PPK won't fruit

[fruitloopy]

Who else has a PPK lemon meringue that won't fruit...yes in the past I gave it nitrogen but only potassium this year.   This tree is gonna have a short life expectancy if it doesn't do something.  Just like the Baileys Marvel before it in the same hole.

Rusty

[gunnar429]

i have read that PPK is not precocious.  How long have you had the tree?

[bsbullie]

I was gonna say, it does not look that old.  Be patient and give it time.  Fertilize on a normal regimen with a quality palm fertilizer or pick up some 8-3-9.  To see if it will flower next season, stop the fertilization by October.  At the age and size, I would not waste any time or effort to try and force the tree to bloom at it current age/size.

[cuban007]

I have two, one that flowers and one that doesn't. I feel your frustration. I'm about to throw everything at it at both to see what happens. Stay tune. By the way your tree looks nice and healthy. I think, if you're patient you will be nicely rewarded.

[bangkok]

Maybe it is drinking from that lake? So it doesn't get a dry spell.

[adiel]

Maybe it is drinking from that lake? So it doesn't get a dry spell.

Very good point.  Is the tree getting too much water somehow?


Also try to get your hands one some 0-0-51 Potassium and add it in early fall.

[Patrick]

Mine is a little bigger than that and it hasn't fruited yet either.  This year it had two very short panicles, no fruit set.  Its quite normal for the PPK though.  My Lemon Zest, which is the same size, flowered and set fruit this and last year.

[Squam256]

PPK is a crappy tree. If it weren't for the demand among certain people I might not even grow it.

[Patrick]

PPK is a crappy tree. If it weren't for the demand among certain people I might not even grow it.

Agreed.. Mine has another 9 varieties worked on it. I do like the flavor of the fruit, but it seems to be a slow starter.. Do they eventually produce heavily?

[Squam256]

PPK is a crappy tree. If it weren't for the demand among certain people I might not even grow it.

Agreed.. Mine has another 9 varieties worked on it. I do like the flavor of the fruit, but it seems to be a slow starter.. Do they eventually produce heavily?

Sometimes. They seem to have a problem with alternate bearing, among other issues.

[Cookie Monster]

Some of the south east asian cultivars take a while to start bearing. Okrung, PPK, LZ, some NDMs, ... Give it another year or two.

[JF]

PPK is a crappy tree. If it weren't for the demand among certain people I might not even grow it.

Agreed.. Mine has another 9 varieties worked on it. I do like the flavor of the fruit, but it seems to be a slow starter.. Do they eventually produce heavily?

Patrick

I love PPK and this was one of the varieties I was going to graft onto my ataulfo. So what are some of the issues with this tree other than being a slow starter?

[TnTrobbie]

Shame. It's quite a nice looking tree. Does Okrung suffer this same problem?

[Tropicalgrower89]

I'm having the same problem with my valencia pride. It's huge, but no bloom has been set and it doesn't get much water.  I just removed a 4 foot radius of grass from around the tree and applied palm/tropical fruit fertilizer. Lets see what it does next season. Hope your PPK blooms this upcoming season.

[Cookie Monster]

My okrung is around 5 years old and has yet to produce a full crop (got 2 or 3 manglettes so far). Worth the wait though.

Alternate bearing is pretty common in mangoes. Even my glenn (extolled as a workhorse) has alternate bearing issues. This year happens to be a heavy year.

The LZ (in general) takes a while to get going. I have one that's around 5 years old and zilch in the way of fruit. But it can produce some pretty prodigous crops when mature. Friend of mine has a ~10 year old tree that has hundreds of little mangoes. Walter's tree has done fairly well in the couple of years that I've seen it, despite growing in some shade and without much in the way of care.

[mangokothiyan]

My PPK is 4 years old and it is yet to  give me a decent crop. This year, I will be lucky to get 10 mangoes. But my friend's PPK, which was planted the same day, is loaded. He will get at least  100 off it. It is a lovely fruit..He says he gives it 8-3-9 and a couple of bags of Black Kow every year.

[jc]

I planted a good size 15 gal in January of last year and got about ten fruit. Last year it bloomed in March and again in late April. I harvested the last fruit in mid August.

This year, no movement yet, vegetatively or bloom.  We'll see what happens on this next push.  Buds are swollen but dormant. 

[cbss_daviefl]

The tree at my previous house took over 5 years to fruit.  It is an excellent mango and was in the top 5 of the mango varieties I ate last year.

[Cookie Monster]

You might get a fluke crop in the first year or two, likely a response to stress. But some of the south east asian cultivars don't come into regular bearing until they're around 5 years old. If you were to plant one from seed, you'd probably be waiting 10 years (as Walter said Gary waited for his LZ seedling to fruit).

On the other end of the spectrum are the descendants of the Julie, which will fruit in as little as 3 years from seed and as little as a few months post grafting.

Same deal with jack fruits; you have your NS-1 that will pump out fruit in 3 years from seed and others that can take 8 years from seed to start fruiting (eg gold nugget?).

Don't skip over a great fruit tree just because it requires a bit of up-front investment in patience.

[gunnar429]

Cookie monster, are there more descendants of julie than graham and carrie?

[jc]

Sounds like I got lucky. Either way I'm willing to wait, that fruit is worth it. Judging by Chris' PPKs at Truly Tropical, they can fruit fairly heavily once established in eastern PBC's sandy soil.

[Cookie Monster]

dot, pickering, gary, ... there are probably more than I'm forgetting.

Cookie monster, are there more descendants of julie than graham and carrie?

[gunnar429]

wow...thanks CM.  I never knew Julie was so vital to the breeding.  If i understand correctly, most of the zills varieties (at least the newer batch) are gary crosses.  So if there were no julie, there'd be no LZ, sweet tart, etc?  Wow!  Thanks, Julie.

[Squam256]

So if there were no julie, there'd be no LZ, sweet tart, etc? 

Actually, LZ and Sweet Tart may not be Julie descendents. Coconut Cream, Peach Cobbler, Juicy Peach, Pina Colada, Juliett, J-12, Harvest Moon are all thought to be though based on Gary, Carrie, or Julie parentage.

[gunnar429]

lol....i knew that would happen....picked 2 at random and those are the 2 unknown.  Thanks for the clarification.  I now see julie in a whole new light