Author Topic: Inflos now appearing on my grafted 'Carrie' mango tree.  (Read 4427 times)

Andrew78

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Inflos now appearing on my grafted 'Carrie' mango tree.
« on: April 01, 2012, 01:42:50 PM »
I was beginning to wonder if I would have any inflos on my 2 mango trees(the other being my 2 year old 'Maha Chanok'.) but as of last night, I have 7 inflos on my 1 year old 'Carrie'. Due to it being so young, and barely being 2ft tall, I doubt that there will be any mature fruits for me to enjoy this year.

It does give me hope, and some reasurrance that I must be doing something right. Now I just hope my 'Maha Chanok' will bloom!

Andrew

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Re: Inflos now appearing on my grafted 'Carrie' mango tree.
« Reply #1 on: April 01, 2012, 09:13:46 PM »
Oh the life of being a rare fruiter in upstate NY.  What a challenge.  Hang in there Andrew.  Patience is a very, very painful but worthwhile virtue in this hobby.  Keep the faith, one day you get that huge mango crop you been wanting.

Harry
Harry
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USA

Andrew78

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Re: Inflos now appearing on my grafted 'Carrie' mango tree.
« Reply #2 on: April 02, 2012, 08:28:11 AM »
Thanks Harry. Yeah patience is not always easy but I am keeping my fingers crossed that in another year or 2 i will at least have a few fresh mango fruits. Just enough to be able to enjoy. Supermarket fruits are terrible!

Now I have another couple questions. I remember years ago when I first tried growing potted mango trees, I read that fertilizing during fruit development can affect the fruits flavor? Am I right on this?

I also am concerned with watering Harry. I have read that you shouldn't water a fruiting mango tree but obviously there are going to be times when I have to. 

I thought once the mango trees start blooming, things will be easier but it doesn't seem that way!

Andrew

lycheeluva

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Re: Inflos now appearing on my grafted 'Carrie' mango tree.
« Reply #3 on: April 02, 2012, 08:50:12 AM »
good going andrew.
the general rule about watering mangoes as little as possible, i dont think applies to mango trees in containers. unlike well established mango trees in the ground that can send their roots roots out many feet to find water, containerized trees dont have that option. I have been watering my containerized fruiting Maha Chanok every two weeks and so far no sign of ill effect. just try not to get any of the leave or the trunk wet- make sure only te soil is watered.  in fact my maha seems to be thriving as it sending out multiple leaf flushes at the same time as the fruit are growing larger and the leaves all look very healthy. the temp in my garage range from around 60 to 75 depending on the outside temps and whether the lights are on. if your temp is higher, you may even need to water more than once every two weeks. i also keep my containerized plants in large saucers that catch the drainage water and so provide a chance for the soil to draw up water if it gets dry before the two week period is up. i know many dont think this is a good idea, because they think it will rot the roots but it seems to be working for me. my containers i think are large enough that i dont need to worry about this

Andrew78

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Re: Inflos now appearing on my grafted 'Carrie' mango tree.
« Reply #4 on: April 02, 2012, 11:05:49 AM »
Hi Lycheeluva,
I agree with you about keeping saucers under potted mango trees. I am not doing it right now, but I did over the winter last year. Man, I wish I only had to water every couple weeks! I tried this with my Carrie last year, and it almost died on me. The thing is, the soil wasn't even really dry. It was actually moist from the soil surface to the bottom of the pot. Once I started watering every 2 or 3 days, it perked right up, and even started flushing growth.

Same with my Maha Chanok but that tree is almost 5ft tall. The tree needs to be repotted. I water that tree about the same. Every 2 or 3 days and when I water both mango trees, I saturate the root balls. IF I don't they seem to go down hill VERY fast.

This has been my experience with potted mango trees BUT, for the past 2 years, I have had them under my 600 watt HPS light and that makes my ave. room temps around 85 degrees. That has to play into why the need much more water.

I have read that people in FL pot there mango and other tropical fruit trees, into Al's gritty mix. I know that in FL during the rainy season, they can get a ton of rain, and that maybe the reason why the gritty mix works so well. Personally, I think if I used the gritty mix, I would have to water my mango trees daily. The only trees that I would keep in the gritty mix, would be my citrus trees.

What mix do you use for your citrus and mango trees? I cannot wait to see how your Maha fruits turn out. The fruit I tried was EXCELLENT!! I have not had extensive exprience with tasting many diffrent mango varieties.  I did try mangoes in FL from diffrent fruit stands but they were not labelled as to what variety they were. They were all very good fruits but nothing to rave about. I hit Puerto Rico during mango season, and that was awesome to me! Mango everywhere!! I remember buying 8 for $2.00! But nothing so far has beaten, or come clost to the Maha Chanok! I am hoping to be in S. FL around 4th of July so I am hoping I can try some named varieties...especially Carrie considering that from what I hear you either love the fruit or you hate it!

lycheeluva

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Re: Inflos now appearing on my grafted 'Carrie' mango tree.
« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2012, 11:13:35 AM »
I use Al's mix and on the contrary, because the turface absorbs and retains water very well, you need to water less frequently because as the mix starts to dry, the turface releases the water back in to the mix.
I would definitly try the mix if i were you for your mangoes. i think you will find you need to water less frequently

Andrew78

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Re: Inflos now appearing on my grafted 'Carrie' mango tree.
« Reply #6 on: April 02, 2012, 09:31:15 PM »
Hi Lycheeluva,
I have been trying to make this mix for YEARS but trying to find the turface has proven to be one hell of a challenge. I am desperate right now as 3 of my young citrus are starting to go downhill. I did make a version of the gritty mix for my Oro Blanco grapefruit tree and it has thrived but I will say that the oil dry stuff I got(recommended by Al for a turface sub.) didn't hold the water as  you descibe with the turface. I actually was watering that tree daily last summer. I cannot complain though, as you know that citrus are HIGHLY susceptible to root rot.

Right now, I am trying to hurry up and come up with a mix for my struggling citrus. I have a Kishu and Page mandarin, and the other one is a Washington navel. I am really upset as non of these trees were cheap and I don't want to lose them. I think it's really crappy that you cannot buy a soiless mix from the stores.

I assume your citrus are potted in the gritty mix? I have 2 possible locations that might carry the turface. Both are John Deer Landscaping stores.

Thanks Lycheeluva!
Andrew

Jsvand5

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Re: Inflos now appearing on my grafted 'Carrie' mango tree.
« Reply #7 on: April 02, 2012, 09:58:06 PM »
Turface is the easiest part to find. Go to any auto parts store and get a bag of the floor dry or whatever your store labels the stuff to soak up oil  as. It is the same thing. Should cost you around $5 a bag.

Patrick

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Re: Inflos now appearing on my grafted 'Carrie' mango tree.
« Reply #8 on: April 02, 2012, 10:05:59 PM »
Just make sure it is the baked clay... The other non-baked clay will turn to mud!  NAPA's Floor Dry is IDENTICAL to turface, the bag is white with blue lettering and has a big four letter number on it like 6841 or something like that..

puglvr1

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Re: Inflos now appearing on my grafted 'Carrie' mango tree.
« Reply #9 on: April 03, 2012, 01:46:38 PM »
Congrats Andrew...great growing! Keeping fingers crossed you get at least one to maturity so you can taste it to see if you like Carrie.

Here's a link to two different products similar to Turface at you local Auto parts store.
http://grow.lot-o-nothin.com/container-soil/napa-floor-dry-8822-vs-carquest-premium-automotive-oil-absorbant-8033

Andrew78

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Re: Inflos now appearing on my grafted 'Carrie' mango tree.
« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2012, 01:07:31 PM »
Hi PJ,
I agree with you. I didn't have a hard time finding turface. I bought a bag of that oil dry stuff from Auto zone. In fact, I still have a bunch of it in the shed. As for the crushed granite, that was hard for me to find but again, not finding the Gran-i-grit, I found chicken grit, which, according to the analysis, is the same product. The particle size I would say is about half the size of a pea, or a little smaller than that. What I have had a hard time finding is the fir bark fines. My good friend Laura told me to check out either Pet More or Petco. She said that they sell reptile bedding made out of the pine bark fines. So that will be my next step.

Hi Nancy!
So good to hear from you! I need to send you out an email. Glad to see that your lychee is doing so well, but I feel bad that your mango trees are not so fruitfull. Man, it seems like no matter how your winter goes, you still have a hard time with getting those trees to produce inflos and mature fruits! I still think you have some of the best looking mango "bushes"!

I use your potted 'Glenn' as a guide for how I want my 2 mango trees to look. My 'Maha Chanok' is in desperate need of a good pugging. Want to come up to NY for a few days? LOL...just kidding. I am not at all afraid of pugging my tropical fruit trees. I did tell you how the 'Maha Chanok' came to me bare rooted and also didn't have ANY branches at all.. I whacked that tree back as soon as Frankies told me it was safe to prune. The thing is it was around tthe end of August, beginning of September when I did it. Most people would say it was way too late in the year to prune but I couldn't wait till spring...LOL!

Andrew

Andrew78

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Re: Inflos now appearing on my grafted 'Carrie' mango tree.
« Reply #11 on: April 11, 2012, 11:18:32 AM »
Just wanted to update my post real quick. My 'Carrie' mango is progressing nicely. I was very surprised to see multiple inflos emerging from the base of the main inflos. So now instead of having 7 inflos, I have around 20! I noticed these dmaller inflos emerging when one of the inflos broke off.

I know that the logic with mango is that the tree will only support what it can, and it wont stress the tree. My thoughts have been since it has taken me so long to get to this point, I wouldn't remove any inflos or developing fruits, but the thought of this tree being stressed really does concern me. IF I had more than a few trees that were all producing inflos and fruits, I wouldn't be so torn on this.

For now, I am going to just let mother nature lead, and if I see that the tree is beginning to stress, I will take action then. By this weekend I think the largest buds will be opening.

OK...last question. I have read many times here that mango flowers do not require pollination. I have actualyl seen the small fruitlets in the center of the flowers. I have also read that people like me who do not live in areas where they can grow in ground, do pollinate them.

So what do I do? Do I just leave them alone, or do I pollinate the flowers?

I just want to make sure I have my bases covered here. I know I sound a little crazy about this but I have not had a mango tree that was this healthy and blooming in years!

Thanks guys for any help you can give me!

Andrew