Author Topic: Atulfo Mango Pruning and Advice Questions  (Read 1039 times)

John B

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Atulfo Mango Pruning and Advice Questions
« on: November 05, 2020, 01:37:44 AM »
Good evening,

Glad to finally join this forum. I bought an Atulfo Mango tree at Clausen Nursery in Vista, CA last winter. It has really taken off on my south facing hill in San Diego (zone 10a).

I've set my plants on drip and fertilized it twice. I did have a few blooms and flushes. I left only two mango's on but I think they got anthracnose and I cut them off.

As for the pruning, Clausen Nursery told me to leave the tree as is with the multiple trunks. Should I do this or cut it down to one trunk to form more of a tree? I'm more interested in production than looks, if that matters. Also, any other pruning I should do? This is my first Mango tree, so learning as it grows.

Lastly, I am thinking about getting another mango tree. Any other varieties I should consider that stays relatively small ( under 20') or easily pruned for my zone?

Thank you all in advance.




JakeFruit

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Re: Atulfo Mango Pruning and Advice Questions
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2020, 11:31:40 AM »
Ataulfo is very vigorous with an upright growing habit https://www.tropicalacresfarms.com/product-page/ataulfo

Mine here in Florida wants to be a monster, I topped it when it was 2' tall, kept two branches creating a V shape coming off the trunk, and then topped both those branches again at ~4' tall. I've actively pruned to stunt its growth every year and it's still currently 15' tall.

The multiple trunks will probably merge as it gets larger, as long as you are happy with the growth on each, I wouldn't do anything to them. I'd remove the most upright, vigorous branches every time you prune, that should encourage a spreading growth pattern and remove some nitrogen from the tree. That your tree is already flowering/fruiting is good, less energy going to vegetative growth. Maybe it'll be a different tree for you in CA (hopefully a CA grower will chime in), but I'd plan for it to be a big tree and plant other surrounding trees accordingly. It'll probably provide a lot of shade eventually, not always a good thing.

simon_grow

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Re: Atulfo Mango Pruning and Advice Questions
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2020, 11:50:53 AM »
I’ve had a couple people reporting to me that some of the nurseries have been selling these trees with multiple trunks. I believe they are actually two separate trees from the same seed do each should have its own root system.

Ideally, the nursery would have cut the weaker one down but since your trees are growing fine, you can leave them if you want. If it were my trees, I would probably cut the weaker one down so that the trunks don’t rub on each other. Trees can send out hormonal signals that cause the growth of each tree to push away from each other.

It should be fine if you just left both trees since you are not worried about asthetics. There is no need for additional pruning this time of year. I don’t like to leave open wounds around Winter time. Once your tree flowers again this Winter, allow the bloom panicles to develop and then cut off about 50% off the tips of the blooms in order to relief some of the weight. If you don’t remove some of the blooms for younger trees, the branches will droop a lot and the droopy branches will have horizontal surfaces that can sunburn if you don’t paint them.

Once the tree is big enough, you won’t have to worry about this but these young branches are your future scaffold branches.

Simon

John B

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Re: Atulfo Mango Pruning and Advice Questions
« Reply #3 on: November 05, 2020, 02:35:23 PM »
Ataulfo is very vigorous with an upright growing habit https://www.tropicalacresfarms.com/product-page/ataulfo

Mine here in Florida wants to be a monster, I topped it when it was 2' tall, kept two branches creating a V shape coming off the trunk, and then topped both those branches again at ~4' tall. I've actively pruned to stunt its growth every year and it's still currently 15' tall.

The multiple trunks will probably merge as it gets larger, as long as you are happy with the growth on each, I wouldn't do anything to them. I'd remove the most upright, vigorous branches every time you prune, that should encourage a spreading growth pattern and remove some nitrogen from the tree. That your tree is already flowering/fruiting is good, less energy going to vegetative growth. Maybe it'll be a different tree for you in CA (hopefully a CA grower will chime in), but I'd plan for it to be a big tree and plant other surrounding trees accordingly. It'll probably provide a lot of shade eventually, not always a good thing.

Thank you very much for the information. My tree is already about 9' tall. I will cut those top tips in the spring, per your recommendation. Yes, I currently have a Parfianka pomegranate behind it as you can see. It was there first and I was not sure if the mango would make it so I left it. I'm hoping I can keep it there, but if not, I will move it and switch for a new dragon fruit variety. You can actually see a few redwood posts that I have there that I am going to use for some other DF's on the other side. I would like to maintain this at a slender ~15' tree. We will see!

I will probably take Simon's advice as well. I first have to see what the growth is on each main trunk.

John B

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Re: Atulfo Mango Pruning and Advice Questions
« Reply #4 on: November 05, 2020, 02:41:49 PM »
I’ve had a couple people reporting to me that some of the nurseries have been selling these trees with multiple trunks. I believe they are actually two separate trees from the same seed do each should have its own root system.

Ideally, the nursery would have cut the weaker one down but since your trees are growing fine, you can leave them if you want. If it were my trees, I would probably cut the weaker one down so that the trunks don’t rub on each other. Trees can send out hormonal signals that cause the growth of each tree to push away from each other.

It should be fine if you just left both trees since you are not worried about asthetics. There is no need for additional pruning this time of year. I don’t like to leave open wounds around Winter time. Once your tree flowers again this Winter, allow the bloom panicles to develop and then cut off about 50% off the tips of the blooms in order to relief some of the weight. If you don’t remove some of the blooms for younger trees, the branches will droop a lot and the droopy branches will have horizontal surfaces that can sunburn if you don’t paint them.

Once the tree is big enough, you won’t have to worry about this but these young branches are your future scaffold branches.

Simon

Thank you for your input, Simon. I've been reading your mango threads and digesting the information. Yes, I asked my question because I do know these grew these directly from seed and they just left them as is. There are actually 4 trunks, not 2!. All of the trunks produced flower clusters. If I were to cut the other trunks, should I wait until spring? Also, do I just cut as low as possible and do I treat that with anything or just cut it as a regular pruning?

Also, with your experience, what is another variety you would recommend that I can get locally (south of Temecula)? I've got young children so my time with my plants is more limited. 

JakeFruit

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Re: Atulfo Mango Pruning and Advice Questions
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2020, 07:46:50 AM »
I will probably take Simon's advice as well. I first have to see what the growth is on each main trunk.
That would be wise  ;)
Simon has pointed me in the right direction several times in the past, and he's in CA. Local grower knowledge is always more valuable in these matters.

simon_grow

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Re: Atulfo Mango Pruning and Advice Questions
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2020, 03:09:44 PM »
I’ve had a couple people reporting to me that some of the nurseries have been selling these trees with multiple trunks. I believe they are actually two separate trees from the same seed do each should have its own root system.

Ideally, the nursery would have cut the weaker one down but since your trees are growing fine, you can leave them if you want. If it were my trees, I would probably cut the weaker one down so that the trunks don’t rub on each other. Trees can send out hormonal signals that cause the growth of each tree to push away from each other.

It should be fine if you just left both trees since you are not worried about asthetics. There is no need for additional pruning this time of year. I don’t like to leave open wounds around Winter time. Once your tree flowers again this Winter, allow the bloom panicles to develop and then cut off about 50% off the tips of the blooms in order to relief some of the weight. If you don’t remove some of the blooms for younger trees, the branches will droop a lot and the droopy branches will have horizontal surfaces that can sunburn if you don’t paint them.

Once the tree is big enough, you won’t have to worry about this but these young branches are your future scaffold branches.

Simon

Thank you for your input, Simon. I've been reading your mango threads and digesting the information. Yes, I asked my question because I do know these grew these directly from seed and they just left them as is. There are actually 4 trunks, not 2!. All of the trunks produced flower clusters. If I were to cut the other trunks, should I wait until spring? Also, do I just cut as low as possible and do I treat that with anything or just cut it as a regular pruning?

Also, with your experience, what is another variety you would recommend that I can get locally (south of Temecula)? I've got young children so my time with my plants is more limited.

Hey John, I would wait until Spring when there is active growth on your tree. I don’t like to leave open wounds going into Winter and I don’t use any dressing on the wounds.

One of my favorite varieties is Sweet Tart, it is the variety I recommend most for SoCal growers. You can order grafted tree from Florida from Plantogram and Sweet Tart grows fine on Florida Turpentine rootstock. You can also wait until the Florida growers like Tropical Acres starts selling scions again.

Simon

Simon

John B

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Re: Atulfo Mango Pruning and Advice Questions
« Reply #7 on: November 06, 2020, 08:13:18 PM »
Thank you, Simon. It appears that website is out of that variety but I'll keep an eye out.