Author Topic: forcing mango bloom  (Read 7415 times)

treefrog

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forcing mango bloom
« on: August 19, 2014, 07:12:19 PM »
got a mango tree that won't bloom?  they can be forced with saltpetre (potassium nitrate.)  i ran across this while web surfing.  i'm not sure i'll ever have an occasion to use it.

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/apply-potassium-nitrate-mango-trees-55904.html

saltpetre is hard to find because it can be used to make gunpowder.  despair not.  "hi - yield stump remover" is almost pure (99 %) potassium nitrate.  available at most garden centers.
« Last Edit: August 19, 2014, 07:14:41 PM by treefrog »
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simon_grow

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Re: forcing mango bloom
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2014, 08:50:11 PM »
You may want to try drought stress, high phosphorus fertilizer and trunk scarification. My friend has a szygzium that didn't ever flower until he scarred the trunk.
Simon

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Re: forcing mango bloom
« Reply #2 on: August 19, 2014, 09:54:55 PM »
got a mango tree that won't bloom?  they can be forced with saltpetre (potassium nitrate.)  i ran across this while web surfing.  i'm not sure i'll ever have an occasion to use it.

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/apply-potassium-nitrate-mango-trees-55904.html

saltpetre is hard to find because it can be used to make gunpowder.  despair not.  "hi - yield stump remover" is almost pure (99 %) potassium nitrate.  available at most garden centers.

Potassium Nitrate as a bloom inducer for mango only works in the tropical latitudes. It will not stimulate bloom on trees in Florida.


bsbullie

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Re: forcing mango bloom
« Reply #4 on: August 19, 2014, 10:13:21 PM »
What, you mean this forum has some sort of search feature?
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jcaldeira

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Re: forcing mango bloom
« Reply #5 on: August 19, 2014, 10:19:51 PM »
Potassium Nitrate works:

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MangoFang

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Re: forcing mango bloom
« Reply #6 on: August 19, 2014, 11:10:40 PM »
treefrog - hold old is the tree?  What about a picture?

Gary

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Re: forcing mango bloom
« Reply #7 on: August 19, 2014, 11:30:05 PM »
I wonder if there is anything to induce flowering on Green Sapote. Mine is a seedling about 8 years old and not flowering yet. I have tried higher Potassium fertilizers with no luck yet. Any ideas?

Thanks
Raul

zands

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Re: forcing mango bloom
« Reply #8 on: August 19, 2014, 11:55:39 PM »
In the Philippines, various methods are employed to promote flowering: smudging (smoking), exposing the roots, pruning, girdling, withholding nitrogen and irrigation, and even applying salt. In the West Indies, there is a common folk practice of slashing the trunk with a machete to make the tree bloom and bear in "off" years. Deblos-soming (removing half the flower clusters) in an "on" year will induce at least a small crop in the next "off" year. Almost any treatment or condition that retards vegetative growth will have this effect. Spraying with growth-retardant chemicals has been tried, with inconsistent results. Potassium nitrate has been effective in the Philippines.
https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/mango_ars.html

Tropicdude

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Re: forcing mango bloom
« Reply #9 on: August 20, 2014, 12:52:34 AM »
Seen many studies done using KN03 and they always come to the conclusion that its not effective in non tropical locations.   

What Simon recommended is good advice.

Also you want to prune at the right time, ideally you want the new growth on your trees to be a few months old before cooler weather and dry season comes around,  in winter don't even water your tree ( if its in ground and already established. ) unless you see your tree really needs it bad.   you want the tree to be stressed in the winter.

KN03  really works good in the tropics though.  I have seen Keitt plantations where one side was sprayed and one area was not ( control plot ).  well the sprayed trees were loaded with fruit, the non sprayed trees had only a few fruit, and different trees were at different stages, some trees did not even flower,  in the tropics we just do not get the climate triggers like you do in Florida.  if we get rain in the winter here,  flowering ( if you get any ) is all over the place,  this year has been bad over here as we had a wet winter, our drought came very late and has caused a double whammy, as those trees that did flower, have little rain for their developing fruit.

Anyway my advice is don't waste money on KN03 in Fla to use as a flower inducer,  if you want to use it as a foliar fertilizer, go ahead but there are better things to spray.

Timing the pruning and watering, and laying off the nitrogen fertilizer in the fall/winter  should be enough,
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Mark in Texas

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Re: forcing mango bloom
« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2014, 08:07:39 AM »
Supposedly, it's the higher value of K relative to N that usually acts as a bloom inducer.  13-0-44 for saltpeter.  Theory or the paradigm if you will is the high K puts on the brakes whereby N pushes foliage.   Perhaps one needs to start applying a high K food before the usual bloom cycle in order to have it available to the plant.

Having trouble getting key limes to bloom I applied a high K food twice about a month or so ago and they are now loaded with fruit.  One small tree was white with blooms.  Anyhoo, this is where I buy my KNO3, cheap.  Quality is excellent. http://www.seedranch.com/Potassium-Nitrate-s/2137.htm

Having said that when I got my Pickering last September I did my normal upcan drill of side dressing the new tree with a Polyon slow release 18-4-9 with micros and come spring it was covered solid in blooms.  Left one fruit on to ripen.  So, this application of a high N food goes against the normal convention that fruiting plants need more K than N, OR, I guess my plants just can't read and don't get it.  :D

Mark
« Last Edit: August 21, 2014, 01:28:35 PM by Mark in Texas »

Doglips

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Re: forcing mango bloom
« Reply #11 on: August 21, 2014, 08:17:10 AM »
Isn't this a little late in game to try for blooms this year? I'd fertilize it now then don't feed it again this year (maybe one more feeding).

Mark in Texas

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Re: forcing mango bloom
« Reply #12 on: August 21, 2014, 08:17:19 AM »
  i ran across this while web surfing.  i'm not sure i'll ever have an occasion to use it.

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/apply-potassium-nitrate-mango-trees-55904.html

This lady is full of BS and needs to stick to her fiction and art pursuits.  At her prescribed rate you won't have any leaves left!  1 pound, are you kidding me?

Blend 1 pound of potassium nitrate into 7 gallons of water. Fill the tank of your sprayer with this mixture, continuing to stir even as you pour the solution into the sprayer. Shake the sprayer often during use to keep the solution mixed.


Whether I'm doing a commercial foliar spray with a PTO driven air blaster or a backpack, I NEVER go more than 1 tsp./gal whether it's dry (like saltpeter) or wet plant food (like Dyna-Gro).   Also, nothing was mentioned of adding a surfactant aka spreader-sticker.  Without a surfactant that spray would be useless.

Be very wary of the advice you get off the internet.

Less is more,
Mark
« Last Edit: August 21, 2014, 08:42:25 AM by Mark in Texas »

ClayMango

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Re: forcing mango bloom
« Reply #13 on: August 21, 2014, 11:13:19 AM »
I always use Brawndo for fertilizer, it has electrolites!
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Tropicdude

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Re: forcing mango bloom
« Reply #14 on: August 21, 2014, 11:18:50 PM »
I always use Brawndo for fertilizer, it has electrolites!

Better if you use regular water,  yes, yes, the same as in toilets.  ;)
William
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