lemon zest vigor or lack thereof

[Doglips]

OK. I think that is fertilizer/salt damage. From personal experience killing 20 or so young mango trees, it does takes months for the damage to show, and the leaf drop and burnt leaf margins are exactly what I experienced. I talked to Dr Richard Campbell about it, and he said that mango trees are super sensitive to ammonia, which is more heavily present in some nitrogen sources than others. He said that the best way to kill a young mango tree is to plant it with a fish, since the fish will eventually rot and release ammonia.

My LZ was a bit anemic when I got it, I repotted it in gritty mix and have been splashing it with Foliage Pro fairly regularly.  It appears to be making a pretty strong comeback.  I have a Cogshall that I'd occassionally dose with Scotts citrus fertilizer, I torched some of the lower leaves bad.  The citrus seems to eat it up, I won't use it on mangos anymore.  I hunch that the urea based nitrogen is the cause.

[phantomcrab]

Patrick is correct about the mulch. It has a pretty significant impact.

It sure does. If you have a very sandy yard like I do there will be no cation exchange occurring in the soil and most of the nutrients leach out rapidly.

[Tropicdude]

I have purchased two LZ's now.  One from Spykes Grove over a year ago, my first one, and a second two months ago from Excalibur in Palm Beach where they had an entire row of them.

I pulled out my first tree, cut it way back, and now have it in a pot.  It put out some new growth and looks okay for now.  The second tree has the same look to it as the first.  A very light green to the leaves and it does not look at all hardy like any of my other trees.  It put out it's first wimpy flush two weeks ago after the rains.  I loose more leafs off them than other varieties I have.

The two trees have an identical look to them....which is not very healthy.  My neighbor has one, and although it has done better than mine, it is the least vigorous of his 15 mango tree varieties.

Although I have heard people say the manos are fantastic.....I don't think I would recommend this variety to anyone else.  It lacks vigor/disease resistance.  A poor grower.

I have had mine about 2 years now, and looks the same as when I got it.  still in a 3 gallon pot.  in that period it only flushed once.
a Kesar I got in October last year has twice as much growth on it than my LZ that that is at least two years older.

Note both trees start as bare rooted and leafless when I transport them.

I think I will start doing foliar sprays on it, maybe move it into another pot, see if I can kick it into gear.

[Cookie Monster]

The pictures you had posted earlier of your lemon zest had clear signs of salt / fertilizer burn.

When properly cared for, they grow quite nicely.

I have purchased two LZ's now.  One from Spykes Grove over a year ago, my first one, and a second two months ago from Excalibur in Palm Beach where they had an entire row of them. 

I pulled out my first tree, cut it way back, and now have it in a pot.  It put out some new growth and looks okay for now.  The second tree has the same look to it as the first.  A very light green to the leaves and it does not look at all hardy like any of my other trees.  It put out it's first wimpy flush two weeks ago after the rains.  I loose more leafs off them than other varieties I have. 

The two trees have an identical look to them....which is not very healthy.  My neighbor has one, and although it has done better than mine, it is the least vigorous of his 15 mango tree varieties.

Although I have heard people say the manos are fantastic.....I don't think I would recommend this variety to anyone else.  It lacks vigor/disease resistance.  A poor grower.

[Cookie Monster]

It's not a tree amenable to container growing. Put it in the ground and let it grow.

I have purchased two LZ's now.  One from Spykes Grove over a year ago, my first one, and a second two months ago from Excalibur in Palm Beach where they had an entire row of them.

I pulled out my first tree, cut it way back, and now have it in a pot.  It put out some new growth and looks okay for now.  The second tree has the same look to it as the first.  A very light green to the leaves and it does not look at all hardy like any of my other trees.  It put out it's first wimpy flush two weeks ago after the rains.  I loose more leafs off them than other varieties I have.

The two trees have an identical look to them....which is not very healthy.  My neighbor has one, and although it has done better than mine, it is the least vigorous of his 15 mango tree varieties.

Although I have heard people say the manos are fantastic.....I don't think I would recommend this variety to anyone else.  It lacks vigor/disease resistance.  A poor grower.

I have had mine about 2 years now, and looks the same as when I got it.  still in a 3 gallon pot.  in that period it only flushed once.
a Kesar I got in October last year has twice as much growth on it than my LZ that that is at least two years older.

Note both trees start as bare rooted and leafless when I transport them.

I think I will start doing foliar sprays on it, maybe move it into another pot, see if I can kick it into gear.

[Cookie Monster]

Looks characteristic of LZ to me. There's an easy way to tell: smell the sap. If it's LZ it will have sap that smells like citrus. Few mango trees have this characteristic. Make a small slice in one of the baby fruits and sap will come out. New leaves also have enough sap to be smelled.

Are you sure that tree is a lemon zest?  It has very dark leaves like a Carrie or a Cogshall.  I have not seen any LZ's at Excaliburs in the long rows that have leaves that look like that.

[natsgarden123]

One flush so far this season. The tree looks healthy but it's growth is SLOW. Its been in the ground almost 2 years. Interesting; this variety must be sensitive to location and soil?

[mikesid]

I've had no problems with the LZ...I've had it in the ground a year...four flushes this year(i think three last year)..but I also had no flowers/fruit...which I don't mind right now while the plant is establishing...

[MangoFang]

Dan: This old thread just keeps on going and going....

Well. another Californian here, reporting that my LZ, (like JF's) has almost doubled in size
since I've got it the tail end of 2011.  A VERY vigorous grower.  I've got sandy desert soil and many 100+
degree days and very low humidity, but who knows why it's so wigorous!

 

However, had no blooms this spring, so perhaps I should get the "P" and/or the "K" up and
cool it with the "N"......   

Gary



Sorry the image is not very clear.....

[mangomandan]

Gary, my Lemon Zest is about 7 feet tall now. It just put out its first flush of 2013.  I don't remember when I planted it, but I think that in the long run the growth has been reasonable.

It started to put out one bloom this spring; the panacle grew to nearly an inch before it changed its mind and said "never mind."

Jeff gets lots of blooms from his young trees.  Maybe you and I aren't giving our LZs as much love as he does.

[Squam256]

My LZ trees are among the most vigorous growers I have. Very vertical growth habit.

[mikesid]

I do prune my LZ every six inches of growth...maybe heavy pruning causes these to flush more often? what are your experiences?

[JF]

Looks characteristic of LZ to me. There's an easy way to tell: smell the sap. If it's LZ it will have sap that smells like citrus. Few mango trees have this characteristic. Make a small slice in one of the baby fruits and sap will come out. New leaves also have enough sap to be smelled.

Are you sure that tree is a lemon zest?  It has very dark leaves like a Carrie or a Cogshall.  I have not seen any LZ's at Excaliburs in the long rows that have leaves that look like that.

Jeff, the tree is self thinning as you suggested , only 16 left, this image will confirm that this is LZ

[Cookie Monster]

Looks like LZ to me, and a very nice looking one!!

[Mr. Clean]

I planted my LZ last year and it did nothing for a long time.  Then I did an Imidacloprid soil drench and the LZ started growing.  Based on what happened, I theorize something was attacking the roots. 

[mangomandan]

The flush on my LZ started about 10 days after I did the same drench.   I wonder if a tree could respond that quickly to a reduction in stress from insects?

[natsgarden123]

Second Flush this week!

[ClayMango]

Can anyone here give me the roundabout size of what LZ  will grow too? I'm really stretching space on my property and would rather not grow a tree along the fence line and invade the neighbors property. I was hoping I could plant contain it within 15-20 ft....is this possible?

[edzone9]

I pugged mine , lets see how she does this spring ..

[Cookie Monster]

just about any mango can be kept at 15 to 20 feet (even the notoriously vigorous valencia pride) with an annual pruning. You'll probably have the inverse problem -- slow growing unless you can simulate psycho heat and humidity like we deal with here in fl.

Can anyone here give me the roundabout size of what LZ  will grow too? I'm really stretching space on my property and would rather not grow a tree along the fence line and invade the neighbors property. I was hoping I could plant contain it within 15-20 ft....is this possible?

[ClayMango]

Jeff after reading this thread from page 1....Looks like I'll be lucky to reach 10 feet in 20 years with the LZ Growing habit...Especially in My Zone 9b SOCAL....I'm more valley/Desert than say San Diego which lives in 70/80 degree paradise year round....Our Sumers our identical to Central Florida without the rain and Humidity........I'm going to Mulch my ass off, compost about 5 foot hole  blend to help this Clay....Hope for the best...I'm hearing some horror stories from Florida growers...

[murahilin]

Jeff after reading this thread from page 1....Looks like I'll be lucky to reach 10 feet in 20 years with the LZ Growing habit...Especially in My Zone 9b SOCAL....I'm more valley/Desert than say San Diego which lives in 70/80 degree paradise year round....Our Sumers our identical to Central Florida without the rain and Humidity........I'm going to Mulch my ass off, compost about 5 foot hole  blend to help this Clay....Hope for the best...I'm hearing some horror stories from Florida growers...

My LZ is around 10 ft already in under 3 years. I don't think it will take you 20 years, even in SoCal.

[JF]

Jeff after reading this thread from page 1....Looks like I'll be lucky to reach 10 feet in 20 years with the LZ Growing habit...Especially in My Zone 9b SOCAL....I'm more valley/Desert than say San Diego which lives in 70/80 degree paradise year round....Our Sumers our identical to Central Florida without the rain and Humidity........I'm going to Mulch my ass off, compost about 5 foot hole  blend to help this Clay....Hope for the best...I'm hearing some horror stories from Florida growers...

My LZ is around 10 ft already in under 3 years. I don't think it will take you 20 years, even in SoCal.

My under 3 yrs old would be easily 10' if it didn't fruit last year. LZ is a vigorous tree anywhere. I think MangoDog'sLZ is around 10' in choachella.

[ClayMango]

Hopefully Top Tropicals will get a 7 gallon in the Lemon Zest and CoCo Cream so I can have a year head start on the 3 gallons. I want to purchase  at least 3 trees at once so I can make the most  of the cross country shipping fee.... LZ, CoCo Cream, and Carrie seems to be the trio of the Gods based on forum feedback... Other front runners would be Nam Doc Mai, Malika, and maybe Maha.... But hands down LZ will be the first round draft pick.... "Mango Guru" Jeff said it has no contenders....most people here seem to agree.

[Tropicdude]

Mine finally died.  not sure what caused it to go, got same treatment as others, and they are doing ok.  maybe my little girl spilled something in the container.

guess next trip I will try and get some bud wood for LZ, and try and graft it onto one of the local varieties seedlings.