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Ideally, a new Mango tree is planted immediately or shortly after it is purchased and early Spring after last chance of frost is the best time to plant inyo the ground. Others may disagree but planting early will allow your tree to have a longer interval before the next chance of frost. If you don’t get frost, you can plant directly into the ground now but don’t top it. You want to keep all the vegetative growth for photosynthesis. Also you want to remove some of the green ties keeping your tree upright but don’t remove all of them. You want your tree to sway and bend slightly in the wind so that the trunk will grow thick and strong. There is a window period of vigorous and active growth, even when you start with good rootstocks and if the roots become pot bound, the tree can get stunted. It’s not only the Turpentine rootstocks that can get stunted. You are on the right track. Simon
It's a tough call on this one. You couldd, possibly put it into a container of the same size but with a coat of "MicroKote" paint applied to the inside of said pot. This would give you a month or two of potential root growth reaching/branching to give your smaller tree a bit more root mass and/or feeder roots. I know everyone says tropicals grow slowly below 60f but they do grow albeit slowly (If weather permits). If you can wait, you can up your pot size and let them "grow-up" for a season and then plant them...The bigger the better. Chris
I prefer to plant it now let it establish some roots and graft in late July. But I’ve also potted and grafted in June. Why pug it if you are going to use it as rootstock?
Just don’t top it now. Depending on how long the tree has been in it’s current pot and wether it has filled that pot with roots will determine wether you need to up pot it or not. If it’s completely filled it’s current pot with roots, you can up pot it to a new container that is slightly bigger giving the plant about 1/2-1 inch or additional room for root growth. Don’t stick it into a huge container, you have to gradually increase the size of the container. Don’t top it now because there will be little to no vegetative growth at this time of year and topping it will mean you’re decreasing the amount of energy it can gather through its leaves. For now, determin where you want your tree to start branching but just let it grow for now. I would actually let it grow and establish(the in ground tree) until the following Spring so that it can grow vegetatively and establish its roots for at least one year. The following Spring, you can top it off at the point where you want branching to start or if you’re ok with where the scaffold branches are now, just let it grow. If you decide to top it off at let’s say 2 or 3 feet, you will probably have removed half or more of its total height and all the growth from last year but your tree will now have an established root system and a slightly thicker trunk that will not be so leggy. After you top it in half, you can remove the green stretchy tape that has been attached to the Mango tree and wooden stake and your remaining trunk should be able to stand up on its own.The new growth coming off the newly topped shorter tree will grow up straight and and should not be staked. Let it get blown around and it will develop a strong trunk with branching that starts a your desired height. Simon