My happy and healthy Keitt - pictorial history

[Fiddlewood]

Seedling planted 4-24-09


Graft takes 9-26-09


One year post graft 10-08-10


Two years and one mo post graft 10-30-11


Two years and five mo post graft first bloom 2-22-12


Two years and eight mo post graft results of first bloom 49 mangos 5-23-12

[lycheeluva]

wow - incredible results and great pics

[puglvr1]

Congrats on a beautiful Keitt...You really did a great job growing that tree. Amazing!! thanks for the progression pictures. Enjoy your fruits. I can't get over how many fruits are on that 3 year old tree!

[SWRancher]

Very nice looking tree and impressive 1st time fruiting results.

[johnb51]

Beautiful!  Will you have to prop up the limbs to prevent breakage?

[behlgarden]

Wonderful history captured there. I wish and hope my Nam Doc Mai and Alphonso takes off like yours. This was first year of flush and I got blooms instead. When do mangoes realy get growth flush? After fruits? I am confused. Since Last Sep, neighter of my trees has put a single flush or leaf.

[Fiddlewood]

Thanks everyone. I think its mainly luck. 

Johnb51- Good question. This is my first Keitt. I know the mangos are going to get a lot bigger. This is also the first time I have had such a young tree hold so many mangos. Last year I had so many mangos on my ten year old Carrie that I propped up some major branches for fear of a break like Harry experienced recently.

[zands]

Thanks everyone. I think its mainly luck. 

Johnb51- Good question. This is my first Keitt. I know the mangos are going to get a lot bigger. This is also the first time I have had such a young tree hold so many mangos. Last year I had so many mangos on my ten year old Carrie that I propped up some major branches for fear of a break like Harry experienced recently.

You did great with that. What kind of fertilization program did you have and did you do it from the start?

I have a Keitt planted 2008 and it is not doing as well as yours.....partly because I did not fertilize the first few years. Due to there being mango advice on the internet saying to not fertilize them. But a good solid NPK with minors is what they need to get them bigger and fruiting faster. Home Depot has such fertilizer but the 8-3-9 with minors fertilizer from Excalibur and (I think) Pine Island Nursery is better. Also I hear Broward and Palm Beach rare fruit clubs have that 8 3 9. Mulching plus good fertilizer is the key to mango success. When they get larger you reduce or eliminate both maybe.... depending on your unique situation

[bsbullie]

Thanks everyone. I think its mainly luck. 

Johnb51- Good question. This is my first Keitt. I know the mangos are going to get a lot bigger. This is also the first time I have had such a young tree hold so many mangos. Last year I had so many mangos on my ten year old Carrie that I propped up some major branches for fear of a break like Harry experienced recently.

You did great with that. What kind of fertilization program did you have and did you do it from the start?

I have a Keitt planted 2008 and it is not doing as well as yours.....partly because I did not fertilize the first few years. Due to there being mango advice on the internet saying to not fertilize them. But a good solid NPK with minors is what they need to get them bigger and fruiting faster. Home Depot has such fertilizer but the 8-3-9 with minors fertilizer from Excalibur and (I think) Pine Island Nursery is better. Also I hear Broward and Palm Beach rare fruit clubs have that 8 3 9. Mulching plus good fertilizer is the key to mango success. When they get larger you reduce or eliminate both maybe.... depending on your unique situation

Excalibur's and the PBCRFC's 8-3-9 was formulated by Richard Wilson with some assistance.  This is different than PIN and most likely Broward RFC also with respect to the minor package/formulation. 

[HMHausman]

Great growing and excellent job in documentation.  While you are very excited about having the large number of fruits on the tree, conventional wisdom (which I also have trouble following) would tell you to thin the number of fruits.  That is a lot of mango fruit production for such a small tree. Your tree will be set back if it carries all of those fruits to maturity. That is for sure.  Whether it will stunt the growth overall seriously jeopardizing the tree's health, or just  make it more dwarf than it would be otherwise, or not have all that much effect other than a period of extended growth limitation....that is the unknown.  If you don't thin.....I will understand.....I might not (err...probably wouldn't) do it either.

Harry

[nullzero]

Behl,

You should get a growth flush soon, since the temps have been trending in the 70s. Its a teaser seeing all these FL mango growth pictures, since CA will be a lot slower in growth and production then FL growers.

[behlgarden]

if CA is behind in case of tepmps, I will let MangoFang be the driver here! Come on Gary! Lets gooo!

[Fiddlewood]

Thanks again guys.

Zands- I don't remember how old the tree was when I realized after some heavy rain there was some flooding near the tree. I discovered a neighbor was throwing away horse manure mixed with hay and I used       some to shed some of the water further from the tree. Luckily the ground near the trunk was high enough to do this. That was the only fertilizer used. I also did this to some other nearby trees but the Keitt was the only one to experience the phenominal growth. I grafted another nearby seedling, at the same time as the Keitt,  with an Edward and while it looks healthy it is not as full and the trunk is not as big as the Keitt. It only produced two mangos and they both fell off quite early.

Harry- Thanks for verbalizing what I should have already thought of and acted on. I will have my son read your reply (He actually did the graft on the Keitt and I did the Edward) . I think we will agree it is a good idea, but it won't be easy.

Nullzero- Thanks for answering Behl's question. I wasn't quite sure how to answer it.

[bradflorida]

Beautiful Keitt.  Great for 3 years old....tons of fruit.  Good work!

Brad

[Tim]

Very beautiful tree, I'd be staking it up left & right.

[MangoFang]

Well fiddlesticks!

What a documentary - great work and just a sick amount of fruit!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know, you could always prop it this year and take them all to full fruition
and then next year do a more thorough thinning job if you like.  Yeah, you Florida
guys seem to get 2 - 3 times the number of growth flushes that we get each year.  Even with my desert heat I don't get anywhere's near that kind of growth...it's our winter that shuts down everything, making it slow to start up in the spring apparently.  And my three months of 108-110 daily temps seems to slow growth a bit as well - too hot is too hot

Anyway, I love my small Keitt and can see already that it has prolific tendencies....Yours is a phenom....


Good luck - Gary

[puglvr1]

Very beautiful tree, I'd be staking it up left & right.

Check out my hokey makeshift "Staking" (used very loosely,lol...) Rope and Conduit pipes, I don't think this one will work for you though since you have SO many more fruits!!

My Keitt...

[Fiddlewood]

I took Harry's advice. My son and I removed 20 mangos this afternoon. We still may need to some propping up if they get a lot bigger. Thanks for the picture of your staking Puglvr and your encouraging words Gary.I will try and post an update when they are getting ripe. I can't believe how long it is till they normally ripen.

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

Hi Fiddlewood,
The Keitt mango's progression looks great....AWESOME