Dig up and throw away 7 yrs old grafted mango tree

[Cookie Monster]

The trees in the photos above look like they're a couple of inches away from the home. 2.5 feet for a soursop? I think you're fine. Those trees aren't very aggressive.

Yah that's really close to the house. Could cause foundation issues as the tree gets older. Planting close to the home is good for cold protection, but staying a few feet away from the foundation / walls will also protect your home.

I have a soursop planted close to my home for cold protection (2.5 feet away), of course I never thought about the foundation! Are soursop roots a problem as well?  I have a house built on a slab with no basement.

[Galatians522]

For what its worth, I worked in a citrus nursery for a short time and when we up potted our seedling rootstock we had to throw out any seedlings that had J shaped roots. I was told that they would never grow properly out in the field. It looks like this mango had that same issue.

Say what? I was under the impression all these big citrus propagators use rooted cuttings as rootstocks for more consistency?? Sure seedling have stronger roots but less overall consistency..?

The citrus industry largely uses seedlings for rootstock unless the selected rootstock is new and there is not enough seed to go around. Part of this is because that is what growers prefer and part of it is because it requires less labor (no need to set up special mist beds). Consistency has not been an issue to my knowledge. The varieties used for rootstock are highly polyembryonic and probably have 98% or higher probability of being true to type. In addition to checking for deformed roots, we also rouged "off types." The grower I worked for has probably grown close to 1,000,000 trees by now and has a reputation for producing a quality product. I value his input highly.

Wow okay that’s  quite interesting. What were these common rootstocks? Just thing like sour orange, swingler citrange/citrumellos, volkomer and rough lemons? Or am I missing something

From what I remember the common ones were Smooth Flat Seville (basically an improved sour orange), Swingle Citrimello, Carizzo Citrange, Cleopatra Mandarin,  Volkamer Lemon, Rough Lemon, X639, and a bunch of others that I can't remember. There are dozens of new hybrid rootstocks out now in an attempt to combat greening.

[Julie]

Ok great, thanks Cookie Monster!

[Tropical Bay Area]

A lot of annonas in the genus annona tend to have pretty weak, small, and shallow root systems that can easily blow over in a hurricane
You chose a good spot!

[sapote]

Yah that's really close to the house. Could cause foundation issues as the tree gets older. Planting close to the home is good for cold protection, but staying a few feet away from the foundation / walls will also protect your home.

Hey Jeff,

I had tried to grow mango many years before and they all died after the winter. Most were graft type from FL and some were seedling by me. Don't know if the weather back then was colder or I was doing something wrong, but now I don't have this problem any more.

So I tried everything to get some good mangoes to eat, including planting them very close to the house -- 8" or less. Part of the reasons is they are along the driveway and not much space in between. Those trees in the pic are around 7 years old and the trunk are  4" or less. Mango has vertical deep roots as compare to avocado and white sapote which have more horizontal and destructive roots for the house. I don't think these trunk will touch the wall in my lifetime, and there is no moisture under the house foundation to attract the roots. Enjoy the good fruits first and deal with the tree size late as I'm lucky the only one in the whole neighborhood to have some mangoes to enjoy every year.

[Tropical Bay Area]

The house heat factor in 9a or 9b might be something to consider but in 10a..? Might as well have planted soursops there and put those the mangos further out..

I love to have a soursop but it was too cold and they all died; same for Jackfruits. I can't even have sugar apple. My sister house 55 miles away in Zip code 92704 has a larger Jackfruit, sugar apple, and a giant Royal Poinciana. I had tried and these all died in the winters.

Does it freeze very often in your 10a environment? I’ve had quite a few 1-3 gallon soursops take multiple light frosts, and not really protected much either, before they defoliated.. but didn’t die (brought em inside after that).. that happened both last year and this year after 5 light frosts of 30-32.. and if I i recall correctly 10a hardly freezes at all and really nothing under 30ish? And jackfruit is consistently grown in zone 10, and it’s even a few degrees hardier than soursop (which I admit start to dwindle even in the upper 30s, jackfruit and sugar apples ain’t even that much of a wuss..) basically what I’m saying is this doesn’t seem to add up.

You’re right, maybe because his plants were small?