Author Topic: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?  (Read 12300 times)

JF

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #50 on: October 18, 2019, 06:41:04 PM »
LZ getting sweeter by the minutes






simon_grow

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #51 on: October 18, 2019, 07:02:47 PM »
Frank, thanks for the report. A 23.5% Brix is great, I bet with the heatwave we’re about to get, the mangos will really start to sweeten up. Your Lemon Zest harvest was very respectable.

Simon

knlim000

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #52 on: October 25, 2019, 11:03:08 PM »

Mark in Texas

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #53 on: October 26, 2019, 09:06:16 AM »
23 brix is hitting it!

Great info Warren! The thing that confuses me is that my LZ trees have great fruit set but once the fruit get to about 2 inches in size, they tend to drop most their fruit. Then comes a massive growth flush.

Sounds like the fruit to canopy mass is off balance.  I'm not going to address LZ in particular, just fruit trees in general.  I try to produce plenty of healthy foliage to produce the food that will set blooms and produce and hold the fruit.  About 4 weeks ago I tipped all of my mango trees and they put out a massive flush, like this cocktail tree which was a runt this spring having been frozen to the ground but re-grafted.  The flush has hardened off since this Oct. 6 pic.  Tree also got a foliar hit of Bonzi a while back.



A couple of cheaters to try - apply Bonzi, a PGR, especially if you want to shorten internodes on a leggy variety.  It's been used by commercial mango and avocado growers (and me) forever to alter fruit set.   2nd, apply boron in the form of Solubor which is required in very small amounts for good bloom set and fruit retention. I THINK I sent some to Brad.  Might wanna check with him.  I had some grape shot on some of my grape varieties this year. I forgot to foliar spray the vineyard with boron before bloom.

Since everyone (but me) is on this high K, high Ca kick, apply potassium sulphate and gypsum prior to and during bloom set and play games.   K will not promote fruiting, only support it.  How much is enough is the question.  If 1 pound is good then I guess 5 pounds is mo betta.   ;D


« Last Edit: October 26, 2019, 09:13:12 AM by Mark in Texas »

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #54 on: October 26, 2019, 11:08:51 AM »
Hey Mark, thanks for the tips. I have never used Bonzi before but that’s good to have in the playbook.

My big LZ tree has a nice canopy and bud are just beginning to push again. We are nearing the end of our heatwave so this push is going to start out vegetative but the nights are in the 50s so there’s a chance it will turn to partial blooms.

I already have a tree that is blooming because of the cold nights.

Here’s a pic of my larger LZ tree

This tree definitely has enough leaves to support fruit, even if going by Dr Yonemoto’s ratio of 60-80 leaves per fruit. I did make sure to give this tree plenty of Potassium, Calcium and micro plus trace including Boron, up until the point where it dropped all its fruit.

The late set fruit on my potted double rootstock LZ tree is still holding on and has a very slight blush of yellow on the shoulders so it looks like I’ll harvest at least one full sized fruit this year. The late bloom was not bothered by fungal issues.

I may try removing early blooms from my LZ trees in order to get better fruit retention on secondary or tertiary blooms.

Simon

Mark in Texas

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #55 on: October 27, 2019, 04:07:02 PM »

I may try removing early blooms from my LZ trees in order to get better fruit retention on secondary or tertiary blooms.

Simon

With grapes and flowering on avocados like Reed the primary flowers and fruit set take precedent for me.  Epicenter Avocados has a ditty on this botanical favoritism in their FAQ.  I'd support the primary and drop the others.   Usually the tree does this anyway dropping late fruit set over first set.

Your tree has plenty of foliage, damn good looking tree. 

All I can say is good luck!

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #56 on: October 28, 2019, 12:30:54 AM »
Yeah, I hear you Mark. Many of the fruit I grow have better quality early set fruit. My Pomegranates for example. The early set Pomegranates fruit are ginormous and the later set fruit are only half the size of the early fruit.

My issue is that LZ in SoCal blooms very early, it’ll probably bloom within a month, and this coincides with our wet season where fungus thrives. I guess even if I let the early blooms hold on the tree, the tree will re bloom if there is heavy fruit drop.

Simon

Mark in Texas

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #57 on: October 28, 2019, 11:16:30 AM »
Yeah, I hear you Mark. Many of the fruit I grow have better quality early set fruit. My Pomegranates for example. The early set Pomegranates fruit are ginormous and the later set fruit are only half the size of the early fruit.

My issue is that LZ in SoCal blooms very early, it’ll probably bloom within a month, and this coincides with our wet season where fungus thrives. I guess even if I let the early blooms hold on the tree, the tree will re bloom if there is heavy fruit drop.

Simon

Might be a good idea to spray during your rainy season with a broad spectrum systemic fungicide.  Two coppers I have are Physan 35 and Magnabon CS2005.  Are also bactericides.  Also use Pristine which is pretty hard to beat. It will kick your anthracnose problems too.  You only want to use it 3X during the season and rotate it out with other with one or more fungicide group products.  Expensive as hell but goes a long way.  i split a jug with a friend 12 years ago and still have some that I use on my vineyard and occasionally in the greenhouse.  Magnabon is handy too when you have a failed graft that's doing the rot thing into the rootstock.  I mix at a rate of 1/2 tsp./qt. spray the cut end and the rest of the stem or trunk.  Works well.

While I'm at it because it always comes up, never seal a wound.

https://s3.wp.wsu.edu/uploads/sites/403/2015/03/wound-sealer.pdf

Wound dressings do:

• seal in moisture and decay
• sometimes serve as a food source for pathogens
• prevent wound wood from forming
• inhibit compartmentalization
• eventually crack, exposing the tree to pathogens

Wound dressings do not:

• prevent entrance of decay organisms
• stop rot

For some inexplicable reason, some people are compelled to “manage” a process that plants have evolved
over millions of years. Every year, trees form hundreds of tiny abscission layers as leaves senesce and
fall. Wounds left from branch breakage are callused over and compartmentalized. But look at this
advice from another web site with something to sell:

• “Bark with cracks. This is a natural (emphasis mine) occurrence in the growth of trees & shrubs.
Where cracking occurs in the lower wood it is probably caused by flooding after a long period of
dryness. Cracks in the trunk should be painted with a tree wound dressing or bituminous paint to
prevent the invasion of fungal diseases”

It’s important to recognize that trees do not heal. Instead, they......

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #58 on: October 29, 2019, 07:55:52 PM »
Great info Mark! The only time I cover/wrap the wound is when I’m bark grafting a large branch. If not wrapped, the union will dry up. I believe you are speaking more toward trimming trees or removing large branches?

Simon

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #59 on: October 29, 2019, 08:48:04 PM »
Here’s a closer look at one of my main problems. It’s still October and my LZ is already beginning to bloom.





Simon

Oolie

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #60 on: October 29, 2019, 09:15:28 PM »
Mine hasn't budged yet, but Val-Carrie is pushing mixed bloom, and Maha had barely hardened off its last flush, but now it's going for a full bloom.

Is that such a problem? I figure it will start flushing leaves eventually, no need to let it fruit.

Mark in Texas

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #61 on: November 02, 2019, 09:16:37 AM »
Here’s a closer look at one of my main problems. It’s still October and my LZ is already beginning to bloom.





Simon

You can always snap off the entire flower cluster off before they open.

weiss613

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #62 on: November 06, 2019, 06:30:26 AM »
I bought 7 gallon LZ trees from Zill at the end of October 2019 so yes Zill is still selling LZ trees.
I have close to 40 and here is an observation about 1 problem with some of them. Most are healthy and fantastic. Some when taken from the nursery had blackish branches. These trees have been a struggle to keep looking healthy. I think the black colored branches is anthracnose. Most of my normal LZ’s produce normal green leaves but the infected ones have a strong tendency to produce yellow and white leaves with black spots. This is a continual struggle to remove those branches and leaves and hope new ones come in healthy. I’d say 20% of my LZ’s have this problem to some degree. Some grow out of it. I haven’t had to pull any LZ trees out yet in 5 years but I always feel frustrated about this. I think that with love and care they’ll grow out of it. I wish there was a fungicidal drench that was systemic that would wipe out this infection. In a few weeks it will be pre emergence spraying time again and I hope that this year Abound takes care of this problem. But the 11 I bought 3 weeks ago from Zill are super healthy. I didn’t know any better when I took home the sick ones.

Mark in Texas

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #63 on: November 07, 2019, 12:57:33 PM »
I wish there was a fungicidal drench that was systemic that would wipe out this infection

There is which I've mentioned plenty of times - Magnabon CS2005 or Phyton 35.  Do a soil drench AND foliar spray.  Spray should be at a rate of 2tsp/gallon.  Include 1 tsp. of a non ionic surfactant or you're be pissin' into the wind.

There are others like Pristine but it's pretty pricey.

Jose Spain

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #64 on: November 07, 2019, 01:31:51 PM »
I wish there was a fungicidal drench that was systemic that would wipe out this infection

There is which I've mentioned plenty of times - Magnabon CS2005 or Phyton 35.  Do a soil drench AND foliar spray.  Spray should be at a rate of 2tsp/gallon.  Include 1 tsp. of a non ionic surfactant or you're be pissin' into the wind.

There are others like Pristine but it's pretty pricey.

Mark, the active ingredient is Copper Sulphate Pentahydrate, right? I'm asking because those brands are not for sell in Europe but the CSP can be bought pure.

Mark in Texas

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #65 on: November 07, 2019, 03:00:00 PM »
Correct

Jose Spain

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #66 on: November 08, 2019, 07:09:34 AM »
Thanks  ;)

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #67 on: January 05, 2020, 06:54:19 PM »
I was finally able to coax a fruit out of my Double Stone Grafted Lemon Zest tree. I gifted this tree to Leo Manuel several years ago hoping it would produce a dwarf like tree that would be easy to harvest from but after several years in the ground at his place, it never held any fruit and it grew much too slow.

Last year(2019), we dug up the tree and I stuck it into a pot and took it home and after establishing in the pot, it set a late bloom and held several fruit and slowly, each fruit dropped off until there was only one left.

Here’s a picture of the fruit several days ago when it was still holding on the tree.






Normally, as soon as the LZ fruit gets some yellow on it, it will fall off within several days. In the Winter, this fruit was showing yellow for about three weeks before it came off in my hands as I palmed the fruit to check for ripeness.

This fruit has an extremely strong citrus scent, hopefully it won’t be a dud. Here’s the harvested fruit.




Simon

Mark in Texas

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #68 on: January 06, 2020, 07:37:50 AM »
I was finally able to coax a fruit out of my Double Stone Grafted Lemon Zest tree. I gifted this tree to Leo Manuel several years ago hoping it would produce a dwarf like tree that would be easy to harvest from but after several years in the ground at his place, it never held any fruit and it grew much too slow.

Last year(2019), we dug up the tree and I stuck it into a pot and took it home and after establishing in the pot, it set a late bloom and held several fruit and slowly, each fruit dropped off until there was only one left.

Here’s a picture of the fruit several days ago when it was still holding on the tree.






Normally, as soon as the LZ fruit gets some yellow on it, it will fall off within several days. In the Winter, this fruit was showing yellow for about three weeks before it came off in my hands as I palmed the fruit to check for ripeness.

This fruit has an extremely strong citrus scent, hopefully it won’t be a dud. Here’s the harvested fruit.
Simon

Nice job, enjoy.

I had a Glenn like that.  The smell was so rich it was nauseating as it sat on my office desk.

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #69 on: June 05, 2020, 02:06:14 PM »
Ok, so I’ve been letting nature take its course with my LZ tree on Florida rootstock and I had three blooms this year and non of them set fruit. We had lots of rain this year and this is the worst Powdery Mildew year I can recall. Oddly enough, my LZ on LaVern Manilla has almost no PM and has set a good amount of fruit on the few bloom panicles it has this year.

My LZ tree on Florida rootstock is so heavily infected with PM that it looks like it’s snowing if I shake the tree. Every single new leaf has PM and the bloom panicles were just completely covered as well.

I don’t have my trees on an integrated pest management(IPM) program and this LZ tree on Florida rootstock only gives me a couple fruit about every year or other year. I have multiple LZ trees and my LZ on LaVern Manilla also gets PM but not as bad and it also produces more fruit and more consistently. My LZ on Manilla was about 50% shaded by the fence and two large neighboring trees so it has not grown much in the last several years but a couple weeks ago, I chopped down one of the neighboring trees so it can get more sun now.

Here is a picture from my LZ on Florida rootstock, picture taken 2 years ago when it was absolutely covered in blooms in a year with minimal PM. The blooms were huge with extremely heavy fruit set and the fruit grew to about 1-2 inches in length before they all dropped one by one and leaving me with only about 1-2 fruit.


 





Simon

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #70 on: June 05, 2020, 02:14:42 PM »
This year, the tree looks like this




My LZ on LaVern Manilla set fruit this year on just about every panicle with some marble sized fruit still holding on.









Simon

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #71 on: June 05, 2020, 02:35:32 PM »
Starting this year, I will begin an IPM program on the LZ on Florida rootstock to see if I can get it to produce more fruit next year. I will begin by removing all the leaf litter and and cleaning up the tree a bit by trimming out diseased and dying branches.

Once everything is cleaned up, I will begin my spray regimen. Before I get into that, I want to give a little information on the different groups of fungicides out there. I am in no way an expert on disease management in Mangos, or any other fruiting crops, so please chime in if you have any corrections, suggestions or comments.

This article gives a good breakdown on the different groupings of fungicides

https://ipm.ifas.ufl.edu/resources/success_stories/t&pguide/pdfs/Appendices/Appendix6-FRAC.pdf

Simon

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #72 on: June 05, 2020, 02:51:03 PM »
Fantastic @simon_grow - hopefully the tree will hang on to a lot of those little fruits!

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #73 on: June 05, 2020, 04:00:13 PM »
You should do your homework before using any fungicides and definitely wear the appropriate protective gear to stay safe. If these fungicides are used haphazardly, they can be dangerous to you and your plants. Not only that but there is a good chance that the organisms will build up resistance to that fungicide.

You must read the product label and follow their recommendations for use. In general, you need to rotate fungicides from different group classifications in order minimize the chances of the organisms building up resistance.

There are some good fungicides out there that are OMRI listed like the Magnabon CS 2005 which is a systemic Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate. 

For my Copper fungicide, I decided to go with Phyton 35, thanks Mark, because it was easier to find and they sell it in volumes less than 1 gallon, I got the 1 liter size. Phyton 35 is also a systemic Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate but it is not OMRI listed. This fungicide is in group M1.

Some other fungicides I will be using is:

mono and di potassium salts of phosphorous acid such as Garden Phos which is fungicide group 33.
Sulphur such as Orchard spray, group M2

And the heavy hitters that I will use if the above don’t work:

Abound- a systemic Azoxystrobin in group 11. It targets complex 3 of fungal respiration(ubiquinol oxidase). A friend of mine bought me a gallon of this and you have to be extremely careful using this because organisms can build up resistance rapidly if used incorrectly. This product has saved the lives of many trees for myself and for some of my friends with dying trees.

Rally- a systemic  Myclobutanil, group 3. It interferes with sterol biosynthesis.

Quintec- a non-systemic quinolone that is proposed to interfere with cell signaling. This product is registered in CA and I selected it based on its unique mode of action in inhibiting specifically Powdery Mildew. It is the only FRAC group 13 fungicide registered in the US.

I will go into a bit more detail later but one of the most important factors in my IPM is the spreader/sticker I will be using.

I will be using two different formulations of Nufilm. Nufilm-17 and Nufilm-P. One is longer lasting.

Simon

simon_grow

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Re: How to increase yield on Lemon Zest Mango?
« Reply #74 on: June 05, 2020, 05:06:18 PM »
I forgot to mention I will also be using one of the corn+soybean oil products such as GrowSafe.

I plan on not using Abound, Rally, Phyton 35 and Quintec but we are not only battling PM here. We have Phomopsis, Anthracnose and other fungal diseases that kill many mango trees each year.

My hope is that I can use the more benign fungicides on my entire orchard to knock down the fungal population and then spray regularly to keep the population down. The Nufilm should be able to keep these fungicides on the leaves for an extended period of time and prevent the rain from washing off the active ingredients.

Simon