Should I be shaping my 3 mangoes in 7 gal pots?

[Epicatt2]

Hello. 

Sorry for all the QQs but please bear with me; I'm just now starting with a few mangoes.

So... Just got to wondering if it would be unproductive (or not) to start prunng/shaping my 3 mangoes which are all in 7 galllon pots right now.

I have 'Irwin', 'IceCream', and 'Beverly' and the first two are about four to five feet tall in their pots.  The 'Beverly' just arrived (in a 3 gal pot) and was potted up into a 7 gal just this week, but it is about six feet tall without any branching.

The 'Ice Cream' was already pruned when received and had made four or five branches from the top which are now about 10 inches long.  Those side branches could/should prolly be thinned to 3 or 4  and clipped soon to promote further branching.

But how to treat the other two is my question.  Should the 'Beverly' be cut back to three or four feet tall once it has a few weeks to establish in its new 7 gal pot?  Or would cutting it back now help to encourage new root growth?

The 'Irwin' has made one 'branch' from where it had already been pruned when received.  That single branch is about one foot tall now.  Should that be cut back to that previous pruning to try to get the main axis to make more than one branch?

Sorry for all the questions but, as I said, I'm new with mangoes and just learning the ropes with them.  I understand that if they are going to be kept dwarfed (or 'condoed', as it were) then they need to be pruned and shaped to be wider than tall, for the most part.

And how long should they stay in the 7 gal pots?  Would they be better in 10 gals, eventually?

Looking forward to suggestions or advice for how/when to proceed.

TIA!

Paul M.
Tampa, FL
Zone 9b
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[roblack]

I would definitely start pruning and shaping in-pot, if not planting in ground soon.

Best time to start training a tree is when it is small.

Search, lots of threads, posts, and vids on pruning.

[Epicatt2]

Thank you Roblack.

Seen many of the vids, in fact many are very good, but none of those ever mentioned starting to prune/tip/shape mangoes while in the pot before planting them out.  Or more specifically if the plants are going to be kept in pots and not planted out which is my plan at this point. That's why when I asked I tried to be as specific as possible about the three cultivars that I have.

Your answer was appreciated, again thanks, but I could still use some suggestions which would be more specific to two of the plants' situations as was described.

Believe me it's not for not having tried to find answers online.  I've searched around a lot but didn't find anything that addressed what I'm trying to fnd out.  That's why I was hoping that with all the mango discussion on here someone would be able to field my QQs.

Regards,

Paul M.
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[roblack]

more important to prune when in a pot.

yes, roots are limited in a pot, and can support only so much growth. so, make sure growth is where you want it.

same principles of pruning in ground and in pot.

everything is just sped up in ground, at least here it is.

[Epicatt2]

Okay now you've really got me to wondering if a dwarf or semi-dwarf cultivar that is expected to be kept either at 6 to 7 feet tall, or maybe at 7 to 8 feet tall would be satisfactory in a 7 gallon pot and fruit well.  My cultivars planned for this are 'Irwin', 'Ice Cream', and 'Beverly'.

So can anybody here who has grown any of these three cultivars offer their comments for whether they would be satisfactory in 7 gallon pots and give me some frruit.  Or would one or more of these cultivars really need to be in a 10 gallon pot to succeed?  I do have some space constraints.

Cheers!

Paul M.
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[Honest Abe]

I’m no expert, but in my limited experience, A mango tree will not do well in a  7 gallon Pot for any period of time, especially not long enough to produce a good crop of fruit. I started my 3 gallons by moving them into 15 gallons and within one year the taproot was poking out the drain hole on my NDM and the root ball
Was already constricted in the 15 gallon pot.

Now that’s not to say a true dwarf like a Pickering would
Not produce a few years of good crops in a 15 gallon pot, but any of your three varieties will need 25-100 Gallon pots for any extensive period of their’ lives. “Semi-dwarf” mango cultivars like the ones you have still grow to 20+ft Tall if left untamed.

I will say this, I tipped all
My mango trees early and then tipped them again after they pushed new growth(Cutting just under the  growth rings) I’m very happy with the young canopies of the trees with lots of branching. I’m new at this too but just a couple years and lots of reading this forum will teach ya you need a VERY large pot to keep a mango tree happy, either that or too much root pruning.

There is a solution if you must grow mango trees in small pots: only buy “Pickering”!! At least you will get a few fruits before the tree gets unhappy.

[Epicatt2]

Thanx All for the follow up info.  It will be very helpful for me getting started well with these three dwarf or semi-dwarf cultivars that I already have.

I don't have space for pots larger than 10 gallon where I am and 10's the largest I'd be able to easily move around in my particular situation. 

But I'm guessing that once these three mangoes get well established in the 7's or 10's that they might by then be old/large  enough to try putting into the ground.  Hopefully the global warming phenomenon will be enough to buffer the worst of our cold, but who really knows for sure at this point in time?

Anyway this info I'm glad for cuz it will get me started.  Thanx for your replies.  It makes for a great Primer!

FingersX-ed!

Paul M.
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