The Tropical Fruit Forum

Looking at the picture of my tree in my previous post, would it make sense for me to just chop off everything a node or two above the bottom two branches, and to do so at this time of year?

I hope it’s not rude of me to jump in this post with a similar question. I figure people seeking this info would like to see it in a single thread, but please let me know if I should start a separate one. Basically, it sounds like I should also start shaping my newly acquired cherimoya, but I am not sure where to start.

You can see there are criss-crossing branches, but the one that is coming out at a better angle has been cut short and the other one looks rather weak. In fact, there are a few weak-looking branches to me. Should I remove them all or? Or is this guy a candidate for topping as well? I cringe just to think about it 😅

It’s about 4 feet above the soil line right now.

You can prune twice a year.  Thats why people like Frank the annona guru are selling scions 2X per year.  Not only 2x a year but whenever a branch gets too long just pinch it off and steip the leaves where you want a new branch.  I do summer pruning on all my stone fruits and cherimoya.  Otherwise you end up with long branches like you have that could have been multiple short branches and bushy canopy.  You basically wasting time if you let the branches get that long.  This is how my cherimoya trees look after a few years of this.  With a tree the size you have dont even worry about fruit next year just prune when it needs it and build the canopy where you can reach and pollinate it.

What a beautiful tree! About how tall is it?

Into the Earth

Aw, I wasn’t sure I was going to get any advice and ended up sticking it into a pot. I was too afraid of not being able to protect it in ground and I couldn’t decide on the best location given our cold rainy winters and scorching hot summer.

At this point, would you still recommend transplanting it?

Might have been a Carabao Mango?

Yeah, I wish I knew, though what he said and wrote are both "Honey's Philippine" (or something very close, e.g. Honeys Philippine). He wasn't a particularly chatty fellow though

This was Exotica Rare Fruit Nursery in Vista, CA and I understand they have a good reputation so I took what he had to sell me 😂

Why did you get it? If you are planning to graft I would keep the biggest trunk.
If you are planning to raise it to maturity do you know what produced it? I would
not raise a seedling but if I did I wouldn't want to raise something for 5+ years and
find out it's turpentine?

It was recommended when I mentioned I liked Ataulfo mangoes. The man at the nursery called it "Honey's Phillipine" mango I believe, but I am having trouble finding any info on such a variety. I wanted a grafted tree, but they didn't have any at the time. In retrospect, I am glad to try a seedling since I am not confident I can keep it alive.

Hello again,

I just got this mango seedling last week and didn't notice until I got home that it has two trunks. I am new to mangoes, but my impression is mango trees are typically single trunked, so are these two different seedlings? Should I cut the shorter one off? It started putting out new growth which always makes pruning hard for me so I wanted to be sure before I made the cut.