Author Topic: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!  (Read 6003 times)

lemento

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Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« on: November 12, 2014, 06:52:41 PM »
My indoor Mallika Mango tree just started blooming!!

I got it from PIN last August and it is now 3 and a half feet tall



There are 7 blooms which started and I would love to have atleast 1 mango which sticks!!

Should I trim some of the the blooms?  What kind of light does it need at this time?  It had nearly 100% artificial lighting last winter with an HPS bulb.  I also have MH bulb but was wondering if anyone know what spectrum would better promote a better fruiting season?
« Last Edit: November 12, 2014, 06:56:42 PM by lemento »

redhaus

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2014, 11:13:35 PM »
Lemento,

Very nice looking tree there my fellow Chitowner ;). It's incredible that it's blooming! Have you had it inside a tent?

I've learned a lot about lighting and I would definitely go with a bulb that has more red than blue in the spectrum. Plants mostly use blue for vegging and red for flowering/blooming. I am currently using a Hortilux Blue which has one of the best spectrums I've seen. An amazing amount of output in the entire spectrum pretty much. Problem is a lot of bulbs don't have a full spectrum, they'll put out a decent amount of red but not much in the rest of the spectrum. Although plants use red more for blooming, they still need light from the rest of the spectrum to facilitate and signal blooming. A lot of HPS bulbs will have a narrow part of the spectrum where they put out a lot of red but the rest of the spectrum, nothing. I would choose based on CRI (Color Rendering Index) rating, which means how much of all the colors in the spectrum the bulb is putting out compared to the sun. The sun's CRI is 100. That Hortilux Blue bulb has a CRI of 90. Good luck finding any higher than that. Seriously, it's an expensive bulb, but will pay for itself in the long run.
« Last Edit: November 12, 2014, 11:20:17 PM by redhaus »

puglvr1

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #2 on: November 13, 2014, 07:55:55 AM »


Nice looking mango tree!!! Congrats on the blooms  ;D

MangoFang

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #3 on: November 13, 2014, 12:48:14 PM »
lamento - the common knowledge (at least to me) on this forum is that
you don't trim the flower stalks off as that will only make the plant re-flower.
The usual practice is to remove the flower stalks after they have set BB to
pea-sized fruit.

The other common advice is actually the growers choice...which is:

If you let it hold fruit at the size it is at now,it will most likely slow down growth
of the plant in order to take care of the ripening fruit, at least until it is removed from
the tree.  So....your "choice" is to enjoy a fruit or two knowing the growth of the
tree will probably suffer, or cut them all off and let the tree continue to grow and
strengthen for future, more bounteous fruit enjoyment.

It's a dilemma many of us have faced and made various decisions over with mixed
results.  So there ya go, partner!

Go Chisox!

Gary

simon_grow

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #4 on: November 13, 2014, 01:56:20 PM »
Congratulations lemento! Your Mallika looks really healthy. I'd go with the abortions bulb redhaus recommended. I also completely agree with what Gary mentioned. For me personally, I would rather remove the fruit when they are marble to golfball size so that the plant can grow a little more.

If you are an eager beaver, just keep one fruit. Let your tree bloom and when the small mangos are thumb size, select the best one and remove the rest. There is a chance your tree will drop the one remaining fruit but if it drops it, it was meant to be. Please let us know what you decide on and keep us updated on the progress of your beautiful tree!
Simon

redhaus

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #5 on: November 13, 2014, 02:58:20 PM »
Congratulations lemento! Your Mallika looks really healthy. I'd go with the abortions bulb redhaus recommended. I also completely agree with what Gary mentioned. For me personally, I would rather remove the fruit when they are marble to golfball size so that the plant can grow a little more.

If you are an eager beaver, just keep one fruit. Let your tree bloom and when the small mangos are thumb size, select the best one and remove the rest. There is a chance your tree will drop the one remaining fruit but if it drops it, it was meant to be. Please let us know what you decide on and keep us updated on the progress of your beautiful tree!
Simon

'Abortions' bulb?? lol what is that?

So this tree will set blooms again around March April?


simon_grow

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #6 on: November 13, 2014, 10:26:21 PM »
Stupid autofill, it's been happening a lot with my new iPhone:) I meant Hortilux.

Simon

Mark in Texas

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #7 on: November 14, 2014, 07:44:41 AM »
My indoor Mallika Mango tree just started blooming!!

I got it from PIN last August and it is now 3 and a half feet tall


3.5' tall, indoors, already?  I'd remove the blooms and once it started showing a new flush of leaves come spring I'd top to about 8" above the soil line to get a nice branching, rounded canopy.  That's what I did with my PIN Mallika and the profile, shape, is really nice.  Compared to my Pickering the internodes are quite long.  IOW, height management might be challenging.

Regarding indoor lighting, I'd recommend a mix of 600 HPS and 400 MH using small horizontal hoods with specular inserts and side reflective panels placed as close to the tree as you can get them.  That mix of lights will easily grow at least 2 small mangos.  This will be supplemental light during the cold months anyway you'll be moving them outdoors come late spring.

Mark
« Last Edit: November 14, 2014, 07:46:52 AM by Mark in Texas »

adiel

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #8 on: November 14, 2014, 10:12:42 AM »
I recommend not touching the blooms.  You most likely have limited height growing this tree indoors correct?  This will help the tree not take off, eventually you will have to do some pruning anyways, but leave the pruning for the same day you pick the last fruit from your indoor mango tree.
Adiel

Mark in Texas

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #9 on: November 14, 2014, 11:47:13 AM »
In addition to topping the tree to induce branching I recommend he get it into a root tip pruning system - either MicroKote type product or a RootMaker pot.

redhaus

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #10 on: November 14, 2014, 02:31:41 PM »
Stupid autofill, it's been happening a lot with my new iPhone:) I meant Hortilux.

Simon

Hehe I figured that was a typo. I can't stand the new iOS. iPhone era is over...

Make sure you don't get the lights too close or the leaves will get damaged and you can see this visually. I would use the hand test, palm down. If your hand can tolerate the heat then so can the plant.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2014, 02:34:14 PM by redhaus »

lemento

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #11 on: November 16, 2014, 10:28:34 AM »
Thanks for all the great advice!

I like the current height of the tree. Wouldn't want it to be over another 6 - 8" taller so I think it'll let it go ahead and fruit this year and see how it goes.

I do have a Hortilux Daylight Blue bulb and plan to use it for additional light over the winter (it's already by a large south facing window)

I haven't been using any fertilizer from Fairchild's recommendations, but should I use some now that it's flowering?

Mark in Texas

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #12 on: November 16, 2014, 10:46:37 AM »
Lemento, you do what you want but I'm here to tell ya - that tree is not near ready to hold fruit, much less bloom.

Good luck

ClayMango

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #13 on: November 16, 2014, 10:55:40 AM »
Lemento, you do what you want but I'm here to tell ya - that tree is not near ready to hold fruit, much less bloom.

Good luck

I let a few of my trees Hold Fruit that were 3 g and 7 g trees.....Each tree suffered tremendous amount of growth compared to the ones that did not fruit... Only my Nam Doc Mai turned into a monster with late season Flushes including flushing on the same branch holding 2 fruit as we speak....The limbs in which I let fruit became so malnourished on all of my trees from the energy put into fruiting that the leaves began to look as if a vampire was sucking them dry.

Just wait until next year if you have the patience and let it hold 1 or 2 fruit at the most.
Thinking about joining a Fruitaholics anonymous support group...Fruit addiction has taken over my life!

Mark in Texas

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Re: Indoor Mallika Mango tree is blooming!
« Reply #14 on: November 16, 2014, 11:07:53 AM »
Clay, you may remember this community has had this discussion before.  I went so far as to say you can damn near kill a plant from stress if you push it to fruit when it's not ready.  About did it with 2nd leaf grapevines, they were literally dieing.  Pro said "drop the fruit now or lose those vines."....and I did.  Took a year to recover.

Mark