What am I doing wrong with my mango trees?

[rainking430]

I live in Jupiter Farms, FL (zip code 33478), and I'm new to cultivating mango trees. I have tried to get fruit from our three trees for the past couple of years with no success. I am hoping someone could review what I am doing below and let me know what I need to adjust.

I have 3 trees:

 - Southern blush: About 5 years old, about 12-15 ft high. Flowers a lot but only a few fruit make it to golf ball size. The rest get eaten up with anthracnose. This tree generally just seems to get eaten alive with anthracnose once it starts blooming.

 - Pickering: About 2 years old, stands about 4 feet. Has hardly fruited.

 - Kent: About 2 years old, stands about 7 feet. Fruited well the first year we planted it but all fruit fell off when they got about softball size.

Here is my fertilizing regimen, following recommendations by the mango farm I bought the trees from: Sprinkle 0-0-50 potash around dripline (I use a powdered form), and spray Keyplex 350 DP. Do this around January (before bloom), around April or May (at time of fruit set), and around September (right after fruit harvest).

Here is my fungicide regimen, again following recommendations by the mango farm I bought the trees from: Copper fungicide, sprayed weekly when the trees begin to bloom. Of course all seems to be undone by one rain. Would systemic fungicide yield better results? If so what kind? I can only get from retail sources. I have looked at Plant Doctor Organocide, but can’t find much else that is systemic in nature.

I also prune by continuously tipping any new branches longer than 12-18” to encourage more branching. The southern blush gets tipped once all fruit are gone, to improve air circulation and maintain height.

Thanks for the help!

[Tommyng]

You can slow production or even prevent a bloom if you prune too often and too late. I don’t think the pollinators would appreciate the sprays on the bloom either, spray before the bloom or after, not during.

[pineislander]

You can slow production or even prevent a bloom if you prune too often and too late.

The revommendation is to prune after harvest or no later than August for most varieties. They say yu need some dormancy on a branch to hlp them flower when it gets cool. I have some young trees and have been shaping them by continuous tipping. That was my intent but to my surprise a few branches I forgot to tip were the only ones which flowered.

[Orkine]

In same zip code.

Two possible issues.  Too much pruning and too much copper.

Your regime is good if you are trying to shape your tree.  With that regime you will have a very complex canopy that will serve you well in the future.  I don't use copper as frequently as I should but if I did it would be once a month with some other fungicide in the middle.  I know sulphur doesn't to anything for anthracnose, but that is what I use for powdery mildew.

[rainking430]

Thanks everyone for the good replies. For those mentioning too much pruning, I should have clarified that the continuous tipping was just for the young trees. I was told by the farm I got them from to not do it after 3-4 years, so the southern blush just gets topped after all the fruit is off the tree. But I think I will pull back a bit on doing so much tipping on the younger trees.

I don’t think the pollinators would appreciate the sprays on the bloom either, spray before the bloom or after, not during.

Thanks for the clarification as to when the spraying should be done, though the southern blush did initially produce lots of little fruits, it's just that almost all got eaten up by anthracnose before they reached the size of a marble.

I don't use copper as frequently as I should but if I did it would be once a month with some other fungicide in the middle.  I know sulphur doesn't to anything for anthracnose, but that is what I use for powdery mildew.

Yeah, this year I went nuts with the copper doing it weekly, but I quickly learned it didn't really matter. Any rain would cause an anthracnose explosion and toast the little fruits. That's why I'm wondering if I should go with a systemic fungicide next year like PD Organicide, or something else that you all recommend?

[saltyreefer]

I’m not sold on the tipping being the issue with lack of fruit.

[Orkine]

Been there, done that and in his zip code.  Tip in October or November and chances are whatever grows will not be mature enough when the time comes to push flowers.  It is fine on a young tree you are trying to shape when all you want is vegetative growth anyway.

I understand the mature trees fruit, they just lose lots of them to anthracnose.  My Beverly was like that this year.  Skipped the first flowering, no fruit set.  Went crazy on the second flowering, fruits all over the tree.  I must have had 200 tiny little black marbles by the time it was done.  Maybe more.  I was removing them from trees every day.  It was terrible and there was nothing I could do, and it didn't even rain just a lot of dew.   The Choc anon next to the Beverly was loaded with clean fruit.  My conclusion is that Beverly is just more susceptible to anthracnose and I was going to lose my share of fruits unless I went hog wild with copper which I did not want to do.

[saltyreefer]

Yes I can see pruning/tipping too late in the year. I was just doing it to mine but late in the year would most likely be an issue.

[Brev Grower]

I think your problem is that you have planted two highly susceptible to anthracnose mango trees. Southern blush and Kent should not even be planted anymore unless you are growing in ideal conditions. ie. close to ocean or on Merritt Island. There are so many varieties out now that are better and should not require spraying. Check out a video by Truly Tropical on youtube about Marlys Zill. She lives in a humid area and they list some mangoes that perform well there. You can cut off some branches and start top working your trees to other varieties, or just plant some new ones that are resistant.
The Pickering mango should fruit semi-decent even in high disease prone areas.

[saltyreefer]

I have a Kent here in Palm Bay (Brevard county) and it’s been productive and growing well.

[skhan]

I live in Jupiter Farms, FL (zip code 33478), and I'm new to cultivating mango trees. I have tried to get fruit from our three trees for the past couple of years with no success. I am hoping someone could review what I am doing below and let me know what I need to adjust.

I have 3 trees:

 - Southern blush: About 5 years old, about 12-15 ft high. Flowers a lot but only a few fruit make it to golf ball size. The rest get eaten up with anthracnose. This tree generally just seems to get eaten alive with anthracnose once it starts blooming.

 - Pickering: About 2 years old, stands about 4 feet. Has hardly fruited.

 - Kent: About 2 years old, stands about 7 feet. Fruited well the first year we planted it but all fruit fell off when they got about softball size.

Here is my fertilizing regimen, following recommendations by the mango farm I bought the trees from: Sprinkle 0-0-50 potash around dripline (I use a powdered form), and spray Keyplex 350 DP. Do this around January (before bloom), around April or May (at time of fruit set), and around September (right after fruit harvest).

Here is my fungicide regimen, again following recommendations by the mango farm I bought the trees from: Copper fungicide, sprayed weekly when the trees begin to bloom. Of course all seems to be undone by one rain. Would systemic fungicide yield better results? If so what kind? I can only get from retail sources. I have looked at Plant Doctor Organocide, but can’t find much else that is systemic in nature.

I also prune by continuously tipping any new branches longer than 12-18” to encourage more branching. The southern blush gets tipped once all fruit are gone, to improve air circulation and maintain height.

Thanks for the help!

Here are my thoughts.

I don't know much about Southern Blush personally.
From Alex's write up though it does seem pretty prone to diseases
https://www.tropicalacresfarms.com/product-page/southern-blush
So it might be tough to grow

As for the Pickering and Kent, you mentioned these trees are only 2 years old.
Give them a good 5 years in the ground and then see how they do.
Letting them set fruit now will be a bad idea, it will delay their growth.
I'd suggest allowing the trees to grow for the first 3 years without fruiting.

On to fertilizer
I see N is not in your mix.
I haven't seen anyone personally that has had success without N in their mixes (at least at first)
Once the trees get to the size you want, then i'd stick with K and micros

Can't help you on the Fungicide, I haven't managed to do it regularly

[rainking430]

Thanks everyone for the continued very helpful posts. I guess being a mango rookie bit me as far as not realizing what kinds are susceptible and what aren't, instead relying on the information given by those trying to sell you the trees they have on hand. bsbullie was kind enough to PM me and also let me know the southern blush is not a good variety for this area, and also that I may be dealing with mango bacterial black spot which is very similar looking to anthracnose. So I may try one more season using a systemic product like Plant Doctor Organocide, and if I get another bad yield I'll just cut the trees down to make room for something better or try my hand at grafting in some more resistant varieties. Just not worth the hassle otherwise.

Keep the comments and thoughts coming if you have more of them. I am interested.