Pruning scions

[bangkok]

These mangoscions were pruned about a week after they flushed.

They all made more buds who flushed some weeks later.

Whatever mr mangocourse teaches you, for me it works perfect 
I have many more like this and will continue to prune them young.

[Raulglezruiz]

Do you prune just the very tip, or a little beat more down?

[bangkok]

Do you prune just the very tip, or a little beat more down?

That's important, only the tip but make sure you cut the stem of the tip or it will continue to grow out of the tip.

Also cut all other sprouts of the branch (not from the scion) so all energy goes into the scion.

I also take the grafttape off when i prune so the joint can harden up fast, i have birds and lizzards who climb in the tree's but they don't climb very thin branches so i want the wound to heal fast and strong. Also i have small tiny insects who like to live under the tape so better take it off.

Some scions made 6-8 new buds who sprouted allready. It took me a long time to learn how to graft but now i can do it. This tree has 25 variety's or so but i will add more.

[behlgarden]

I agree. Tip pruning is a hit or miss for me. when I cut the tip alone with the base, I get same 3-5 branches pushing results too. Plus, I get to use the top part that I pruned to graft elsewhere. 

[bangkok]

I agree. Tip pruning is a hit or miss for me. when I cut the tip alone with the base, I get same 3-5 branches pushing results too. Plus, I get to use the top part that I pruned to graft elsewhere. 

Oh the tip that i prune off is very soft, i can't graft that. I guess you wait longer then me so the scion is getting more hard/woody.

I didn't learn this from anybody but just tried it and it works. Any tips are welcome.

Also when i tipprune a flushed scion then sometimes more buds of the scion start sprouting, buds that were allready on the scion but didn't do anything yet.

Now i will wait a little longer before i prune them, i wait untill the first leaves have reached full size and then tipprune the scion. That way the big leaves will keep the sap flowing to the scion so the joint will harden faster (i hope).

I even had snakes jumping in my tree (from the roof) and squarrels jumping from branch to branch so it is important to have a strong graft asap.

Now i 'm experimenting with controlling the sapflow. I let some original buds from the mothertree sprout and grow some weeks and then cut them off. That way more sap is going to the area where the scions are and then when i cut the original sprouted branches off the sap has to go into the flushed/pruned scions.

It is all about sapflow-control but i still have to figure out the best way to control it. A small flushed scion can't use much sap yet but when it grows more leaves it can handle more sap.

I still prefer the v-cleft graf, works fast and is easy to do. I also use tie-wraps (cable-bundlers) together with grafting film. Sometimes when i take the film off i put a new tie-wrap around the joint so it won't break very easy. After some weeks i take that tie-wrap off as well.

[behlgarden]

I am envy of your growth habitat there. Here in So Cal, flushes are 3 to 4 max. so the flush hardens easily. 

I think you should experiment more with seeding grafts over your matured trees and see how fast they produce and what quality you get out of named variety seedlings. there is a chance that you get seedling that is much superior to parent.

[bangkok]

I am envy of your growth habitat there. Here in So Cal, flushes are 3 to 4 max. so the flush hardens easily. 

I think you should experiment more with seeding grafts over your matured trees and see how fast they produce and what quality you get out of named variety seedlings. there is a chance that you get seedling that is much superior to parent.

Yes i'm growing seedlings to experiment with but i don't have much space. I make cocktailtree's now so i can collect many variety's who will be grafted on those seedlings later.

Best would be to grow thousands grafted seedlings but that's not possible in Bangkok, land is getting very expensive here and there is a chance of floodings. It would be fun to experiment on a large scale though.

[jcaldeira]

My mango pruning is done with the desired shape of the tree in mind, not to maximize the number of branches early-on. 

Starting at about one meter height, I encourage branching to 3 or 4 main branches. 

Then every 30-50 cm (12"-20") up to as high as I can reach, I prune again to get 3 or 4 more branches, sometimes only two.  When a branch has more than 4 sprouts, the extra ones are pruned off, mostly towards the inside of the tree to encourage a spreading shape.  Something like this:



The pruning in the original post seems extreme when considering how the tree will look in a few years, but there are many ways that work.

[bangkok]

My mango pruning is done with the desired shape of the tree in mind, not to maximize the number of branches early-on. 

Starting at about one meter height, I encourage branching to 3 or 4 main branches. 

Then every 30-50 cm (12"-20") up to as high as I can reach, I prune again to get 3 or 4 more branches, sometimes only two.  When a branch has more than 4 sprouts, the extra ones are pruned off, mostly towards the inside of the tree to encourage a spreading shape.  Something like this:



The pruning in the original post seems extreme when considering how the tree will look in a few years, but there are many ways that work.

Well i grafted variety's that i don't know, i also did that with mahachanok and yu-wen last year and they grew very tall and started drooping (even without mango's on them). That won't happen again 

Yes making a cocktailtree is not easy but i can always cut of sidebranches if i have too many. Some scions grow very tall before any sidebranch appears, especially in dark spots.

The tree will look great anyway if all the variety's fruit, sure some will grow taller/faster then others but my goal is many different mango's. If i want a nicely shaped tree i would grow an ornamental but we have loads of those in the common parks.

Now i m experimenting with multiple rootstocks from seedlings grafted into 1 and then make it a cocktailtree. If i can make a mangotree which gives sweet red fruit offseason i start jumping of joy. Nobody has that here in Thailand. If i had much land like you it would be a mangoforest 

[behlgarden]

My mango pruning is done with the desired shape of the tree in mind, not to maximize the number of branches early-on. 

Starting at about one meter height, I encourage branching to 3 or 4 main branches. 

Then every 30-50 cm (12"-20") up to as high as I can reach, I prune again to get 3 or 4 more branches, sometimes only two.  When a branch has more than 4 sprouts, the extra ones are pruned off, mostly towards the inside of the tree to encourage a spreading shape.  Something like this:



The pruning in the original post seems extreme when considering how the tree will look in a few years, but there are many ways that work.

Very nice shape there. I am training my smaller mango plants to take shape early like yours. However I found Alphonso to be one stubborn varitey that is hard to maintain shape. it pushes 4 or 5 branches in all directions at every flush, kind of reminds me of chemical reaction graphics. LOL