Author Topic: The Julie Mango in South Florida  (Read 7194 times)

Cookie Monster

  • Broward, FL Zone 10b
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4745
  • Eye like mangoes
    • Tamarac, FL, 33321, 10B
    • View Profile
The Julie Mango in South Florida
« on: March 11, 2012, 08:38:26 PM »
The julie mango is an interesting mango in that it can either be a

Phenomenal mango with high precocity, high productivity, and multiple blooms leading to a long season

  -- OR --

A finicky, unfruitful, disease-prone tree that is difficult to maintain and keep healthy

In talking with Gary Zill about my observations on the Julie, he indicated that the success or failure of growing the Julie depends largely on the soil in which it's grown. When grown in alkaline soil or when irrigated with calcium rich well water, the Julie can be a pain in the neck to grow. But when grown in neutral soil, the Julie is very productive and relatively care-free.

For the Julie-doubters (:-) who haven't seen a productive Julie in Florida, take a look at the below specimen (which is representative of dozens of similarly productive trees located in Tamarac). It has hundreds of thumbnail sized fruits in addition to flowers and dozens of 2-inch sized fruits.











Next up, here's an example of the other extreme of the Julie (in my neighborhood :-( ...) where high-ph soil makes it a pain in the neck to grow ph-sensitive plants like the carambola. The Julie tree has, at best, a dozen or so fruits. In contrast to the above Julie, most of the flowers fell off without setting fruit. A closeup reveals extreme interveinal chlorosis.








« Last Edit: March 11, 2012, 08:49:18 PM by jeffhagen »
Jeff  :-)

Tropicalgrower89

  • Zone 11a, Florida
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1600
    • Pembroke Pines, FL, 33024, 10b
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2012, 08:46:05 PM »
Wow. That's a nice Julie tree.  :)

In the other hand, the other Julie mango tree looks like it needs a the iron/soil acidifier treatment.  :(

Jeff- I measured the pH of my well water and the needle was dead on 6. Does it mean that my well water does not contain that much calcium?

Should be better than watering my plants with city water which is highly alkaline. Usually, cities have their water pH in the alkaline pH zone because if it was acidic, the metal pipes will erode.
« Last Edit: March 11, 2012, 08:57:00 PM by Tropicalgrower89 »
Alexi

Cookie Monster

  • Broward, FL Zone 10b
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4745
  • Eye like mangoes
    • Tamarac, FL, 33321, 10B
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2012, 08:51:45 PM »
Ohh :-) The other tree is actually a Julie. I updated my post to make it clearer. What's interesting is the drastic difference between the two trees of the same cultivar. And, they are located just 2 miles apart.

Julie is one of the few finicky mango trees that I've experienced. So, even if your well water is alkaline, if you're not growing the Julie, it probably won't matter.

Wow. That's a nice Julie tree.  :)

The Extrema in the other hand looks like it needs a the iron/soil acidifier treatment.  :(

Jeff- I measured the pH of my well water and the needle was dead on 6. Does it mean that my well water does not contain that much calcium?

Should be better than watering my plants with city water which is highly alkaline. Usually, cities have their water pH in the alkaline pH zone because if it was acidic, the metal pipes will erode.
Jeff  :-)

Tropicalgrower89

  • Zone 11a, Florida
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1600
    • Pembroke Pines, FL, 33024, 10b
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2012, 08:57:30 PM »
Ohh :-) The other tree is actually a Julie. I updated my post to make it clearer. What's interesting is the drastic difference between the two trees of the same cultivar. And, they are located just 2 miles apart.

Julie is one of the few finicky mango trees that I've experienced. So, even if your well water is alkaline, if you're not growing the Julie, it probably won't matter.

Wow. That's a nice Julie tree.  :)

The Extrema in the other hand looks like it needs a the iron/soil acidifier treatment.  :(

Jeff- I measured the pH of my well water and the needle was dead on 6. Does it mean that my well water does not contain that much calcium?

Should be better than watering my plants with city water which is highly alkaline. Usually, cities have their water pH in the alkaline pH zone because if it was acidic, the metal pipes will erode.

Whoops. Fixed my post also.  :)
Alexi

fruitlovers

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15883
  • www.fruitlovers.com
    • USA, Big Island, East Hawaii, Zone 13a
    • View Profile
    • Fruit Lover's Nursery
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2012, 11:07:28 PM »
Thanks for posting that information Jeff. I often wondered why the descriptions of Julie coming out of Florida were so different from the Julies that exist here. Here the Julie does very well and is relatively disease free. But i remember reading descriptions from Florida about what a disease prone wreck Julie is. Thanks for helping solve that mystery.
Oscar
Oscar

MangoFang

  • Palm Springs, CA, Zone 9B
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1716
  • Palm Springs, CA
    • Riverside, Palm Springs/CA, 92264,9b
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #5 on: March 12, 2012, 12:26:09 AM »
...wow.....who knew?

thanks, Jeff........Gary

MangoMan2

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 162
    • East Central Brevard County. 9a
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #6 on: March 12, 2012, 07:49:41 AM »
Interesting Post Jeff.
So did Gary say what is the best PH of the soil to grow a Julie in? I'll have a couple spots sampled to see which spot to plant that Julie at.
Let me know when to come down for those grafted trees and a julie.

Thanks, Joe.

puglvr1

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2039
    • USA, Central, FL xxxxx, Zone 9b
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #7 on: March 12, 2012, 07:58:56 AM »
Amazing difference between the two trees, hard to believe they are the same variety and only 2 miles apart.

May I ask what the black film on some of the leaves that are on the first and second picture? I think I've had that same stuff on my Lancetilla...not sure if its the same? I had to spray mine with Neem oil and wipe the leaves...found a few scales on the back of the leaves, lucky my tree is very small so I was able to wipe clean the leaves...but once it gets that big No way you can reach it,lol... Regardless, that Julie didn't skip a beat even with some of those on the leaves...Just Amazing!

Thanks for posting Jeff!

Nancy

adiel

  • Zone 10b Miami FL
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 464
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #8 on: March 12, 2012, 08:26:45 AM »
Jeff, you might be onto something with the well water.   I have high alkaline soil with limerock.  I never water my Julie, it lives off the rain water.  It does very good and is productive.
Adiel

johnb51

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4782
    • USA Deerfield Beach, FL Zone 11a
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #9 on: March 12, 2012, 06:11:53 PM »
Important information, Jeff.  Thanks! :)
John

Tropicalgrower89

  • Zone 11a, Florida
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1600
    • Pembroke Pines, FL, 33024, 10b
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #10 on: March 12, 2012, 06:24:29 PM »
Jeff- Does the neighbor with the healthy julie tree use city water or well water to water his or her Julie tree, or does he or she let nature do the watering?
Alexi

Cookie Monster

  • Broward, FL Zone 10b
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4745
  • Eye like mangoes
    • Tamarac, FL, 33321, 10B
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #11 on: March 13, 2012, 11:23:16 AM »
He didn't say. He said that they are prone to magnesium (or was it manganese?) deficiency. My guess is that anything neutral would be fine, since it wouldn't readily bind with magnesium. Gary also mentioned that it's very hard to find a true chelated magnesium product, but that numerous treatments with a foliar chelated magnesium product can cure the deficiency. He said that even keyplex may not work.

Interesting Post Jeff.
So did Gary say what is the best PH of the soil to grow a Julie in? I'll have a couple spots sampled to see which spot to plant that Julie at.
Let me know when to come down for those grafted trees and a julie.

Thanks, Joe.
Jeff  :-)

Cookie Monster

  • Broward, FL Zone 10b
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4745
  • Eye like mangoes
    • Tamarac, FL, 33321, 10B
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #12 on: March 13, 2012, 11:34:10 AM »
That black gunk is sooty mold, which is a symptom of a scale problem. Lancetilla tends to be more prone to get the sooty mold. The scale will feed out on tender new growth and the undersides of leaves. So, if you flip up a leaf, you'll likely see numerous white specks (aka soft scale). I've had a lot of people tell me they've had success controlling the scale with applications of water with a small amount of non-degreasing dishwashing detergent. (Be sure to select a detergent without added degreaser. I believe palmolive may work.) The recommended dose is like one teaspoon per gallon. You'd want to spray the undersides of the leaves once or twice a week until the problem disappears. Personally, I ignore the problem for my in-ground trees. The summer rain usually washes off the sooty mold, and it usually causes no detriment to the tree.

Amazing difference between the two trees, hard to believe they are the same variety and only 2 miles apart.

May I ask what the black film on some of the leaves that are on the first and second picture? I think I've had that same stuff on my Lancetilla...not sure if its the same? I had to spray mine with Neem oil and wipe the leaves...found a few scales on the back of the leaves, lucky my tree is very small so I was able to wipe clean the leaves...but once it gets that big No way you can reach it,lol... Regardless, that Julie didn't skip a beat even with some of those on the leaves...Just Amazing!

Thanks for posting Jeff!

Nancy
Jeff  :-)

Cookie Monster

  • Broward, FL Zone 10b
  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4745
  • Eye like mangoes
    • Tamarac, FL, 33321, 10B
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #13 on: March 13, 2012, 11:40:36 AM »
I believe both water with city water, but I've never asked. In my neighborhood, the soil is practically lethal for ph-challenged trees. We have like 4 inches of soil on top of a foot or two of crushed up limestone rock which was excavated from the canals. The first owner of my property was a retired rare fruit enthusiast with nothing better to do than spending months digging out giant holes and replacing them with compost. So, there are a few spots in my yard where there is some decent soil. I've also added several hundred cubic yards of mulch, which has helped quite a bit. Combined with 3 to 4 applications of keyplex, most of my ph-sensitive trees do OK. Even with all that effort, my chlorotic carambola sometimes still gets mistaken for  'variegated' :-).

Jeff- Does the neighbor with the healthy julie tree use city water or well water to water his or her Julie tree, or does he or she let nature do the watering?
Jeff  :-)

Tropicalgrower89

  • Zone 11a, Florida
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1600
    • Pembroke Pines, FL, 33024, 10b
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #14 on: March 13, 2012, 12:36:42 PM »
I believe both water with city water, but I've never asked. In my neighborhood, the soil is practically lethal for ph-challenged trees. We have like 4 inches of soil on top of a foot or two of crushed up limestone rock which was excavated from the canals. The first owner of my property was a retired rare fruit enthusiast with nothing better to do than spending months digging out giant holes and replacing them with compost. So, there are a few spots in my yard where there is some decent soil. I've also added several hundred cubic yards of mulch, which has helped quite a bit. Combined with 3 to 4 applications of keyplex, most of my ph-sensitive trees do OK. Even with all that effort, my chlorotic carambola sometimes still gets mistaken for  'variegated' :-).

Jeff- Does the neighbor with the healthy julie tree use city water or well water to water his or her Julie tree, or does he or she let nature do the watering?

Sounds just like where I used to live. I don't miss digging there. lol  Yeah, the limestone really raises the pH. Have you tried this product?  http://www.greenlightco.com/products/ironandsoilacidifier/
Alexi

puglvr1

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2039
    • USA, Central, FL xxxxx, Zone 9b
    • View Profile
Re: The Julie Mango in South Florida
« Reply #15 on: March 13, 2012, 02:59:25 PM »
Thanks Jeff. Once my Lancetilla stops blooming I will recheck them to see if they need spraying. I have Ivory dish soap that I also heard is good to use on plants...Lucky for me the tree is pretty small and woudn't take long to spray it. I don't want to spray it now and possibly lose the few blooms it has, its blooming for the very first time for me. Thanks again!