The Tropical Fruit Forum
Tropical Fruit => Tropical Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: BestDay on April 25, 2013, 08:44:52 PM
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Hi all, after letting my mangos grow for one year in 15 gallon pots, I'm going to start putting them into the ground. I don't know if I'll have room for all of them so I really need to know how big each variety will get. I live in Long Beach California so I'm guessing they will get maybe 20-30% smaller than in Florida? Does that sound about right. Long Beach does get pretty hot and my soil is basically dirt. It's not sandy it doesn't really have any clay in it, it is just dirt. This area was used for farming before the houses where built here. Listed below are the varieties I have, the full size I think they grow to in Florida and the size I think they can be kept at with pruning. Please let me know if you think these sizes are accurate. Or if you have info on the varieties that I don't have sizes for please speak up.
Thanks in advance,
Bill
full grown pruned
Valencia Pride 30x30 ????
Edward 25x25 ????
Dot ????? ????
Cushman 20x20 15x15?
Maha Chanok 15x15 12x12?
Southern Blush ???? ????
Rosigold 15x15 8x8
Ice Cream 8x8 6x6
NDM4 12x12? ????
Cogshall 20Tx15W 12Tx10W
Pickering 8x8 6x6
Lemon Zest ???? ????
Julie 8x8 6x6?
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Just for the record, there's no such soil type as "just dirt." I was born and raised up the Long Beach Freeway in South Gate so I'm familiar with your soil. It's silty and is actually pretty fertile. Everything seems to grow well in it. Our fruit trees thrived (but nobody was growing mango trees back in the 1960's and 70's!), and my sister and I also used to grow excellent vegetables. (My Zone 10b sure is different than yours--it's hot as hell in Florida! Long Beach DOES NOT EVER get hot in comparison--well, maybe once in a while.)
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Answers to these height questions are going to vary between Florida and Cali. Since you are in Cali, I would more search out how these varieties grow/react there. What you have already provided for "full grown" are off for the most part for being Florida grown.
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John I agree it is good soil I just don't know how to describe it.
Bsbullie, I agree that talking to people that have full grown trees here in Southern California would be ideal. Unfortunately I don't know of any people that have these trees. A lot of the local trees are more common varieties or new trees that haven't fully grown. If anyone has any info on these trees growing in Southern California than please speak up. For now I think I'm going to have to figure out how big they grow in Florida and then assume they will be little smaller in Southern Califonria. Except for the Julie and Ice Cream, supposedly they grow better here than in Florida.
Any info you have on these varieties in Florida would be helpful.
Thanks,
Bill
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I am only going to address full size trees as with pruning, the tree would be in your control to maintain what height you wanted...the sizes below are height only (and my best observations, not set in stone) as width can vary depending on the surroundings.
Valencia Pride 50+...the sky is the limit
Edward 30+
Dot 25-30 (from what I have seen)
Cushman 20-30
Maha Chanok 20 (have not seen a totally full grown tree)
Southern Blush 30+
Rosigold 15-20
Ice Cream 12+ feet (I have seen a tree in a 100 gal that is 10-12 feet thats not full grown)
NDM4 20+ (this is a "guess"...its slow grower when young but highly doubt its a dwarf)
Cogshall 15+
Pickering in excess of 10 feet (the original Pickering is about 20 feet tall but is a seedling)
Lemon Zest ????
Julie 20-30 feet (grown in the Caribbean)
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Rob is on the money with tree sizes being influenced by climate.In a tropical monsoon climate the same variety of mango tree can be huge compared to the dimensions in a warm temperate place.Pruning on mano farm here and espalier style pruning has resulted in trees that could be huge like KP seedlings bein only 10 feet high at 10 to 15 year old.
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John I agree it is good soil I just don't know how to describe it.
Bsbullie, I agree that talking to people that have full grown trees here in Southern California would be ideal. Unfortunately I don't know of any people that have these trees. A lot of the local trees are more common varieties or new trees that haven't fully grown. If anyone has any info on these trees growing in Southern California than please speak up. For now I think I'm going to have to figure out how big they grow in Florida and then assume they will be little smaller in Southern Califonria. Except for the Julie and Ice Cream, supposedly they grow better here than in Florida.
Any info you have on these varieties in Florida would be helpful. Thanks,
Bill
"Silty," Bill. That's the description, and the legitimate classification. Good luck with your mango collection in Long Beach, CA! How big is your lot/property? Any room for the normal deciduous fruits? I want to come sample your fruit tree offerings when I visit SoCal on a future vacation. ;D
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Hello Bill
I can only comment about the VP, Edward, Glenn and Hayden. They all grow to 25 feet plus. I like to keep all my tress under 12 feet regardless of their growth habits. It take a long time in SoCal before mango tree get as large as they do in south Florida.
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Ok, those estimates on size are very helpful. Thanks for the info. It sounds like I'm going to have to become very good at pruning. If a KP can be kept to 10 feet than I should be fine!
I agree that 12 feet high is a very good size for a tree. That should be easy to prune and harvest fruit. My main constraint is width, so I will try to keep the larger trees at 12 feet tall and 7-8 feet wide. The smaller ones I'll prune to the area they are in. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't trying to keep a 30 foot tree pruned to 6 feet.
Would you guys say that Valencia Pride and Southern Blush are the most vigorous growers on the list?
John, my lot is only 6,800SF so I have to plan accordingly. Right now I'm also growing Raspberries, Black berries, Strawberries, Pineapples, Bananas, Oranges and Avocados but Mangos are my priority. I need to get them into the ground this spring!
Thanks,
Bill
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Ok, those estimates on size are very helpful. Thanks for the info. It sounds like I'm going to have to become very good at pruning. If a KP can be kept to 10 feet than I should be fine!
I agree that 12 feet high is a very good size for a tree. That should be easy to prune and harvest fruit. My main constraint is width, so I will try to keep the larger trees at 12 feet tall and 7-8 feet wide. The smaller ones I'll prune to the area they are in. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't trying to keep a 30 foot tree pruned to 6 feet.
Would you guys say that Valencia Pride and Southern Blush are the most vigorous growers on the list?
John, my lot is only 6,800SF so I have to plan accordingly. Right now I'm also growing Raspberries, Black berries, Strawberries, Pineapples, Bananas, Oranges and Avocados but Mangos are my priority. I need to get them into the ground this spring!
Thanks,
Bill
Bill, My lot is about the same size as yours. Come by at the end of summer so you can see my setup and try some mangos.
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JF, I will take you up on that offer for sure! What kind of spacing do you use on your trees?
Bill
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Bill, I live in Carson not too far from lone beach. I have a few mango tree planted in the ground Alphonso, Carrie, Pickering, NDM, Ewais, & Glenn. Mango in So. Cali takes a long time to grow.I have a Carrie Mango in the ground for 5 years and it's only 4 feet tall and 5 foot wide, it gives us about 5-10 fruit a year but what I have been doing is letting it fruit every other year. Last year it did not grow much beacuse it was fruiting, this year my plan is to let it hold a couple of fruits so it will get a bit of height before the summer ends. What I am trying to explain is if you let your young tree hold fruit it will not grow much at all because by the time you harvest the tree it's almost winter again and mango tree in So. Cali does not push new growth during winter months, it pushes out flower panincles again unlike florida mangoes they harvest during the summer time and the tree has time to grow during summer months.
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Bill, I live in Carson not too far from lone beach. I have a few mango tree planted in the ground Alphonso, Carrie, Pickering, NDM, Ewais, & Glenn. Mango in So. Cali takes a long time to grow.I have a Carrie Mango in the ground for 5 years and it's only 4 feet tall and 5 foot wide, it gives us about 5-10 fruit a year but what I have been doing is letting it fruit every other year. Last year it did not grow much beacuse it was fruiting, this year my plan is to let it hold a couple of fruits so it will get a bit of height before the summer ends. What I am trying to explain is if you let your young tree hold fruit it will not grow much at all because by the time you harvest the tree it's almost winter again and mango tree in So. Cali does not push new growth during winter months, it pushes out flower panincles again unlike florida mangoes they harvest during the summer time and the tree has time to grow during summer months.
Bill, Ant21 has a very nice collection of mangos near you and he is a great source for you. My trees are all spread out. Some are 3-4 feet apart ....three in one....others are 7-8 feet apart. I have posted pics last summer. The best time to come is the first week of sept. remind me.
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JF, what mango varieties do you have spaced 3-4 feet apart? Aren't you worried they will grow into each other?
I think I'm planning on planting my Edward, Dot, Cushman and Maha Chanok about 9 feet apart. Does that sound about right? I have an open area that is 23x18 feet.
Bill
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JF, what mango varieties do you have spaced 3-4 feet apart? Aren't you worried they will grow into each other?
I think I'm planning on planting my Edward, Dot, Cushman and Maha Chanok about 9 feet apart. Does that sound about right? I have an open area that is 23x18 feet.
Bill
Bill, I did the opposite. I've planted the most vigorous 3 in 1. e.g. Spirit 76, Haden and Keitt and LZ and Pina Cola are 2 in 1. I've also pugged my Edward, Dot and Alfonso to keep them in check. I have 4 others in large containers. They are all growing well.... I think you are going to have to use your better judgement on this one. We don't have many members from Socal with experience. I suggest you take a trip to Fountain Valley to Roger Meyer's place he has some mangos in his property near the coast like you.