Is my mango plant dying or is this normal?

[eointremont]

Hi guys!
I've grown very attached to my mango plant since I grew it from seed about a year ago. When the winter came, however, the leaves started to grow brown, crispy splotches. It was soon later that those leaves fell and bed ones grew in. In fact, I thought everything seemed fine since the new leaves were absolutely healthy-looking! But, two weeks later, the leaves started to grow brown spots once more and now the edges of a couple of branches seem thinner. The stem still looks healthy and green. I just need to know, is my plant dying on me? If it is, is it too late to heal it? What can I do? Is it some sort of disease (I'm guessing Anthracnose). I live in Southern California by the way and some sources tell me that this is normal for mango plants here to do this during the winter, but I just wanted to be sure. Thank you guys!

[puglvr1]

Hi, I'm sorry about your mango tree...that is definitely not normal unfortunately  ...the leaves browning like that plus it looks like a couple of the small twigs appears dried up and or dehydrated looking...there's definitely something going on...maybe down in the roots...you can check the soil to see if its very wet at the bottom even though the top looks quite dry. Sorry I'm not much help. Maybe others can chime in and suggest something for you to try...Good luck!

[MangoFang]

...my off-the-cuff guess would be soil is too wet.  Stick your finger in about 2 inches from the trunk
and see what you see.  Where do you keep this plant?  How often do you water.  Been fertilizing
at all?  With this great  weather we're having now I hope you are keeping it outside and letting it
get some sun.  What kind of soil is it?

Need more info and your caring instructions to better get a picture....

We can fix this (I think)


    Gary

[ClayMango]

Well the soil doesn't even look moist?

[Mark in Texas]

Rule of thunb - if the top looks like crap, so does the root system. You can gauge the quality and mass of the  root system by the condition above ground....all things considered (proper nutrition, soil structure.)

Pop it out of the pot and take a look.

[Mark in Texas]

Need more info and your caring instructions to better get a picture....
    Gary

Yep

[eointremont]

Thank you guys for the help. I take it outside in a sunny place for about 5 hours then bring it into the shade so that it wouldn't burn up. I water about once a week (I'm dorming and my dad has been watering it a little too frequently I think). The last time it's been fertilized was in October. The problem is that during my stay here in school since I'm dorming I let my plant under the care of the school's greenhouse keeper who says he grew up with mango trees. He fertilized it but I do t think he forgot to place the plant inside when winter came. Once break started, I took it back home and let it set out in the sun most of the day watering occasionally. I will pop it out of the pot when I go back home this weekend to check out its roots then post a photo. Thank you guys I appreciate the help!

[eointremont]

Hi friends sorry to double post but I finally came back home and took my plant out to repot it and therefore took a few pictures of the roots.




Now, I don't know how bad roots look like but by the look of my plant's roots, things seem okay I think. My only concern is how black the bulby part of the root is but I think it's just soil residue.

Also, should I trim off this branch here? It's the blackish one.



Again guys thank you for helping! I really appreciate it!

[puglvr1]

Its a little hard to see the color from your picture...but to me the roots doesn't appear to be alive...sorry! I think the roots are black? You might be better off getting a new plant...I'm hoping I'm wrong but I think the plant is toast 

But you have nothing to lose...wait about 3-4 weeks or so...look for signs of new growths... 

[Herman]

Those roots don't look too good =(

Hi friends sorry to double post but I finally came back home and took my plant out to repot it and therefore took a few pictures of the roots.




Now, I don't know how bad roots look like but by the look of my plant's roots, things seem okay I think. My only concern is how black the bulby part of the root is but I think it's just soil residue.

Also, should I trim off this branch here? It's the blackish one.



Again guys thank you for helping! I really appreciate it!

[Mark in Texas]

I rest my case.......   

Glad you popped it out.  That root system won't support much of anything if it's still alive.  Hard to tell but that root looks like it did a "J root" number on ya too and if that happens it either stunts the tree or kills it.  When you plant whether in the ground or a pot make sure you don't stuff the tap root into the hole causing it to J root.  Sink the bare root or rootball deep, add some soil, pull up to the final position and then complete the backfill.  When you pull up on it you should feel some pretty good resistance.

Good luck!

[edzone9]

Its Done !..

The positive side is. that you can post in the wanted add for Mango seeds of any type!.
Or get a grafted tree..

Good luck Ed..

[eointremont]

Thank you to all of you guys. I'm upset that my one year old plant died  but I'm currently germinating new ones and restart again and hopefully won't let the winter kill it next time!