Mango - What am I doing wrong?

[Jackson]

I bought 3 gallon Carrie mango, Coconut cream mango, Sweetheart lychee and Excalibur Red Jackfruit from Excalibur in February. I repotted them into 7 gallon grow bags. The Lychee and Jackfruit sent out a flush of new growth more than a month ago and are continuing to do well.

The Carrie looks fine (to me) but has not sent out even one new leaf. Neither has the Coconut Cream. Plus, the CC does not look good. What am I doing wrong?
One mistake, I did make with the CC is that I forgot to check the bottom of the pot for roots before I bought it. It was a little root bound and tap root was sticking out the bottom. The tap root got a little damaged during the repot.

I was planning to stop by Excalibur this weekend to buy a few more mango trees but might hold off until I know where I am going wrong. I have never grown mango trees before. Any help/suggestions appreciated.

Coconut Cream - in April.




Coconut Cream - a week ago





Carrie

[achetadomestica]

What is your goal? Do you want to grow in pots or the ground?

The CC picture didn't open but the Carrie looks fine.

My three mangos are starting to flush and love this humid
wet 3 weeks we have had. I would continue to keep the mangos
watered with good water or rain water. Don't fertilize and let the
mangos adjust to the new pots.

[Orkine]

You may need to share more information on what you are doing.  How frequently do you water and what type of water do you use?  Are the plants in direct sunlight or partial shade?  Did you fertilize and with what?

Regarding tap root damage, I wouldn't worry too much about that.  I have transplanted mango where I intentionally cut off a lot of the tap root and other roots because the plant was pot bound and the root was growing in circles.  The plant came back nicely, mango can be resilient.  I planted a seed next to it and next year I will approach graft to give it a secondary root system with a tap root.

I also have one plant, my M-4, that has done precious nothing this season.  I suspect it is being out-competed by a nuisance tree I have close by.  I am going (I hope) to kill back the tree and give my mango a chance.  I water with rain water when available and well water otherwise.  I recently started light foliar feeding and I am mulching around the plant.  It is holding for now but I hope to see a come back.

[Mark in Texas]

That is so weird.  Got to be a nutritional problem.  About 2 weeks ago I transplanted AND top worked 4 PIN trees - 2 Pickerings, Lemon Zest and Glenn.  Not only are the original varieties pushing but so are the new scions.



Don't move the grow bags around or you'll screw up the root system that's trying to get established.

Those trees need a high N food now with a good micro package, especially the ones that have yellowing leaves.   I also see some fungus issues going on.

I use slow release foods on 1,000's of newly planted trees and that includes mangos.  Don't know what your soil analysis looks like but you really need to sprinkle a TB of something like this on all your trees.  When they're ready to fruit then hit them with potassium sulphate. 

Price of this 6 month food swings more than a Louisiana gospel preacher.  You can get it around $14.XX.

https://www.amazon.com/Osmocote-Outdoor-Smart-Release-8-Pound-Fertilizer/dp/B00GTDGMHC/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1528060863&sr=8-1&keywords=Osmocote+Plus+Outdoor+and+Indoor&dpID=51QVbepb5dL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

[Mark in Texas]

Regarding tap root damage, I wouldn't worry too much about that.  I have transplanted mango where I intentionally cut off a lot of the tap root and other roots because the plant was pot bound and the root was growing in circles.

Yep, and when she upcanned she should have noted any girdling or root spin out going on and corrected it.  If those plants were in a pot for very long I guarantee they were potbound.  Took 2 years and this Pickering fruited heavily but it eventually bit the dust.  Bought if from PIN.  I just got 4 PIN trees planted and carefully inspected their rootballs before planting.  J rooting is even more deadly.

[Cookie Monster]

Looks like the cc might have been sitting in the same pot for too long before you even bought it. Excalibur's tree quality can be a little sketchy. I don't normally buy there unless I can't find the tree anywhere else.

Those black spots on the leaves look like bacterial black spot (not the type that infects the fruit). The yellow color and lack of older leaves indicates that it's been sitting for way too long in the pot and probably hasn't been properly fertilized in some time.

Give the mangoes slow release (eg, osmocote) fertilizer with nitrogen and a good minors package. Keep them watered every day during the summer, preferably not with city water, but if that's all you have, it will work. Make sure the potting mix you use drains well. Sandy mix works best for mangos. And don't expect to see much in the way of new growth on the mangos until summer (starting around now). They go dormant over the dry / cool months.

As a side note, I'm hoping you're not planning on maintaining those trees in pots. I would recommend against buying mango trees unless you can plant them in ground. Same goes for jackfruit and lychee. If space considerations force you into container culture, you're going to want to go with dwarf cultivars. Dwarf Hawaiian mango, Emperor lychee, and Excalibur gold, for example, should do OK in pots. The lychee has a non-negotiable water-every-day-in summer requirement (in FL at least), so keep an eye on that one.

[Jackson]

Acheta - the plan is to grow all the trees in the ground eventually. I am going to be moving to a new place in about 2-3 months and that's when I will be planting them in the ground.
The lychee and jackfruit both sent out new leaves about 6-7 weeks ago and are sending out another flush after all this rain we have been getting, which is why I got a little concerned when the mangoes did not do anything.

Orkine - The plants are in direct sunlight and I was watering the plants with city water once the top inch or so felt dry. The last three weeks we have had so much rain every single day that I have not needed to water them at all. I have not fertilized the plants as I was waiting for some signs of new growth before I did that but I did mix some compost into the potting mix when I transplanted from 3 gal to 7 gal.

Mark - The fungus started with the incessant rain we have had for the past 3 weeks. I have been wanting to spray some neem oil but it would have been pointless because we did not get more than a hour or so of a break between rain showers. Yesterday was our first full day without rain. I have plenty of citrus trees that I use slow release fertilizer on. I haven't fertilized the mangoes because I don't fertilize newly transplanted trees until they start showing some new growth. I have plenty of the Osmocote on hand. I will use some on the mangoes and see if it helps.
There was some root spin going on with the CC but unfortunately, I did not correct it. I was under the mistaken impression that mangoes do not like having their roots pruned. I don't know where I read it but that little piece of incorrect information was floating around in my brain when I was transplanting the CC and I decided to leave the roots as is.

Jeff - The CC was definitely in the pot too long as I transplanted it a week after I bought it and it was root bound.
I have only read good things about Excalibur's plants. I was not aware that the tree quality could be sketchy.
I will use Osmocote on the mangoes as suggested.
I am not planning on maintaining the plants in pots long term. I will be moving to a new place in a couple of months and will start putting plants in the ground after that. Thanks for the watering tip on the lychee, it has responded really well to all the rain we have been having. Do I keep up that watering schedule even after the tree has been in the ground for a couple of years?

[Cookie Monster]

In ground watering is a little less religious than in pot, which dries out very quickly. Use your best judgment there.

[Guanabanus]

All circling roots around the edge of the root-ball, or flattened sideways roots at the bottom, should be cut off at time of transplanting, whether the plant has been in the pot too long or not, otherwise, it can be as though the plant was never removed from the pot.  Plants that were not in the pot too long, can become "pot-bound" years after being removed from the pot, if the circling roots were left intact.

If the plant was in the pot way too long, the root pruning has to be severe, the branches need to be pruned equally hard, or many of the leaves removed, and the plant should be potted in a slightly larger container and should be placed in partial shade, out of strong wind, to be babied back to health.  Putting a clear plastic bag over the plant to provide a mini-greenhouse for 2-4 weeks can also be very helpful.

[Jackson]

Thanks, Har. Can I still root prune even though I transplanted 3 months ago? Or is it too late to correct my mistake now?

[Cookie Monster]

You can still prune, and don't be afraid to lop off even the thick taproot if it's circling. I do it all the time.

[Mark in Texas]

If the plant was in the pot way too long, the root pruning has to be severe, the branches need to be pruned equally hard, or many of the leaves removed, .....

Great advice but one that I'll have to disagree with - balancing the top with the bottom.  I think that's old school, about as bad as amending backfill with compost/sand when planting a tree in clay (which will kill it eventually).   I've literally planted 1,000's of tree by hand in the field and about 60 around our house 13 years ago.  I quit topping trees a long time ago - the tree will find it's own balance and two, the more output of foliage the better for tissue production and recovery.   I concentrate on root production and "ignore" the rest.  it will come in due time.......

If major root pruning needs to be done then yes, I'd shade the tree especially considering the hot Florida summer sun.  You can do that with a spray of Surround which is white kaolin clay.  I'd use about 2 TBS. per qt. spray bottle.

[Mark in Texas]

Mark - The fungus started with the incessant rain we have had for the past 3 weeks. I have been wanting to spray some neem oil but it would have been pointless because we did not get more than a hour or so of a break between rain showers.

Based on all the groans and moans I've heard about neem, I won't use it.  There's plenty of really good fungicides including OMRI certified like MagnaBon CS 2005, a systemic copper product.