The Tropical Fruit Forum

I'm trying to summarize my best approach for growing another mango tree here in Costa Mesa. From reading through this thread, I think I understand that the best approach is to plant a manila/ataulfo seed in the ground and let it sprout and grow. Then either do a graft when it is 1 to 2 years old, or wait until it is about 4 years old and top work the tree with the desired cultivar.  This practice will develop better root structure for long-term benefit.

My question is about the grafting part. As a newbie to grafting, if I get a 50% success rate with my grafting process, there is a pretty high probability of failing and losing my 2- to 4-year old seedling. I don't mind having a long-term project, but want to avoid having to start over from scratch each time one fails. In order to maximize my potential for success, would it be feasible to plant 2 to 4 seedlings very close together (maybe 1' to 2' spacing) in the ground (in the location where I want my tree to be) and going all the way through the grafting (or top-work) process to make sure it succeeds, and then removing all but the strongest tree? Or would the roots from the trees all mutually inhibit each other's development, thus nullifying any potential gains? Should I just stick with planting the seeds in pots, doing the grafting while still in the pots, and then transplanting to the ground after I know that the grafting was successful?

Clay

Quote from: simon_grow on December 27, 2018, 05:21:50 PM

Grafting Stone fruits is very easy. Just look up a video on YouTube. You need to graft when the branches are dormant. I like to graft several weeks to a month before I expect the trees to come out of dormancy.

There are also plenty of great mango grafting videos. If you have any specific questions, just ask here. Good luck!

Simon

Thank you for your suggestions. I tried grafting 5 or so scions early November and all of them failed. I am afraid to try more. I remember Gary Zill was stressing about cambium layer on several of his YouTube videos, I have no clue how does cambium layer look like. I would love to see when someone does grafting in person. Please let me know when you do.

How difficult is it to air layer a guava??

This was my first time ever grafting, but I managed to get a few successful pushes on my sweet tart Scion, (courtesy of squam) and man am I buzzing!!

I feel like those cavemen after they invented fire lol

But after all, I am a newb, so to be sure, these are successful takes right?

Simon kind of covered it. I would add that fruit punch grows extremely well for me here in orange.

Kesar however is always flowering with minimal vegetative growth. I have 2 branches that are growing from around the graft union that are probably kesar and not suckers but hats about it For growth. Otherwise it has slowly been dying back or flowering for 18 months.

Orange sherbet is growing like lz for me. Loving the heat.

I completely agree with wslau. As long as the nightly average lows are above 62F, you shouldn’t have to worry about flowering on the new push. I like to protect newly grafted scions from direct sun if temps are predicted to be above 90F. The first couple weeks are extremely critical and the scion/graft Union has to be protected. Direct sun on the union can cause evaporation even under the buddy tape/parafilm and condensation can cause mold or rot.

Simon

My stone fruits have all been disappointments. It seems the ones that flowered and fruited heavily last year have no fruit set this year. Inca plum looks to be my only constant producer. Some are still young but the majority are eyeing the chopping block to be replaced by sub-tropicals.