Author Topic: New to mangoes  (Read 22894 times)

bsbullie

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #75 on: January 22, 2015, 04:30:50 PM »
3-4 years in the 25 gallon pot before needing a root pruning? Sounds like the Pickering has a home for several years then. :) For the soil I was thinking of using the Al's Gritty Mix recipe, but there are two different ones, a 5-1-1 and a 1-1-1. I'll have to research it a bit more to figure out which will be better for mangoes and find out where to get turface.
5-1-1 is is more organic, so a shorter life span (still better than most any dirt).  You can get turface from irrigation suppliers, they use it on baseball diamonds.  1-1-1 is heavy stuff, nothing you want to move around on a regular basis, the plus side is reduced wind tippage.

Ah OK, thanks Doglips. So turface is used on baseball diamonds, didn't know that. Hmm, well I do live in Florida, we do get tropical storms and hurricanes (though it has been several years without one, thankfully), that extra weight might do good later on down the road when the tree gets a little too tall and wide for me to move around into the house.

Gritty mix will not help keep a potted tree upright in a tropical storm/hurricane, or even a gisty summer tstorm.  15 foot+ trees in 100, 200 and 300 gal can easily be toppled over in the run of the mill blustery cold front or summer tstorm.  The 500 gal seem to stay upright...though they would fare too well in a strong tropical storm or hurricane either.
- Rob

zands

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #76 on: January 22, 2015, 05:26:38 PM »
zands- Green Jungle's Tikki stuff is all made locally by a friend of his. They are open during January for part of the week, give him a call, the days and times are on the answering machine. Usually he take Feb off, not sure if he is this year.

Stormin- The guy on Craigslist you are talking about is Larry, some of us know him by a more colorful name. He is a good guy, knows his stuff and has some amazing trees and such for sale and grows a lot of things he shouldn't be able to grow on his property. His prices are pretty decent.  I would visit over there more often if he didn't have his business on the exact opposite corner of Orlando from me accessible by only toll roads.

Thanks T....if I had  a bigger place and more money I would build a Tiki hut. I know lots of people have something like that for guests and eating and drinking scorpion bowls and the like. Hawaii in Florida!
Hawaii- Big Island- is 400 miles south of Florida

stormin

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #77 on: January 24, 2015, 01:33:53 AM »
3-4 years in the 25 gallon pot before needing a root pruning? Sounds like the Pickering has a home for several years then. :) For the soil I was thinking of using the Al's Gritty Mix recipe, but there are two different ones, a 5-1-1 and a 1-1-1. I'll have to research it a bit more to figure out which will be better for mangoes and find out where to get turface.
5-1-1 is is more organic, so a shorter life span (still better than most any dirt).  You can get turface from irrigation suppliers, they use it on baseball diamonds.  1-1-1 is heavy stuff, nothing you want to move around on a regular basis, the plus side is reduced wind tippage.

Ah OK, thanks Doglips. So turface is used on baseball diamonds, didn't know that. Hmm, well I do live in Florida, we do get tropical storms and hurricanes (though it has been several years without one, thankfully), that extra weight might do good later on down the road when the tree gets a little too tall and wide for me to move around into the house.

Gritty mix will not help keep a potted tree upright in a tropical storm/hurricane, or even a gisty summer tstorm.  15 foot+ trees in 100, 200 and 300 gal can easily be toppled over in the run of the mill blustery cold front or summer tstorm.  The 500 gal seem to stay upright...though they would fare too well in a strong tropical storm or hurricane either.

OK, thanks BSBullie. I was starting to lean towards the gritty due to the weight and tipping thing, but since it won't help with tipping, I won't do that.

stormin

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #78 on: January 24, 2015, 02:49:29 AM »
Tropheus76,

I went over to Larry's today since I noticed he posted a new post on Craigslist that he'll be in for the weekend, and at the sale price of $30 for 3 gallon mangoes I thought I'll just go check it out. Went in there with the intention of only getting a Mahachanok and asking questions, and ended up with a Mahachanok and a Carrie (my fiancee wanted one). lol  So now I will have two mangoes in a container one on each corner of my patio and now a mango in the ground (Carrie since I've read it's not as container friendly as a Pickering or a Maha).

Larry is a really nice guy, and talkative ;) And his place has so many different types of plants, it was like a jungle in there. :)



puglvr1

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #79 on: January 24, 2015, 07:36:27 AM »

Oops SO sorry that very first picture is not Turface but

Crushed Granite Manna Pro brand


The very last picture is Turface...kinda pinkish peachy color...



Doglips

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #80 on: January 25, 2015, 10:09:17 AM »
OK, thanks BSBullie. I was starting to lean towards the gritty due to the weight and tipping thing, but since it won't help with tipping, I won't do that.
Gritty mix will help with tipping.  I have trees with similar size and shape in the same size pot, one with gritty and one without.  The gritty mix tips far less.  I would guess the gritty mix pot can handle another 15-20 mph than the non-gritty mix pot before it tips.  I have far far more occasions where the non-gritty tips and the gritty still stands, then having them both fall.  A 50 mph gust will wipe out everything in one whack, gritty or not.  A hurricane is going to take out everything that ain't heavily nailed down including your roof (ok, extreme).

bsbullie

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #81 on: January 25, 2015, 10:18:14 AM »
Tipping should not be the reason to use any specific potting mix.  If you are concerned about tipping,  you can always make a surrounding enclosuremade from decorative bricks or cinder blocks which will prevent tipping barring extreme winds, tropical storm or cane.
- Rob

mangomaniac2

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #82 on: January 25, 2015, 10:36:18 AM »
To counteract tipping with a newly potted mango which do not have the root ball filling the pot, I use a thick string and tie to something nearby like a fence, or use a cement block where I can change the direction of the support. Once the root ball more fills the pot then the tipping isn't as big of a problem since sand mix is pretty heavy. Once the whisky barrel pots are filled with roots they are ready to go into the ground and I start the process over again.  The only trees I have had difficulty with tipping are the really tall and bushy trees, Shorter than say 7 feet or so do not have any problems with tipping over unless they are really bushy, in which case they could be thinned a bit to allow wind to move through the canopy.
The best way gritty mix helps with tipping is because the tree doesn't grow, so you do not have much problems with tipping on a tree that is stuck in a bed of rock/clay. Oh, and it will take forever and a day for the roots to fill that pot, since the mix is neutral to high ph (from the high ph water combined with neutral soil) instead of neutral to acidic as well as always stuck in a bed of damp rock/clay.

mangomaniac2

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #83 on: January 25, 2015, 10:44:49 AM »
Tipping should not be the reason to use any specific potting mix.  If you are concerned about tipping,  you can always make a surrounding enclosuremade from decorative bricks or cinder blocks which will prevent tipping barring extreme winds, tropical storm or cane.
You are right on. Soil is to grow the tree and supply vital nutrients, not to use as a rock support. Live soil is better than dead soil. I think the more people let that thought sink in the more they should realize what is best for the tree.

stormin

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #84 on: January 25, 2015, 03:10:52 PM »
OK, thanks BSBullie. I was starting to lean towards the gritty due to the weight and tipping thing, but since it won't help with tipping, I won't do that.
Gritty mix will help with tipping.  I have trees with similar size and shape in the same size pot, one with gritty and one without.  The gritty mix tips far less.  I would guess the gritty mix pot can handle another 15-20 mph than the non-gritty mix pot before it tips.  I have far far more occasions where the non-gritty tips and the gritty still stands, then having them both fall.  A 50 mph gust will wipe out everything in one whack, gritty or not.  A hurricane is going to take out everything that ain't heavily nailed down including your roof (ok, extreme).

Yeah, I know about the strength of hurricanes, 2004 was a very bad year for that. How wide are your trees in your pots?

stormin

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #85 on: January 25, 2015, 05:22:32 PM »
To counteract tipping with a newly potted mango which do not have the root ball filling the pot, I use a thick string and tie to something nearby like a fence, or use a cement block where I can change the direction of the support. Once the root ball more fills the pot then the tipping isn't as big of a problem since sand mix is pretty heavy. Once the whisky barrel pots are filled with roots they are ready to go into the ground and I start the process over again.  The only trees I have had difficulty with tipping are the really tall and bushy trees, Shorter than say 7 feet or so do not have any problems with tipping over unless they are really bushy, in which case they could be thinned a bit to allow wind to move through the canopy.
The best way gritty mix helps with tipping is because the tree doesn't grow, so you do not have much problems with tipping on a tree that is stuck in a bed of rock/clay. Oh, and it will take forever and a day for the roots to fill that pot, since the mix is neutral to high ph (from the high ph water combined with neutral soil) instead of neutral to acidic as well as always stuck in a bed of damp rock/clay.

I'll be using the sandy soil mix you were speaking off earlier. I already got the cacti mix and sandy soil yesterday. I've checked the soil since someone has already torn open a bag and there was a fair amount of sand in it and wasn't too wet, even after all the rain we got here on friday night/early sat morning. I also got the pine bark today, and a 2 gallon sprayer for foliar feeding (I chose a 2 gallon roundup one over the 1 gallon because I liked the adjustable tip better). I couldn't find the Hep 35 though or foliar pro, but Puglvr mentioned the Southern Ag Citrus Nutrional Spray in a different thread and I found and bought that at Home Depot. I'll probably keep the potted mangoes around 7 ft or so.

mangomaniac2

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #86 on: January 25, 2015, 10:09:51 PM »
Sounds like you have all of the tools and all the right ingredients! Good luck! I am sure you will have fantastic looking trees.

stormin

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #87 on: January 31, 2015, 06:53:40 PM »
Just finished potting the two mangoes (Carrie will go in the ground on March).

Here are some pictures. I put some mulch on top but not touching the trunk.

Pickering


Carrie (It's still in its pot, but I haven't taken a photo of it before)


Mahachanok


Surinam cherry (came free with the Pickering mango)


An unknown Guava tree from the flea market


mangomaniac2

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #88 on: January 31, 2015, 10:11:14 PM »
Looks great! Now you do not have to worry about high ph water or nutrient lockout, your plants will readily absorb whenever you feed. Good luck with your container plants.

stormin

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Re: New to mangoes
« Reply #89 on: February 01, 2015, 12:45:29 AM »
Looks great! Now you do not have to worry about high ph water or nutrient lockout, your plants will readily absorb whenever you feed. Good luck with your container plants.

Thanks mangomaniac! Hopefully I can keep my trees alive and healthy this year. :)