Video of my home grown non commercial mango trees fertigation technique

[weiss613]

https://youtu.be/lK3seh5pCHU

[John B]

Do you know why Dyno-Gro states that this helps in low light conditions? Does it assist in having the plants photosynthesis better? Have you experienced the results? I have an area that receives about 6 hours of morning sun because it gets shaded by a large Podocarpus tree. I've been reluctant to plant any fruiting tree there because I do not just want to grow foliage. Wondering if this nutrient program could help. These fertilizers are quite expensive for fruit trees since they are usually for the hydroponic cash crop folks.

[weiss613]

My evidence is worthless but here it is. I have a triple planting of 18 year old mango trees. The trunks are about 2-2.5 feet apart. On the south side is a Haden and a Hatcher that totally shade out the Keitt on the north side. And the Keitt produces a nice crop basically totally shaded. I’ll try to take a video now in the dark to show you.
Another case. On the north side of my house I have a Duncan and a Maha. The house is way taller than these trees and yet both of these trees produced a nice amount of fruit last season.
Lastly on the south side of my property I have a 6’ wooden fence. Planted about 18 inches away on the north side of the fence are about 12 Lemon Zests and they are growing like weeds even though they are shorter than the fence which blocks out the sun. I’ve been using this fertilization technique for over 7 years. By coincidence I treated 3/4ths of my mango trees today before I ran out of the 9-3-6. And I even treated all my trees regardless of if they had no panicle shoots, with emerging shoots and even if they were loaded up with flowers. Why? Because this fertilizer does no harm.  Here is a video showing examples.
https://youtu.be/NCEk0a-EGWg

[FruitGrower]

Weiss, congratulations on being able to maintain those trees so nicely! I thought I had a pretty high density with my plants but you take it to another level! My trees are much younger than yours and when I planted, I had people tell me not to plant so close to the house (some trees just a couple feet away) because the roots will damage the foundation; I planted anyways. Later, I thought about potential problems with gas or sewer lines at such a high density. Have you ever had the roots of your trees cause problems with anything (foundation, sidewalk, gas/ sewer lines, or septic tank/ field?

[weiss613]

No problems yet but it’s possible. I have a lot of trees inches from PVC Pipes for my water main and sprinklers and pool drain. I even have about 8 trees right on top of PVC. But that’s just me. I figure if a problem arises it can be fixed meantime I get away for free and planted 7 more. Even if I had to fix all 8 after 15 years it would be worth it to have rented those 8 holes. But I’m mango crazy because I was addicted to planting mango trees. Still am but no space left. Now I’m addicted to raising my mango children into perfect mango citizens.

[FruitGrower]

No problems yet but it’s possible. I have a lot of trees inches from PVC Pipes for my water main and sprinklers and pool drain. I even have about 8 trees right on top of PVC. But that’s just me. I figure if a problem arises it can be fixed meantime I get away for free and planted 7 more. Even if I had to fix all 8 after 15 years it would be worth it to have rented those 8 holes. But I’m mango crazy because I was addicted to planting mango trees. Still am but no space left. Now I’m addicted to raising my mango children into perfect mango citizens.

I think we have the same addiction and view on potential problems, I’ll deal with them when/ if they arise. Happy gardening and hope you have a great season.

[John B]

My evidence is worthless but here it is. I have a triple planting of 18 year old mango trees. The trunks are about 2-2.5 feet apart. On the south side is a Haden and a Hatcher that totally shade out the Keitt on the north side. And the Keitt produces a nice crop basically totally shaded. I’ll try to take a video now in the dark to show you.
Another case. On the north side of my house I have a Duncan and a Maha. The house is way taller than these trees and yet both of these trees produced a nice amount of fruit last season.
Lastly on the south side of my property I have a 6’ wooden fence. Planted about 18 inches away on the north side of the fence are about 12 Lemon Zests and they are growing like weeds even though they are shorter than the fence which blocks out the sun. I’ve been using this fertilization technique for over 7 years. By coincidence I treated 3/4ths of my mango trees today before I ran out of the 9-3-6. And I even treated all my trees regardless of if they had no panicle shoots, with emerging shoots and even if they were loaded up with flowers. Why? Because this fertilizer does no harm.  Here is a video showing examples.
https://youtu.be/NCEk0a-EGWg

Definitely not worthless advice! You are able to provide a nutrient program that is optimal for your growing conditions. That is something I am struggling with because I have been neglecting my trees. You've given me hope to plant on the Shaded west side of my house. I'll plant a few this spring and see how it goes.

I really appreciate the video explanations. I've subscribed to see more informative videos.

[Orkine]

Weiss

Interesting, thanks for sharing the video. 

I do have a question, when you spray the trees, have you considered spraying outside of the ring where the roots picking up nutrients are?  I believe I read somewhere that the area next to your trunk is not where you want to place your fertilizer but instead an area close to and just outside of the canopy?  I think there is a video from TrulyTropical staring Har on the subject. 
Just curious if you have tried that approach before settling on yours.

[weiss613]

Orkine
Before I grew mango trees I had lots and lots of citrus trees but then they got sick with greening and I had to replace them and I replaced them with mango and avocado trees. So for many years I’ve used the Internet to educate myself about growing fruit trees and one of the things that I read was research on growing citrus trees with fertigation and Growing Citrus trees indoors under cover growing the trees in pots with fertigation. The bottom line is when you raise a tree using liquid fertilizer from the beginning they will absorb all their nutrients from a rootball right under the trunk. When I spray the nutrient filled water into the center circle about 80% of it goes in and the rest gets wind blown or splashes outside the inner circle. But I don’t care cause either way I know that trained rootball AND the area outside that rootball are sucking all that great nutrition up. There are actually citrus farms that were forced into existence that are inside growing in pots fed only this way because of greening. One could say it’s hydroponic.  And the fertilizer I use is for hydroponics. Next time you are in Miami come by here and you’ll totally flip out when you see how very crowded mango trees growing on top of solid rock can be so perfect. It’s like living breathing art!

[Tropheus76]

Maybe I missed it in the video, how often do you fertilize them? Also, when do you prune them to keep them in such nice shapes?

[weiss613]

How often do I prune was a question and how often do I feed them is the other.
Last season I had very few mangoes from very few varieties and by April 1 I realized there would be no more flowers so this is when I started cutting most of my trees down to 6-8 feet. Those I had fruit from I waited to cut them back till each trees last fruit was picked. On trees that aren’t yet going to be allowed to fruit I am constantly compulsively pruning their new growth tips to increase branching most of the year. Once the fruiting trees are cut back and shaped I try not to touch them again till the end of the next season. I’m always scouting for pathology and pests. Today was a rare occasion when I found a small area on 2 adjacent trees with some leaves with sooty mold so I pruned the heck out of those branches. I then check my sprinklers to see if those lower branches I removed was enough based on where and what the sprinkler was hitting with water.
How often do I apply my hand fertigation. It’s so subjective I can’t give any kind of a conclusive answer. Right now we’ve been in a pretty dry period and the trees are flushing so I’ve been treating them weekly so they get water and nutrition. Unlike granular fertilizers it’s probably impossible to burn the flowers and leaves with this technique unless you do not follow the directions on the label. More higher concentration is not better than plenty of water with less fertilizer. During the rainy season I don’t fertilize unless a tree looks washed out or I want to push it to grow more but that’s rare for me now as most of my trees are getting older. Lastly, Mr Zill is a big proponent of supplementing mango trees with calcium to improve flavor and the Foliage pro has 2% calcium so 3-5 treatments from now till harvest fulfills that requirement and it also alleviates any stresses on each tree that’s loaded up with fruit. May we all have such problems this great season!!!!

[FIUPanther]

Weiss, thank you for sharing your knowledge.

I saw your grove on the YouTube channel Fruitful trees, you have a beautifully maintained grove. I really like the cement borders you placed around your trees. The video gave me the inspiration to try and plant a few more trees a bit closer and keep them well trimmed. I'm growing for myself and family/friends so I don't need the trees to produce as much as a commercial grower.

[weiss613]

Just to let you know about pruning and ultra ultra high density but in a home setting with no intention to sell fruit. This season right now today June 1, 2021 I have counted between 1200 and 1300 mangoes on my trees. I estimate it’s only about 7% of their potential. So for fun and my planting is for fun and exercise mental and physical and to make others happy, I am not going to prune my trees where they will overlap other trees and I’m not lowering them. This is on my trees that I’m letting fruit next season not my less than 4 years in the ground trees. The youngins will be tipped constantly everywhere. Also I’m only fertilizing/pushing my less than 4 year olds every month with the liquid fertilizer. May 1st was the last fertilizer treatment for my producing trees this year till they make fruit in 2022 that is about an inch big then I’ll fertilize them 1X a month for 3 months and stop. This year I discovered that for almost 20 years I was severely damaging the trees using weed and grass killer around the trees. This is the 3rd treason my production was only about 7% of the potential. So in no order 1) was too much nitrogen and 2) was weed and grass killer and 3) was pruning.  So for 2022 Im correcting those mistakes. I suspect my 2022 crop will be totally overwhelming as far as yield. And I already know my 2023 yield will collapse because I plan to lower all my trees even my humongous Valencia Pride down to from 8-10 feet for most to 15-18 feet for some. I am in control not my trees.