New grafted mangosteen

[GwenninPR]

So I am finally getting some time to play in the yard and start planting some of the many trees I bought on the last fruit hunting exhibition.

Today I started with the grafted mangosteen.  $25 was too good a deal to pass up.  Jay and I bought them, but Jay's meet a very unhappy Postal worker on the way to his house.  Since the ones I have seen grown here remain very small and bushy, I decided to plant it closer to house (not in the garcinia area of the yard).

[TropicalFruitHunters]

Looks nice Gwenn.  Wish I had it to do over again.

[fruitlovers]

Hi Gwenn, don't be fooled, the mangosteen stays small and bushy when it's very young. They do get to be a large tree, but it takes many years. If you want then to have full potential plan for them to get 25+ feet tall. I spaced mine 30 feet apart, but 25 feet is also ok.

[Jsvand5]

Hi Gwenn, don't be fooled, the mangosteen stays small and bushy when it's very young. They do get to be a large tree, but it takes many years. If you want then to have full potential plan for them to get 25+ feet tall. I spaced mine 30 feet apart, but 25 feet is also ok.

I think she meant the grafted ones specifically. All of the grafted ones we saw we very stunted compared to the seedlings. I would guess the grafted ones were no more than half of the size of the seedlings with most being even smaller than that.

[GwenninPR]

Hi Gwenn, don't be fooled, the mangosteen stays small and bushy when it's very young. They do get to be a large tree, but it takes many years. If you want then to have full potential plan for them to get 25+ feet tall. I spaced mine 30 feet apart, but 25 feet is also ok.

I think she meant the grafted ones specifically. All of the grafted ones we saw we very stunted compared to the seedlings. I would guess the grafted ones were no more than half of the size of the seedlings with most being even smaller than that.

Yes, I was talking only about the grafted one staying small.  Oscar- have you seen the grafted ones take off in growth?  That would screw up where I put it.
I have 4 seedling trees planted about 10-15 feet part.  I don't know if I will still be around when they are 25 foot trees!  The one is about 10 feet tall at this point, but not  too wide yet.

[TropicalFruitHunters]

I recall Felipe saying something about it all depends upon the branch the plant was grafted with.  If taken from a side branch, the plant will grow more outwards and stay compact.  If taken from top growth, the plant has a better chance of growing normally.

[GwenninPR]

I recall Felipe saying something about it all depends upon the branch the plant was grafted with.  If taken from a side branch, the plant will grow more outwards and stay compact.  If taken from top growth, the plant has a better chance of growing normally.

Crap.  Luckily I didn't get to plant it yesterday, so I will find a new spot for it today.

[murahilin]

I recall Felipe saying something about it all depends upon the branch the plant was grafted with.  If taken from a side branch, the plant will grow more outwards and stay compact.  If taken from top growth, the plant has a better chance of growing normally.

I've heard and read the same thing. I think that may explain why some of the 12 year old grafted trees in PR were less than 3ft tall while others were close to the size of the seedling trees.

[fruitlovers]

I recall Felipe saying something about it all depends upon the branch the plant was grafted with.  If taken from a side branch, the plant will grow more outwards and stay compact.  If taken from top growth, the plant has a better chance of growing normally.

Yes, that's true. If the scion wood is from a lateral branch the tree is going to continue to grow sideways, rather than upright. That is why terminal upright branches should be used for grafting mangosteen. But a lot will also depend on what the rootstock was? Were they grafted onto mangosteen or another garcinia species?