The Tropical Fruit Forum
Tropical Fruit => Tropical Fruit Discussion => Topic started by: quesofreshcoh on August 04, 2020, 01:35:56 PM
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Hi everyone,
In my last few threads, I asked about the best Zill varieties and things of that nature. Now I have an idea which I have seen some people do on here, but I wanted to get other people's input as well for my situation. I only have room for one mango tree, and it's a decent amount of room so size wouldn't be an issue but I want to maintain it at most 15 or so feet for ease of picking. I have an idea to plant a 'Valencia Pride' at first since it will grow very rapidly and fill in, with regular tipping to encourage branching. Once it gets a good structure about 4 feet off the ground or so, I thought about pruning back lower branches and grafting other varieties on it. Essentially top working a portion of it, but leaving a central leader to grow up. Once that leader reaches a certain height, I want to tip it and encourage more branches, which would allow for more varieties to be grafted on. I would like to leave a branch of VP as well, although it is vigorous so I don't know if I should leave it lower or higher in the tree to avoid it taking over. I plan to have varieties such as 'Sweet Tart', 'Lemon Meringue', 'Honey Kiss', and 'Fruit Punch'. Please let me know if this idea would work, if I should start with a different variety like 'Sweet Tart', and/or your suggestions for the project. I would love to document the journey!
Have a good one :)
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I think the idea of starting out with a VP is a good idea due to the vigor. A cheaper alternative would be to plant a seed (ideally VP)
The way your thinking of top working makes sense but might be hard to manange in a few years.
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Here are a few things to consider:
Once you start tipping you are basically are removing any central leader. you'll have a few main braches with some vertical shoots on each.
Top working the bottom branches while letting the top fully grow will make it hard for the grafted sections to grow.
The vigor of the tree wants to grow up.
Its pretty hard to balance trees of even similar vigors, the more you add the harder it is.
North side will receive more shade
As bottom grafts get shaded out those branched might die off.
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Maybe if you start from the top and work your way down.
Low vigor varieties on top and high vigor on the bottom.
You'll still have you hands full prunning in either way.
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I think the idea of starting out with a VP is a good idea due to the vigor. A cheaper alternative would be to plant a seed (ideally VP)
The way your thinking of top working makes sense but might be hard to manange in a few years.
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Here are a few things to consider:
Once you start tipping you are basically are removing any central leader. you'll have a few main braches with some vertical shoots on each.
Top working the bottom branches while letting the top fully grow will make it hard for the grafted sections to grow.
The vigor of the tree wants to grow up.
Its pretty hard to balance trees of even similar vigors, the more you add the harder it is.
North side will receive more shade
As bottom grafts get shaded out those branched might die off.
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Maybe if you start from the top and work your way down.
Low vigor varieties on top and high vigor on the bottom.
You'll still have you hands full prunning in either way.
Very good recommendation, I definitely haven't thought of that. If you topwork the top part and allow higher vigor at the bottom then they shouldn't crowd out the other varieties. I definitely feel like VP is a good choice because of its vigor, and since I do want fruit from it I don't have an issue buying grafted. I definitely wanted to start off with another variety but because of the vigor I would choose VP. I can always go down to Miami next year and pick up the mangos of other varieties. Pruning is definitely something that I have to start when it's young. And yes, it will probably be difficult to balance the tree which is why I am still weary of planting it out in the front yard. If this idea doesn't work out for the spot I imagine, I will go with a 'Sweet Tart' because the only other spot I have is a bit more narrow and it happens to be a very upright grower. Thanks for the input!
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I like cac which some consider as top-tier me included it said to be very vigorous. You just might as well start off with the number one top tier Tree in my opinion sweet tart to me it is vigorous. But I'll leave it up to others to say how vigorous
(https://i.postimg.cc/RJR40mPG/20200804-163910.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/RJR40mPG)
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I like cac which some consider as top-tier me included it said to be very vigorous. You just might as well start off with the number one top tier Tree in my opinion sweet tart to me it is vigorous. But I'll leave it up to others to say how vigorous
(https://i.postimg.cc/RJR40mPG/20200804-163910.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/RJR40mPG)
That's a gorgeous tree! How old is it? Yeah, I definitely haven't made any permanent decisions on it yet. I want to get a sweet-tart one way or another, it's just impossible here because everyone wants one and the only option is either going down to SF and hoping someone has in stock or buying scions from Truly Tropical. I will keep digging around before I jump into a VP. Ive heard very little on Cac, is it anything like a Kent?
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That is a 15 gallon that I got August 2019 from tropical Acre Farms. There could be some Sweet Tarts locally what size are you looking for 3 or 7 gallon
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You will definitely have problems with the low vigor honey kiss competing with VP. Having varieties that grow at similar rates will help. From my experience, I would not leave one vertical branch left to grow on top of grafted branches either, as most of the energy will go to the top of the tree.
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A Sweet Tart tree is available in Saint Cloud if you're interested I will send you the 411 does anyone say that anymore? information
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A Sweet Tart tree is available in Saint Cloud if you're interested I will send you the 411 does anyone say that anymore? information
LOL I have heard that expression around still. Yeah, I think I might have found one near me, I actually think I might go with a Lemon Meringue because its a vigorous grower but not as crazy as VP, it seems to have a more similar and uniform growth habit to all the varieties I plan to use. VP is just too much and I know i'd get lazy and let it take over eventually. I am not a fan of constant pruning to be totally honest. Plus, the fruit are top tier and they produce lots of branches, plenty for grafting. VP's not fully out of the picture though. I've been practicing grafting with some roses that I have growing in the yard, and so far it's too early to tell if they took. Lemon meringue seems to have a higher chance of success to graft Sweet Tart and others with similar growth habit onto. Plus, I can pick up VPs at a farm an hour away, it's much harder to find Sweet Tart and PPK in this area (next to impossible).
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A Sweet Tart tree is available in Saint Cloud if you're interested I will send you the 411 does anyone say that anymore? information
LOL I have heard that expression around still. Yeah, I think I might have found one near me, I actually think I might go with a Lemon Meringue because its a vigorous grower but not as crazy as VP, it seems to have a more similar and uniform growth habit to all the varieties I plan to use. VP is just too much and I know i'd get lazy and let it take over eventually. I am not a fan of constant pruning to be totally honest. Plus, the fruit are top tier and they produce lots of branches, plenty for grafting. VP's not fully out of the picture though. I've been practicing grafting with some roses that I have growing in the yard, and so far it's too early to tell if they took. Lemon meringue seems to have a higher chance of success to graft Sweet Tart and others with similar growth habit onto. Plus, I can pick up VPs at a farm an hour away, it's much harder to find Sweet Tart and PPK in this area (next to impossible).
That is very sound logical thinking! I have a PPK for the same reasons and Rob has convinced me that even though LZ is problematic it's worth the effort.I will be grafting it to PPK this spring :)
(https://i.postimg.cc/t1xQwd3p/20200808-072531.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/t1xQwd3p)
Here's a photo of a eight-year-old Valencia Pride.It's never been fertilized or pruned has never been sprayed It stays very clean and is a alternate bearer. We love that tree.
(https://i.postimg.cc/ppzsw070/20200808-074127.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/ppzsw070)