, most people use way too little LED light, and so you get these ridiculous comparisons between say a 90W LED fixture and a 1000W HID.  I say this as someone with years of experience using both LED and non-LED lighting.

As for pot, having never grown it, I don't know how it responds to the narrow frequency bands of LED light.  I can tell you that some plants have adverse hormonal reactions to LED light.  Lettuce is an ideal example; it gets really lanky, even when other plants near it are taking off from the same light.  Hormonal responses are something you always have to watch out for with narrow-band light.  That's why you don't grow plants under low-pressure sodium lamps; unlike with LEDs, *most* plants have adverse reactions to LPS.  LPS's frequency encourages starch storage in leaves instead of transport to the rest of the plant for growth and other general usage (it's also an inefficient frequency for photosynthesis).  The frequency of red LEDs (great for photosynthesis) encourages node lengthening and flowering.  Naturally for many seedlings and some non-woody annuals, this can be a problem, but it's a great thing for other plants. Banana, coffee, basil, passionfruit, geranium, eggplant, rollinia, dragonfruit, pineapple... these are just a small fraction of the plants that I've used LED on that just loved it.

If you're worried about hormonal effects, mix your LED lights with other light sources for a broader spectrum.

Oh, one more thing about LED light: like LPS, it has an awful color rendering spectrum.  It's important to shut them off every now and then when you want to look at your plants, because you really can't see detail under it.  Your leaves might be browning from lack of water/overwater, for example, and you might not even notice!

[Greg1029]

I use the gritty mix for my Pickering Mango.  Because I live in Southern Ca., I was concerned about the low humidity so as an experiment, I inserted a low tension Irrometer www.irrometer.com/sensors.html#irro to help me guage when I should water.  To my suprise, the gritty mix actually holds a lot more moisture then you would think, even during hot dry weather. 

If you're unsure when to water then I would recommend getting an Irrometer.  Just make sure the one you get is low tension (i.e. used for course sandy soils).  It should take the guess work out of watering.

Here are some pictures of my back patio and my Pickering Mango.

Greg
 

[CoPlantNut]

I use the gritty mix for my Pickering Mango.  Because I live in Southern Ca., I was concerned about the low humidity so as an experiment, I inserted a low tension Irrometer www.irrometer.com/sensors.html#irro to help me guage when I should water.  To my suprise, the gritty mix actually holds a lot more moisture then you would think, even during hot dry weather. 

Yes, the gritty mix seems scary until the first time you actually try it out.  I was amazed, even in my very dry, windy and hot environment, at how well the gritty mix worked.

You'll be pleased with the results when it comes time to repot.  Even more so with a fabric pot!

I wish my pickering were blooming as nicely as yours; I'll be curious to know if it sets fruit for you.

   Kevin

[puglvr1]

Hi Greg, I also love the Gritty mix! The only thing that I had problems with was "bare rooting" the Mango...I don't know if its that process that led to my potted pickering demise, but I know it was NOT the gritty mix that killed it because it happend SO quickly...within hours after I bare rooted it and potted it up..it literally went downhill and killed the tree within a few weeks. I'm thinking the tree a;ready had some roots (possibly) root rot issues before I even started...
I also agree that the gritty mix holds a lot more water than you think. I've never seen that little tool...irrometer. I'll have to check that one out, thanks!

Anyways, that is a nice Pickering...and look at all those blooms. I DO love this variety. What a trooper!!

[samuelforest]

Puglvr1, would you think it is safe to bareroot my mango in 15gal pot to put it in the gritty mix? Might be too late no??

[puglvr1]

Puglvr1, would you think it is safe to bareroot my mango in 15gal pot to put it in the gritty mix? Might be too late no??

Samuel, I am the LAST person to ask advise about bare rooting Mango,lol...I've had the worst luck the last couple of times I did this (they were both pickering and both from the same nursery) and it died from root rot. My last Pickering I decided to plant in the ground. I do however potted a LM (PPK) and I did not bare root that one. I just removed a little bit of the soil around the outer edges and added some "of the mix I use since I had such bad experience with bare rooting. I don't think I will be doing that to a mango tree for a while...I think the best time to do this would be in Spring...not summer? But not positive?   

I honestly can't advise you...maybe others that have not had any issues bare rooting mango can share their opinion...but I'm not willing to live with the guilt  if something bad happens to yours...Also, don't you have blooms on yours. I sure wouldn't do anything like that right now any ways...it will most likely kill the blooms!

Good luck!

[CoPlantNut]

Bare-root transplanting is an art, much like grafting.  Success depends on many factors.

If the plant has new, non-hardened growth, I wouldn't bare root it unless you chop all the new growth off first.  Ditto for flowers or fruit.  Gently washing the old soil off the roots seems to cause less damage.  It must be done in the shade, preferably high-humidity. As soon as I have a plant bare-rooted, I put the entire bare rootball into a bucket full of 1tsp / gallon of both Dyna-Gro KLN and Dyna-Gro Grow with a shot of vitamin B-1 as well, and leave it there for at least 10 minutes before potting it up again, then I water in with that water mixture and water excessively to make sure all the gritty mix is settled.  Keep the plant out of the sun, in as high-humidity as you can, for at least a couple weeks or until new leaf growth starts.

I wouldn't necessarily suggest trying this with a huge 15-gallon tree until you've had some practice with smaller, more expendable things...  I've killed many plants in the past bare-rooting them until I got my technique down, but for the past 10 years or so I don't think I've lost a single plant to bare-root transplanting.

   Kevin

[MangoMan2]

Thanks Everyone for the input and feedback. This is what is great about this Forum!!!

[samuelforest]

Thanks guys, good tips! You are right both of you, I'll try maybye with next, which will be for sure a pickering

[puglvr1]

"I use the gritty mix for my Pickering Mango.  Because I live in Southern Ca., I was concerned about the low humidity so as an experiment, I inserted a low tension Irrometer www.irrometer.com/sensors.html#irro to help me guage when I should water.  To my suprise, the gritty mix actually holds a lot more moisture then you would think, even during hot dry weather. "

Posted by: Greg1029

Greg, mind if I ask you where your purchased your Low Tension Irrometer from? Thanks!

[puglvr1]

I know that some are not a fan of using a wood dowel to check for moisture...but I personally believe it is one of the better and very inexpensive ways to check if plants need water.

I found this article about using wood dowels.

"  To the right is a photo of a dowel rod inserted in a root ball to monitor soil moisture. That homemade tool provided success for people who did their own irrigating. Its my preferred method too. Saw 1/4" to 1/2" diameter wood dowels into 12" to 14" lengths, sharpen an end, and insert one, or more into a root ball.

The sticks are left in place and pulled out every day or two to see if the wood surface is moist or dry, indicating the presence or absence of moisture. This method can be more practical than fliddling with moisture meters. Moisture meters can work too, but consider the dowel method for an alternative. The dowel method is inexpensive and reliable. As long as the stick fits tight, use the same holes each time. This limits probing in the root zone.

One extra benefit of dowels is lack of malfunction. What if your moisture meter malfuntions? How would you know if its defective? That's the best part about dowels. That stick will be moist or dry."

Here's the link...
http://www.mdvaden.com/watering.shtml

[Greg1029]

Puglvr1, I purchased it online at www.frostproof.com

Greg