The Tropical Fruit Forum

We know that water holds heat longer than solids. So, my idea is to get a 10 or 20 Gallon bucket filled with hot tap water and placed under the tree with an aquarium heater to keep the water warm overnight. It will be more efficient if you can cover the tree with a sheet especially if the temperature drops below freezing. Use the water for the plants in the morning.

Dude, that is a really good idea!

Seems dangerous and I can't imagine the smoke is good for the trees.

I have a super crazy idea. Please disregard if you think it is too out there.

Actually, I would take that idea and modify it slightly. I would get some potatoes (yes, potatoes) and throw them in a 450 deg oven for 2 hours or so. Potatoes have a huge thermal capacitance (more than most metals) and will release heat over a long time. In fact, my wife's grandmother used to put warm potatoes in the pockets of her children to keep their hands warm on the way to school in the Illinois winters. Obviously not as hot as what I am suggesting here, but the same principle. Puncture so they don't explode.

Then wrap them in several layers of thick Aluminum foil so they don't attract wildlife. Use grilling gloves to withstand the heat while you wrap them. You don't want to wrap first because you need to puncture the taters at that high of heat or they might explode, And if you wrap first you will puncture the foil, which will defeat the purpose of a foil barrier to trap in the aroma.

My yard is small enough that I can get Christmas lights to where I need them. Except for one spot.

For this spot, I am doing a play on this radiant heat idea.

This idea is not so crazy, so you can use this too:

I have large black plastic garbage cans that I am using as compost and verimcompost bins. In winter, I am planning on leaving them in the sun all day. Then at night I am going to wheel them next to my tree that I can't get with C9 lights. The idea is that the absorbed solar heat + the decomposing matter will give a gentle heat all night long (probably 200-300 lbs of decomposing mass). Cover both the tree and 'compost bin' with a frost cloth to trap in the heat.

I know this is early but I'd like to be prepared when the frost/freeze come this winter.

Has anyone tried using charcoal as a source of heat under their trees? I got this idea from someone that said they light some charcoal and place them inside cinder blocks and cap it and placed underneath a tree, the heat lasts for hours. Seems like a good idea, especially for the farther parts of my yard where I can't run any extension cords to but what I'm concerned about is the smoke. Would it suffocate the tree if the tree is covered in frost cloth as well?

I have some that are miserable and scraggly in 25 gal pots. Minimum? 45 gal. Ideal would be 65 gal and up.

Hey TnTrobbie,

Which ones in 25 gal pots do you have that look scraggly?

I understand the point you are making, and no my goal is to not make an ornamental bonsai mango.

What is the minimum pot size that you would suggest to have a productive containerized mango?

I don't think so. In the middle of summer here the tops of the branches droop in the crazy heat. But then again, so does everything else. For the canopy size, I water everything in my yard pretty similarly (picking different full sun or part sun / afternoon shade configurations depending on the plant) and it doesn't seem to me like the citrus is more thirsty. Certainly not like an avocado or anything like that.

I didn't amend the holes (not necessary for citrus down here) at planting.

I do fertilize usually three times a year: Spring (Feb), Summer (June) and Fall (Sep). I add Urban Farm BioActive (5-4-4) as an all purpose and then Langbenite and Greensand for extra Potassium and Magnesium + minors. I do compost / vermicompost tea + foliar feeding. And I will mulch with composted bark + deodorized steer manure (mix of composted arbor fines + manure).

My watering is deep water once a week. And in the middle of summer I will supplement with more frequent small waterings.

Quote from: TheWaterbug on October 13, 2015, 03:17:11 PM

I'll probably be a like a new Dad the first time I get a flower. I'll wear a GoPro and hand-pollinate and blog the whole procedure like a fanatical idiot. And then I'll ignore it after the 4th or 5th flower.

Head light is very handy when pollinating at night. Batman costume is a plus if you do it on Halloween.

nananananananananana DRAGON !!! .... (fruit)

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the feedback!

OK. It sounds like the tree may not be mature enough and therefore doesn't have enough vigor. The trees that I tend to topwork have trunks in the 6 inch plus range. The limbs that I lop are 2 inches plus. For smaller trees, you would indeed have to wait until the rootstock limb was older and thicker. The other option would be tipping branches on the scion tree to produce thinner bud sticks.

Quote from: starch on October 08, 2015, 09:43:49 PM

Hi Jeff,

I have a question on this method:

- When you do lop and graft, you will get several buds that sprout around the 'lop' site. I have seen this first hand. I took my Manila mango and topped it. The trunk is probably 5/8" diameter. I did it midsummer and there are now several new branches growing up from around the cut site. Some of them are still red. But the new red-tender branches are maybe 3/16 - 1/4" in diameter.

- The hardened scions for grafting (at least the only ones I have seen/used) are typically a bit wider than pencil, maybe something more like 3/8".

- So it seems like there is a diameter mismatch for grafting. The scions (it seems to me) will always be much wider than the red-tender growth.

- If you wait for the tender growth to be large enough to do either veneer or cleft grafting, it will probably harden into green (i.e. not red-tender anymore).

I fully admit that my mango growing and grafting experience is pretty limited. But I wanted to get you feedback on how you do the grafting and what diameter scions and red-tender branches that you look for when you graft. Do you look for very narrow hardened scions?

Thanks!

Hardened scions.

Both methods work, but the lop and graft method has 2 benefits: 100% take and quicker scion growth due to the tree's vigorous growth response.

In general, to increase percent of take on mango, young and green rootstock is preferred. Once the rootstock starts to get brown, rate of take decreases. At the other end of the spectrum, tender red stage rootstock, having more active and less differentiated cambium, yields takes in the near 100% range.

So, if you're grafting a potted mango tree and you want higher probability of take, graft at the top where the wood is still green.

Hi Jeff,

I have a question on this method:

- When you do lop and graft, you will get several buds that sprout around the 'lop' site. I have seen this first hand. I took my Manila mango and topped it. The trunk is probably 5/8" diameter. I did it midsummer and there are now several new branches growing up from around the cut site. Some of them are still red. But the new red-tender branches are maybe 3/16 - 1/4" in diameter.

- The hardened scions for grafting (at least the only ones I have seen/used) are typically a bit wider than pencil, maybe something more like 3/8".

- So it seems like there is a diameter mismatch for grafting. The scions (it seems to me) will always be much wider than the red-tender growth.

- If you wait for the tender growth to be large enough to do either veneer or cleft grafting, it will probably harden into green (i.e. not red-tender anymore).

I fully admit that my mango growing and grafting experience is pretty limited. But I wanted to get you feedback on how you do the grafting and what diameter scions and red-tender branches that you look for when you graft. Do you look for very narrow hardened scions?

Thanks!

The cross-breeding of plants brings out the occasional anomaly in development. The S-8 variety goes completely flat on occasion, losing one of its edges. It doesn't hurt the plant physically, but If its an unsupported branch, it doesn't have the 'tripod' structure of a normal branch, and can bend or break more easily. Also, if you end up with a flower bud that reverts back to a branch in development, you can end up with a 6-sided segment for a few inches, to a foot. I don't know if that affects fruit production, but I have yet to verify any new flower budding in these plant segments.
but to your original question, if the plants look the same, color, thorns, etc, but theres just one extra side, I would think its safe to assume its probably what you ordered.

Interesting! I did not know that. But with this vine in question, not only is the 3 lobe vs. 4 lobe a difference, but also the thorn spacing is very different on both vines. They really don't seem to be the same cultivar. But there is a lot about DF that I just don't know yet.

So here is an odd situation. I ordered some dragon fruit cuttings and got them today. One of the ones I ordered was American Beauty. Well I received two cuttings that were labeled American Beauty. The problem is ... they are different from each other!

See the picture below. The top cutting is three-sided/lobed and the bottom cutting is four-sided/lobed.

So is American Beauty the three-lobed cutting (which I think is correct, my other two DF vines are three-lobed)? So what is the other cutting? What DF species have four-lobes?

Those who want pads I will update you soon.

sorry forgot to post before. Please put me on the list