Latest on mango trees from LaVerne Nursery (Piru, CA)

[wslau]

At the Irvine cherimoya tasting event today, I got a chance to chat with the Director of Nursery Operations of LaVerne Nursery (Piru, CA).

Here is the latest information on La Verne SoCal mangos:
1. La Verne will soon begin to sell grafted Alphonso mangos.   
2. La Verne is experimenting with Turpentine rootstock.
Manila seedling is currently used for rootstock.  I was told that LaVerne uses the largest/healthiest sprout as rootstock. 
3. I discussed their practice of high mango graft lines and expressed a desire (on behalf of home growers/enthusiasts) for a lower graft line.   LaVerne practices veneer grafts, and the high graft lines appears to give them the most opportunities for success if the initial graft fails.
4. I was informed that a new mango orchard(s) in Ojai, CA is in the works.  Watch out Coachella Valley!
5. I submitted a list of commonly bought/desired mango trees (by the SoCal Tropical Fruit Forum members) in hopes of encouraging LaVerne to begin experimenting with other varieties for SoCal propagation. They currently only propagate Glenn, Gold Nugget, Haden, Keitt, Kent, Manila, Nam Doc Mai#4, Thompson, Timotayo, Tommy Atkins,  Valencia Pride, and Villasenor. In general, LaVerne will always be less expensive than PIN, TT, and POG because of shipping costs to CA.  However, I was told that LaVerne’s mango propagation program is currently limited by the availability of a reliable source of budwood and the ability of that mango variety to thrive in the SoCal climate.

[nch]

Thanks, Warren. I do not like their (way too) high graft. One can lose the graft so easily and end up with a seedling.

[shaneatwell]

2. La Verne is experimenting with Turpentine rootstock.
Manila seedling is currently used for rootstock.  I was told that LaVerne uses the largest/healthiest sprout for rootstock of grafted varieties.  From literature, I recall that the largest sprout tends to be the zygote and not the clone.  I hope they don’t do this with the plants they sell as Manila.

Floridians have used Turpentine and Californians Manilla. You will find a rare California Mango grower that will recommend Turpentine, but not many.

I've been conducting my own mini experiment on seedlings in my heavy clay soil and I can tell you that Manila seedlings (or at least what's sold as manila in the asian markets) do not do well in my soil (0/6). After 6 months they're scraggly, tip burned or just puny. The Kent seedlings on the other hand have grown well, thickened up and half have survived the winter (so far) with only minor or no leaf burn (6 of . My lone Haden seedling pushed up thick and dark green like a Kent, but then hasn't grown anymore since the 1st 4 leaves. Based on this I'm wondering how Manila got to be so popular in California. Perhaps more customers have sandy soil then clay?

[wslau]

So far, Kent seedlings have done the best for me too as rootstock.

[simon_grow]

My multigraft mango tree on Manilla rootstock is my most vigorous mango tree I have. It is planted in heavy clay but I did amend the soil with about 30% organic matter. My Pine island trees are much less vigorous and grows at about half the rate compared to the Mania rootstock. I also have a Lemon Zest on Manilla rootstock that is currently in a pot that is growing at an extremely fast rate.

I've heard that people like to grow on Manilla rootstock because they were assumed to be more cold tolerant. Not sure if this is true or not.
Simon

[MangoFang]

Great report Warren - I too despise the high graft line.  Saying it gives them more chances if they
fail if kinda lame.  They could still cut the height of the graft in half and still have plenty of 2nd and 3rd
chance opportunities.....

And I can also tell you, they don't sell any of those varieties out here at my Home Depot and Lowe's
except Manila...but once I did see a Golden Nugget....

Anyway, Ojai Valley is an interesting choice for a new mango orchard...I approve!


Gary

[wslau]

Gary,
If I recall correctly, you can ask Home Depot to special order a tree from LaVerne.  They will contact LaVerne to check its availability.  And it's still only $49.98 for a 5 gallon tree. Armstrong can also special order, but I don't remember how much they charge.

[MangoFang]

You know Warren - you are right.  I did that one time about 3 years ago at Lowe's
and I was thoroughly disgusted with the plant they sent and never bought it....


G