Author Topic: Mango roots  (Read 15062 times)

bangkok

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Mango roots
« on: November 22, 2012, 04:40:39 AM »
On the website from Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden i read this:

Location — the mango tree grows to a good size and casts a dense shade, but the roots are not destructive.

Does this mean that the roots from a mangotree cannot destruct a concrete floor or a concrete wall?

I have a Mahanchanok tree that has the perfect shape, i bought it for scionwood but it is too nice to cut in pieces.

I want to plant it in between a wall and drive-way floor which is 1.5 metre (5 foot) wide but my wife is so scared that the roots will break the floor or wall.

Mahanchanok grows slow and i want to keep the tree not taller then about 10-13 foot (3-4metre)high by pruning. Do you think i can grow it on that spot which has full sunshine?

Jackfruitwhisperer69

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Re: Mango roots
« Reply #1 on: November 22, 2012, 06:47:00 AM »
Hi Bangkok,
Mango wortels sal uiteindelik die konkrete te oplig wanneer die boom groter word. Since you are Dutch, I bet you will understaan Afrikaans ;D

I reckon it will take quite a bunch of years for this to eventually happen...Though, I find planting a fruit tree in the drive-way, very slick 8) You can harvest the fruit while driving by ;D

Time is like a river.
You cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again.
Enjoy every moment of your life!

bangkok

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Re: Mango roots
« Reply #2 on: November 22, 2012, 07:57:29 AM »
Steven i live in a higly secured compound with guards biking around 24hrs. The tree nobody can reach from outside our gate and if they want to steal my mango's then it is easyier to pick from my multigrafted ndm from outside the gate. Your dutch sounds funny and i can understand it. 

But thanks for your advice, maybe i will grow it in a huge chinese pot then, i just want to have another tree with only mahanchanok but i have never eaten one haha. Grafting MahanChanok worked but no graft is growing yet and most of them died. All other species are easyier to graft.


Tropicdude

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Re: Mango roots
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2012, 01:19:00 PM »
limited experience with big trees, but the Valencia pride, at my mothers house in Hollywood, is around 30-40ft high, and is close to a cement slab, I do not see any root problems. the ground around the tree is flat.

But our soil is basically beach sand, and the water table is high only about 6-8ft deep.  so this tree may not grow many big roots.  if soil is clay, and rocky, or you have its solid coral underneath, who knows how those roots will grow.


William
" The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.....The second best time, is now ! "

MangoFang

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Re: Mango roots
« Reply #4 on: November 22, 2012, 01:45:08 PM »
Hi Bangkok - Mango Fang (Dog) here!

Glad you mentioned the mango root question - I'm about to plant some mango trees near a "known"
sewer line running along the side of my house.  I've heard mango trees have true tap roots (meaning
one main root that goes straight down), so I plan on planting the two trees on each side of it and about
4 feet from it.   I think the sewer line is about 5 feet down, so am hoping for the tap to go straight by
it though I know the other roots may try to get into it - to me that will take quite a long time and I'm willing
to chance it.  I'm figuring it will take at least 15 years before it gets into it, if it does it at all.....and then....
I'll be 75 and probably won't be using the toilet that much anyway -  :P

Next door to me they ran a new PVC pipe inside the old sewer line that's in the same location as mine
when there's got clogged up badly.....so here's hoping....

And my Mahachinok is a very healthy looking one that's doing just great - and I'm with the other guys -
go ahead and plant it near that cement slab!!!!

Go man go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Fang

Jackfruitwhisperer69

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Re: Mango roots
« Reply #5 on: November 22, 2012, 03:53:42 PM »
Bangkok,
It's better to plant a mango tree in the property than out for sure to prevent theft. I would plant a mango between a wall and drive-way floor without thinking twice...I have a massive plum tree near a house wall, less than a meter away...with no problems. This tree is definitely over 50 years old and there is no damage to the house wall at all. I also have two huge avocadoes at least 8m or more in height, near a stone wall, and there is no damage what so ever.  Bangkok plant that badboy there and enjoy the fruits of your labour :) What i wouldn't plant near a wall or floor...is Jackfruit :o this badboy ain't play'n around for shaw ;D From what i read...safe distance for planting Jacks is 10 meters away from the house :o

I had some difficulties grafting Indica...not anymore ;) Graft with fat budded scions in the warmest time of the year or when the rootstock is in full swing of growth and bag the scion to mantain humidity to prevent the scion from drying out :)

 ;D Afrikaans and Dutch is quite different...but very understandable 8)

Time is like a river.
You cannot touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again.
Enjoy every moment of your life!

bangkok

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Re: Mango roots
« Reply #6 on: November 22, 2012, 08:15:23 PM »
It does'nt get easyier now. I also have the sewer pipe going on that spot, i totally forgot about  that. The soil is very heavy clay and i also just planted a jackfruit on another spot. Maybe i should change the jackfruit for that mahanachanok but my wife thinks we have enough mango allready. There are only 15 mango-tree's all over the garden now haha but they are the scion-wood plants which i give away soon.

I know it sounds strange but i have no fear for somebody stealing my fruits. Only the squarrels might do it they are everywhere here. Same as the mango-weevils who are right now in a group of 10 on my shoots from the r2e2 having a party. I gave up spraying against them but if my grafts are flushing i will put some netting around them, they only eat young leaves.

A neighbour in my street has 5 huge mango-tree's around the house, also near the fence or drain but that does not mean they will not damage something with the roots.

Maybe i still go for the huge chinese pot and then i make a big hole in the bottom so i can turn the pot around every year to break the roots.

I use grafted trees only and i read that they dont make a deep taproot like seed-grown tree's do. So they are better to plant next to a wall or so.

Thanks for the reply's, i m still thinking how to grow it.

BMc

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Re: Mango roots
« Reply #7 on: November 22, 2012, 08:34:45 PM »
You could always dig a nice big hole and stick in root barriers to direct the root growth and development away from the slab or structure and well underneath it. I do that with mangoes I grow atop bush rock retaining walls... Many big old mango trees here have roots that stick above the soil and run for 10m or so. Not quite like a fig butress but similar to Poinciana or Jacaranda roots. I have no doubt some of these could push a slab about. They often 'lift' cement driveways. But those are big old KPs, Turpentines and Java Blues which all get enormous at 50+ years.

Tropicdude

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Re: Mango roots
« Reply #8 on: November 22, 2012, 08:46:51 PM »
And of course you could just keep it in a container.
William
" The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.....The second best time, is now ! "

bangkok

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Re: Mango roots
« Reply #9 on: November 23, 2012, 05:44:12 AM »
I think the container is the best solution. A huge chinese pot with a dragon on it or something like that.

Here they make a waterwell from concrete rings. They pile them on top of eachother and a guy goes in the ring and digs the soil out. The outside of the ring they spray with water so the ring will sink by its weight and then they put a new ring on top of them. They go very deep this way and i think it is a cheap solution. Just a concrete pipe into the soil with a diameter of about 3feet (1 metre) and 10-20 feet (3-7 metres) deep.

So the roots can damage a wall or floor, then i dont understand how Fairchild can put that on their website. Especially in the USA you can sue them if you got damage by wrong planting instructions i guess.




Tropicdude

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Re: Mango roots
« Reply #10 on: November 23, 2012, 11:55:39 AM »
Just make sure you use well draining soil, no clay.  and have good drainage holes in the container.

I do not have access to the many things mentioned in this forum for "gritty mix" what i do is use is mix regular top soil, ( not clay ) with coco coir, and sand.  I also throw in a little worm castings and some wood chips that come from mahogany.   another thing you can use that many others use here, are rice husks, but this has become more expensive than using coconut coir.   that is more or less what i use for all my big pot containers.  I have not had root rot problems.  just use your judgment, add more sand in the mix if it looks like it wont drain well enough.

the sand I use is from the river,  and not from the beach.
William
" The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.....The second best time, is now ! "