Author Topic: Young Mango Tree - Help!!  (Read 2148 times)

Ruby93

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Young Mango Tree - Help!!
« on: September 13, 2019, 11:40:04 AM »
Hi all, a couple of months ago, I bought a young Cogshall Mango tree that I have kept in a container in the yard. I live in south Florida and we have also had a lot of summer rain here. It is about 3 feet tall at the moment. It has access to full sun, is watered every afternoon currently, and is in a soil that is meant for good drainage. I used a cactus/palm soil and repotted into a larger pot than what the nursery had it in, keeping a lot of the previous soil also. I am currently not fertilizing my tree as I was advised that the soil it was in from nursery should have enough for a couple of months, so I know I need to start soon. Have no idea what organic product to use after trying to read up on it, I was told 8-3-9 is best, but cannot find an organic fertilizer with that ratio. The tree had some dark spots on it when purchased.

Recently I have noticed that some of the younger leaves are starting to discolor, black dots are found on the leaves, and on a couple of the leaves, you can see a small clear strand extend from the underside of the leaf with a white dot attached to it. I think I may have some sort of pest infestation brewing, but I have no clue what kind of pest or what multiple PESTS are affecting the tree and how to combat them. I also think it could be something fungal happening at the same time with all the summer rain we have, but I'm trying to figure out the pest situation. For 2 weeks in a row, I sprayed it with Monterey Disease Control once per week, and it does not look any different. I have tried to research the cause, but I am bombarded with information and it's overwhelming. Spider mites? Leaf miners? Fly larva? Can anyone take a look at the photos and please try to identify the issues with my young tree? I don't want to lose it without a fight! Any thoughts or recommendations on fertilizer and ideas as to the issues would be appreciated. Thank you!























sapote

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Re: Young Mango Tree - Help!!
« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2019, 08:45:12 PM »
I wouldn't worry. In the big picture the whole tree looks fine. It will grow healthier if planted in ground though.

roblack

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Re: Young Mango Tree - Help!!
« Reply #2 on: September 13, 2019, 09:08:14 PM »
might want to chill on the daily watering. mangoes like to dry out a little.

Guanabanus

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Re: Young Mango Tree - Help!!
« Reply #3 on: September 14, 2019, 04:59:01 PM »
Multiple nutrient deficiencies.
Har

MangoCountry

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Re: Young Mango Tree - Help!!
« Reply #4 on: September 14, 2019, 09:46:29 PM »
The strand with the white spot at the tip is a green lacewing egg. The larvae of green lacewings are voracious predators of aphids, spider mites, etc. The can eat 400+ aphids in a few week span.

Ruby93

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Re: Young Mango Tree - Help!!
« Reply #5 on: September 15, 2019, 10:44:52 AM »
Multiple nutrient deficiencies.

What nutrients would these be? thanks

Ruby93

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Re: Young Mango Tree - Help!!
« Reply #6 on: September 15, 2019, 10:45:48 AM »
The strand with the white spot at the tip is a green lacewing egg. The larvae of green lacewings are voracious predators of aphids, spider mites, etc. The can eat 400+ aphids in a few week span.

Thanks, I'll make sure to leave those be!   :)

weiss613

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Re: Young Mango Tree - Help!!
« Reply #7 on: September 16, 2019, 08:57:10 AM »
I saw a shot of your soil in the pot and it looked like your mixture that you created had perlite. If it is that’s very bad. What other ingredients did you add that gave your pot filling soil “good drainage” because I think you may have caused your tree problem yourself. I could be wrong but here’s why.
You said you water it every day and we’ve been getting a lot of rain but if your soil is light and not heavy the water goes right through it. If you’ve ever bought a tree from Zill when you lift it up it’s way way heavier than it looks and that’s because they use a compressible sandy soil and they compress the hell out of it and they keep each pot moist with regular watering with dripers. We have been having tremendous heat this summer which dries out the soil and in between your tree has been getting dehydrated.
And I believe dehydration is where all your problems may be coming from. Your daily watering and care is very admirable but it is very possible that what you’ll need to do is repot with a soil that retains the maximum amount of moisture and compress it down. Truth is that even if you put this tree in the ground the surrounding “cactus soil” would prevent it from taking root in the earth for a long time and possibly die before that happened. Yes it’s the complete opposite of what one would think. I have planted 262 mango and avocado trees over the last few years so I have a lot of experience with your frustrations but I can easily be wrong here if your soil you put together retains water and if it’s compressed.

Ruby93

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Re: Young Mango Tree - Help!!
« Reply #8 on: September 16, 2019, 10:30:55 AM »
Hi, thanks for your advice, the soil that I purchased was a mix from Hoffman's.



And to clarify, we have been getting a lot of rain on and off. So for a week straight it'll rain every afternoon and then the next week, the harsh sun will be beating down constantly. I do make sure to stick my finger all the way into the soil to check if there's moisture and when there is still moisture, I will refrain from watering that afternoon. I check to water my tree everyday, having read before that they have susceptibility to root rot if watered too often. The soil seems to still hold moisture pretty well, but after two full days, I will not feel much moisture at that top part of the soil when I test it and that's when I'll water it. Otherwise it's been raining so much.

weiss613

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Re: Young Mango Tree - Help!!
« Reply #9 on: September 17, 2019, 12:37:03 AM »
1. Your finger isn’t long enough or good enough to check for moisture
2. Spend 10 dollars on amazon and buy a moisture meter because it works great.
3. You may be shocked by what it reveals

Ruby93

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Re: Young Mango Tree - Help!!
« Reply #10 on: September 17, 2019, 02:39:26 PM »
1. Your finger isn’t long enough or good enough to check for moisture
2. Spend 10 dollars on amazon and buy a moisture meter because it works great.
3. You may be shocked by what it reveals

Thanks, that sounds like a great idea, I'll pick one up and test the mositure level

simon_grow

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Re: Young Mango Tree - Help!!
« Reply #11 on: September 17, 2019, 06:32:09 PM »
You tree looks like it is lacking Zinc, Magnesium, Iron and maybe Manganese. You may want to add a bit of Sulfur if you’ve been getting a lot of rain considering you are using a cactus mix.

A Foliar feeding and soil drench should fix the problem but you may want to plant your tree into the ground, ideally in full sun away from the shade of your fence.

If you keep it in a pot, give it a good quality smart or slow release fertilizer. When you water it, water until there is about 10% excess water runoff in order to avoid nutrient lock.

Simon

Ruby93

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Re: Young Mango Tree - Help!!
« Reply #12 on: September 17, 2019, 09:06:05 PM »
You tree looks like it is lacking Zinc, Magnesium, Iron and maybe Manganese. You may want to add a bit of Sulfur if you’ve been getting a lot of rain considering you are using a cactus mix.

A Foliar feeding and soil drench should fix the problem but you may want to plant your tree into the ground, ideally in full sun away from the shade of your fence.

If you keep it in a pot, give it a good quality smart or slow release fertilizer. When you water it, water until there is about 10% excess water runoff in order to avoid nutrient lock.

Simon


Thanks, Simon. Unfortunately, I am renting, so my only option is to keep my tree in a container until I settle down somewhere in a couple of years. But I will move it away from my fence. :)  Sulfur powder? Mix it into soil? Is there a particular foliar spray you recommend? What about soil drench?


Also, was thinking of changing the soil to this one:




Which organic fertilizer would you recommend using? Any of these appear suitable for mangos?











Thanks!!