Nitrate of potash and mango flower induction.

[Pancrazio]

I live in a temperate climate. I managed to keep my mango alive in ground for several years, but i have problem with flowering.
Basically flower induction works fine with low temperatures. By march i have my tree covered with flowers, but those flowers are often deformed because they grew in lower temperature.
Conventional wisdom wants then that i remove all the flowers to induce a second flowering with hopefully higher temperature; that's the tricky part; if i remove the flowers too soon i get the induction but flower opening happens too soon (May) and embryos are killed by low temperatures. If i remove flowers too late I would get the flower right when i want them (June) but then again, since the temperature in the meantime have risen, i don't get flower initiation, so i just get a growth flush.
So, I’m thinking about nitrate of potash to induce flowering, but i lack experience, knowledge, everything; by any chance, is there anyone who has used nitrate of potash on his mango with success, especially in a temperate climate? Do you have suggestion/doses/side effects?

[cos]

I did but only to the extent of flowering. I used 1 teas / gal & even worked where i could only hit the undersides of the leaves.
I dont know what that means as I seldom get fruit set any way. Best of luck & if get fruit set please post!

[Pancrazio]

Thank you! So actually someone uses this! Did you notice any damage on leaves after the treatment?
Well, your climate must be classified as tropical but hopefully it will work also here.

[cos]

Yep I got flowers & did not see any damage & if got fruit , i would do again.
Am on windward side of Maui near sea level so is tropical.

[MangoFang]

Pan - that's KNO3, yes?  Some guys in Los Angeles use it and get good flower production.  I think
Behl (you might want to PM him) does it every year...and I "think" the 1 tsp per gallon that Cos mentions
is accurate.  But I believe you have to do it like 3-4 times, every couple weeks. Behl or JF would know more, and maybe others.....

Vivo la Mango en Italia!


Gary

[bsbullie]

There is a ton of literature, far too much to post...just google it and you will have more reading than you know what to do with.

[cos]

I only made 1 application & was disappointed that could not hit the top of canopy, so I quit.  But a few days later saw blossoms begin to appear.

[happyisland]

I used potassium nitrate spray a couple years ago, and it worked pretty well. Here's a thread about it that I posted back then:
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=4604.0 

[Pancrazio]

Hey Gary, thank you for your support! 
And everyone else, thank you for your suggestions!
Apparently this works very well, at least in the tropics, so i guess it's a worth a shot; on the other hand, if my tree isn't producing, I'm don't have anything to lose.
I will see how this works in a temperate climate.

[OCchris]

I have been using the granular form of sulfate of potash (0-0-50) with good results. I just sprinkle some around the drip line, work it in, and water. Southern AG 5 lb. bag on Amazon- Good stuff

[Mike T]

Sulphate of potash should be fine for flower initiation.It is easy to get but a bit expensive.It is one of the most valued fertilizers for fruit growers and routinely recommended to improve flowering and fruit yield.It is best not to overdo it and risk getting making the K antagonistic nutrients less available or deficient.

[bsbullie]

I have been using the granular form of sulfate of potash (0-0-50) with good results. I just sprinkle some around the drip line, work it in, and water. Southern AG 5 lb. bag on Amazon- Good stuff

You are mixing up the two, potassium nitrate is used to force mangoes to flower,  not sulfate of potash which is used, under limiting amounts as Mike stated, as a fertilizer on more mature mangoes.

[Mike T]

Potassium is the key ingredient but in chloride form is pretty harsh.Just how much it directly helps flower initiation is debated and it certainly doesn't for all species.There is less debate about it making fruit taste better and helps plants resist stresses like cold and too little water.

[Chandramohan]

My cousin has been using Pot.nitrate as spray and sprinkling around the drip line of a mango tree in his garden to have mangoes almost thru out the year and also the mangoes are much sweeter.

[Pancrazio]

As for now i have a fair amount of sulphate of potash set aside for my garden (55lb) but i have just ordered 2 lb of potassium nitrate, because i usually don't keep it that between my fertilizers (I do prefer, in fact, to make my formulation all by myself, so i keep nitrate of ammonia, sulfate of potash and simple perphosphate, and mix them as i need). I placed the order for potassium nitrate immediately after the good report of cos because i hope to give the needed 4 treatments before summer so I'm a bit in a hurry!
Thank you for your suggestions! As I understand, apparently potassium nitrate doesn't induce the flowering, rather it induce the pushing of every bloom bud the plant may have. So i guess this is the time to go, since the low temperature weren't so far back in the past, I can still hope to have several flower buds active on my tree. I will report the results.

[OCchris]

Damn- I jumped the gun. my bad

[Pancrazio]

Today i made my first treatment. I used a 2% solution (20 gr of nitrate of potash in 1 lt of water) because my plant is still under cover and i feared an excessive accumulation of salt on leaves, which could eventually lead to some burns. Also, in this paper they reported good results on this percentage, and worse results with other percentages (even if almost everywhere else people use the 4% solution).
http://www.cabi.org/gara/FullTextPDF/Pre2000/19790374028.pdf
I probably should have added a surfactant but i hadn't any available at the moment. Will see next week what i can do (dish soap? I fear it may be too much aggressive on leaves).
Well, we will see how this goes.

[cos]

Hey good luck Pancrazio.
You did the most important thing,  YOU TRIED.
I did not use a surfactant & find the KNO3 is readily taken up.
Keep us posted!