Hi!
I just purchased a Mallika mango tree through mail order from Top Tropicals. It is grown in a 3 gallon container, and is around 4 to 5 feet tall. It only has a main trunk, and I would like it to be more spread out, like a bush, so I am thinking about pruning it. I would like to prune it down 2-3 feet, around 50%, so the main trunk would be 2.5-3 feet tall. The trunk girth where I would like to prune it is about half an inch thick. Is it too late to prune it that much? If it is not too late, at what time is the best to do it? Early spring?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Herman
No Offense, Herman/ and Top Tropicals...
BUT!!!!!!
I have heard many mixed reviews of Top Tropicals...and have purchased from them in the past...the plants they sell are quite often healthy and properly labeled, depending on what you purchase...on the flip side....I've heard just as many individuals complain about wrong cultivar, species, and sickly plants...and have experienced about a 50-50 chance of getting a good tree from them.
I'd resort to purchasing from them only if these requisites are met:
Don't purchase cultivars of Annona, or varieties of Rare Garcinia( they are almost always sickly or improperly tagged)
Don't purchase Synsepalum subcordatum and expect to get what you saw growing in Bill Whitman's book 5 Decades..that plant is amazingly hard to source, and has huge 12inch or so leaves...they sell a larger leaved variety of miracle fruit (synsepalum dulcificum) improperly labeled as subcordatum, which has no miraculin (sweetening glycoprotien)
Be careful about the Golden Sugar Apple??? has anyone grown that one with good fruits??? Looks too much like A. glabra for me to fiddle with it, and take a chance of being the victim of shrewd shark sales tactics.
There are several other plants with the same issue listed on their extensive website, which has many false, antiquated, and poorly evaluated plant informational profiles, presented about a vast array of fruit trees and plants...which have obviously been written by someone who has no experience with the plant in person, and is copying what they've heard or read elsewhere....
It's ok in general to purchase rare and hard to find plants from them Typically you will be safer, if the tree is seed grown, and also if this is the preferred method for propagation.
I think mangos will be fine to purchase from them, being that Zill probably grafted them and they just stock them...and I'm sure they can produce quality grafted mango plants by themselves with ease.
Sorry I went into this big rant, but had to warn you about my experiences with them....have bought mislabeled plants from them in the past! with horrible fruits! Could be my fault I suppose, but my Lisa Atemoya tree from pine island with same care given and soil, etc...did wonderfully.
Pine Island seems to be my favorite nursery hands down...always have quality plants, good prices, and correct labels as much as possible!
HERMAN
Please post pics of your tree! Im curious to see leaves and quality of tree! If you are leaving it in a pot, you may not want to prune it! Do you intend to grow it in the ground?
Thanks!!!