San Diego Mango Seedling (fall & winter care)

[spoons]

Hello All,

I've got about 35-40 mango seedlings that I started between June-Sept this year.  This is my first time growing mango seedlings.  Mix of ataulfo, kent, keitt and haiti.

The temps here have started dipping down to high 40's to low 50's at night.  We are getting Santa Ana winds currently so the daytime temps are up in the low 80's.

Should I continue to water or are they considered to be in a dormant stage now that the night time temps are low?

Once winter is in full swing and the day time highs are in the mid 60's should I still water weekly?  They are in self made 18" tall pots now to encourage tap root growth.

I'm a little more confused now more than ever because their growth has slowed way down and a few of the seedlings have developed brown spots and some even spread to the entire leaf.

Thanks in advance guys.

[spaugh]

You should water when the pot becomes dry and light to pickup.  If it doesnt rain, they will need periodic watering over winter.  Probably not every week.  You really should use the soil to tell when.  They can go all the way dry and be ok.  Just dont let it stay that way for more than a few days. 

If they are going into the field you can go ahead and plant them and graft later.  Ive got a lot of new seedlings in ground still doing good flushes. 

[Jct]

Winter is the dry season in their natural environment.  Try not to get water on the leaves to avoid anthracnose, which is probably the brown spots on your leaves.  You can spray to treat it if necessary.  I just try to be careful when I water the tree to avoid wetting the leaves in the late afternoon, you want them to dry off quickly.

[simon_grow]

I agree with Spaugh,

Remember that Mangos are evergreens and they don’t really go dormant. In Winter, I let my pots go dry between waterings. Go to the nursery and get a good copper soap to try to stop the browning leaves. My mango seedlings often get brown spots on them but I ignore it and they seem to do fine.

Simon