Hello Sandollarmoon and msk0072.  In answer to your questions, my suggestion for the probably rootbound seedling.  If it is still young the roots will still have some flexibility.  I suggest you remove it from the pot and wash the potting mix off the roots with a garden hose spray.  Gently stretch out the roots and plant the seedling in a deeper container.  That should solve the problem.  Regarding the question from msk0072.  I am familiar with the rootstock variety that you mentioned and it's cold hardiness. We don't have access to that one so most growers in our hemisphere use the Turpentine rootstock. The polyembroyonic variety that I am most concerned about is the manilla mango.  That one is very susceptible to the frost and is what I say to stay away from.

Tim Thompson

To anyone who likes avocados, a healthy avocado tree means more fruit for guacamole and other uses.  If you are going to plant an avocado tree in your yard or already have one, here are some pointers.  You need to know what pests you are dealing with.  There are three major problems, avocado root rot which is a fungus, a thrip and the persea mite. 

This weekend I was talking to a friend and he asked me this question:  Is it normal for my avocado tree to loose so many leaves this time of year?  My answer was it is NOT normal.  We walked up to his tree and I turned over a large avocado leaf.  I told him the avocado tree's heavy leaf loss is being caused persea mites.  I have been surprised to find out how many people growing avocados don't know about this problem.  Most people are familiar with aphids on their rose bushes.  They are a sucking insect that does a lot of damage to the plants that they attack. 

The persea mite is also a sucking pest that is very destructive but it primarily attacks avocado trees.   The only difference is the persea mite is much smaller so you can't see them.  The evidence in addition to the heavy leaf drop is fairly easy to see if you look closely.  The upper surface of the infected leaves have lots of small yellow to brown spots.  If you turn the leaf over and look carefully you will see tiny silver areas along the leaf's veins.  The silver is the persea mite's webs.  In the attached pictures you will see both the upper and lower leaf surface evidence.  The first picture is the upper leaf surface and the second picture is the lower surface.

If you see these things on your avocado trees, I suggest you check with a few neighbors who have avocados.  They will almost certainly have the persea mites on their trees too.  The treatment is simple.  Put some persea mite predators on your tree.  You can order the predators from some nurseries or look up a local insectory like Rincon Vitova.   The predators come in a clear plastic vile that has enough of the little good guys to treat an acre of avocados.  We suggest that you share the cost of the predators with a few neighbors as the price including shipping will add up to around $40 or $50.

When you get the shipment, make sure you save the package.  The package predators come in is what we have recommended for shipping mango or other perishable budwood.  Also make sure you put the predators on your avocado tree right away for best results.  We use little Del Taco french fry bags, stapled to a few avocado tree leaves to get the predators onto the avocado tree.  The predators take a little time to get control of the bad mites.  Soon your tree will have nice, clean healthy leaves and more avocados.

Hello Grafters

I have done a number of grafting demonstrations this Summer and some very good questions came up when I talked about preparing budwood for successful grafting.  One question was what is a good grafting success rate.  I said my rate is usually 90 percent or better.  Others in the groups were surprised at that number so some discussion followed.  I have explained budwood preparations in a video that is posted in the forum so I wont' repeat it here.  One problem that came up in the discussion was not mentioned though so I will discuss it here.  If you are transporting your budwood any distance at all during the Summer months, first dip the budwood under the kitchen faucet and then insert it in a zip lock bag.  Next put the bag in an ice chest with a few cold soda cans or bottles.  Do not use ice to keep your budwood cool.

If you are getting your budwood sent to you or if you are traveling by air, use the package I have in the picture that is attached to this post.  It is a cardboard box that incloses a Styrofoam box.  Inside that are sevaral pieces of foam packing material and a "coldice jell pack".   Getting budwood from a distance means it is valuable so don't waste your efforts with short cuts.  Follow these steps and your budwood will arrive like it was cut one hour ago.  Have the "coldice" ice pack chilled in a freezer for sevaral hours before using.  Select good budwood and carefully rinse it under cold running water.  Gently, shake off the excess water and insert the budwood into a zip lock bag and seal the bag.  First step is place a 3/4 inch thick foam piece into the bottom of the Styrofoam box.  Place the zip lock bag with the bodwood in the box next.  Place another 3/4 inch piece of foam on top of the budwood and last insert the "cold ice" pack on top. (The first piece of foam is a shock absorber.  The second piece of foam to keep your budwood from getting frost burn from the ice pack.)   Insert the Styrofoam lid and close the cardboard box with package tape.  If you are flying, bring it on the plane as carry on if you can but don't seal the box because the TSA people will want to see what is in the box.  Shipping is much easier.  Just send it by any express delivery method.  It is very light and spend the money to get to you fast. 

Graft  the budwood onto your target plants as soon as you get it and your grafting success rate will be excellent.  If you really want a successful graft with your budwood, give my combination butt, veneer, and cleft graft a try.  You will love the results.

Good grafting!
Tim Thompson

Hello Jcalderia.  Thanks for posting the poly embryonic seed pix.  I just didn't have one handy to show the difference.  Your post did the trick. 

To Proshi:  My son, Tony filmed a video of our special combination graft of very young rootstock mango plants yesterday that shows the details of how to do our special combination graft.  I also did a top-working cleft graft demonstration in the video too.  The cleft graft we demonstrated on one of our mango trees can also be used on citrus or avocados.  We will have other suggested uses posted along with the video when we post it in the next couple of days.  Stay tuned.

Tm Thompson

Hello Pltdworld,  Thanks for the number question.  When I posted it I was tired and forgot to mention that little item.  The numbers referr to the type of graft that I am using for that portion of the graft.  As I said, I use three type of grafts in doing one small rootstock graft. 

#1 is where I but the budwood tightly against the rootstock.  In this part, I make a square cut into the root stock, cutting off the veneer piece and also make a square cut across the bottom of the budwood.  I am careful to have the thickness the same in both cuts for a good cambium layer match. 
 
#2 is a modified cleft graft.  This part is tricky because the veneer cut is already half way through the rootstock plant.  You make a second small downward cut into the rootstock.  Now, carefully measure by holding the budwood parallel to the rootstock and make an upward cut into the budwood to creat a little sliver that will be inserted into the rootstock cleft cut as you push the two squared ends together.  The little cleft cuts help hold the grafted parts together and in proper alignment. 

#3 is the length of the veneer grafted surface from the top to the bottom.  With this graft you can use different size budwood and rootstock because of how much surface you have for cambium contact.  Just align carefully one side of the graft.   Since the root stocks I am normally grafting are small I like larger budwood because it will have more stored plant energy in it.   With this graft I get almost 100 percent takes.  I hope this extra detail helps but Tony and are going to try and do another video as soon as our budwood is in proper condition to be grafted to demonstrate the actual gaft being done so you guys can see it being done.

Tim Thompson   

There have been a number of discussions about grafting.  I have done a lot of it and have taught classes for friends, neighbors and garden groups on the different grafting techniques.  That is why we are going to post video as soon as Tony has the time to film it.  Tropicdude hit on one of the most important points.  Roughly 50 percent of the success comes from the condition of the budwood.  No matter how good your grafting skills are, bad budwood means bad results.  Budwood conditioning is the first thing on the list.  I am attaching some pictures to illustrate the tools you need and the process.  I figure I can help a few people this way who don't want to wait for the video. 


Picking good budwood is easy.  First choice for me is always those blossom panacle branches that failed to set fruit.  They are big and have a good swirl of leaves at the end.  A hardened off new growth swirl is my second choice.  First step is just like Tropicdude said.  Clip off the leave back about 10 or 12 inches from the end.  Make sure you leave a little leaf stump though. 


The little leaf stumps will drop off in 4 or 5 days with this heat and then the bud will start to swell.  They will turn bright green and get fat.  That is your signal to get your grafting stuff together.


Along with the obvious grafting supplies like tape and clippers that you will need.  There are a few more things in the tools picture.  The reason for the bow saw is if you want to top work a tree.  That is another class though. Note the leather glove.  If you are right handed use a leather glove on your left hand.  If you are a lefty, do the opposite.  That tool is to keep you out of the emergency room.  One slip with a sharp grafting knife or in my case, a razor blade, will really mess up your day if you don't use that little extra protection. 


 I have also included a picture of my home made grafting table.  When you graft 40 or 50 Seedlings at a setting, your back will kill you unless you  work at a comfortable height.  None of this bending down grafting at my age.  The use of my grafting bench also allows me to graft very young seedlings with out breaking the tops off.  Note the one in the picture.  It is less than half the size of a pencil.  I like that  size.  For this size seedling I use a unique graft.  It is a combination of cleft, veneer and butt graft.  I don't worry about matching budwood and seedling stem sizes with this graft.  I just pay attention to one side and the take rate is nearly 100 percent.  I have attached a sketch of the graft, sorry for the artistry.  I am saving the little root stock tree for the video.  I hope this will help some of you new grafters.   

Hello Gary, there are two ways to tell if a mango is mono embryonic or poly embryonic.  First, almost all of the yellow elongated mangoes we call Manilla mangoes are poly embryonic along with a few others like Kensington Pride from Australia.  Almost all of the Indian type mangoes are mono embryonic.  You can confirm any mango when you  take it out of the husk.  If it still has that brown paper-like skin covering the mango seed, let it stand for an hour (not in the sun).  By that time the papery layer should easily separate from the white mango seed.  When you can see the clean seed (like in the attached pictures) the difference is much easier to see.  I didn't have a poly embryonic mango seed handy to demonstrate the difference in a picture.  In the first picture you can see a uniform seed with no lines or segments viable.  The second picture shows the separation line of a typical mono embryonic mango seed.  It looks just like a big fat lima bean.  If we were looking at a poly embryonic mango seed, you would see little segment lines running all over the place.  That is why a mono embryonic seed will only produce a single mango plant while a poly embryonic mango seed will produce from 4 to 10 little mango plants.  I hope this helps answer the question.

 

There is lots of good advice in this thread, and I would like to add something for consideration as well.  My grafting success with outdoor grafting (outside of a greenhouse) has always been very high for two reasons in particular.  First is choosing the right time of year, and second is that I condition the budwood ahead of time. 

In Southern California the best grafting results for citrus, avocados and mangoes is during the warmest months of the year, July through September, because that encourages growth.  With each of the above varieties, cutting the tree or branch back to either a stump or large branch is the preferred method.  The tools you will need are a tree saw, a sharp wood chisel, and a very sharp knife.  We use a cleft graft directly into the stump or branch with the following steps:  Make a clean saw cut of the tree stump or branch depending on if you want to change the whole tree or just part of it.   For a stump, depending on the size of the tree, use the sharp wood chisel to make a clean trim arc around the stump on the cut surface so you can see the cambium layer clearly.  Next, cut several V-shaped  notches from the cross cut section down from the tree stump, tapering to a point.  The width of the V at the top of the notch is determined by the thickness of the budwood branch.  Larger budwood will do better when top-working a tree.  Use the wood chisel to trim the V notch cut for a tight cleft graft fit.     

For a high rate of grafting success the budwood needs to be prepared properly.   I personally like branches that had blossom panicles that failed to produce fruit.  They are bigger and fatter and will hold more nutrients for the graft.  Cut all the leaves off the branch for a distance of about 6 or 7 inches from the end.  Make sure you leave a little leaf stump like in the first picture I have posted below.  Check the budwood stick every few days and gently test the little stumps with your fingertip.  After 4 or 5 days they will fall off when touched.   See picture number 2.   The plant is now starting to send supplies to the little branch for new growth.  Keep careful watch on the buds and you will soon see them begin to swell.  The buds in picture number 3 are still usable, but this stick should have been cut a couple days earlier for grafting.  If you pre-treat your budwood and can get a good cambium layer match, your graft success rate should be in the 90 percent range.  We plan on making a video to help see the actual grafting process and we will post it soon.

I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. I took them quick with my phone camera so I could include them in this post. Wishing you good grafting!!

Keep in mind when your plant does strange things that it is a product of evolution.  That can help when you are playing detective.  In the places of mangoes origin (Southeast Asia and India) we have the monsoon season that triggers the onset of blooming.  What comes before the monsoon may suggest the reason for your off season bloom.  In India and Southeast Asia there is a drought period just prior to the monsoon arrival.  That dry spell stresses the plant.  Here is Southern California we have the Winter cold that also stresses the mango trees.  That is followed by blooming when the weather warms.  If you have ever been to Hawaii, on the big island you can see what happens to un-stressed mango trees if you are on the Hilo side.  That side of the Big Island is the tropical side, and it gets nearly year around nice consistent rain.  Hilo folks have a rough time getting their mango trees to bear fruit.  They are big, pretty, green trees but have few if any fruit.  Their trees don't get stressed so they don't bloom. 

I grow mango trees in containers that I want to use in crosses in 15 gallon plastic containers so they are portable.  I also have a shallow basin under each one.  That basin allows me to visually determine the mango plants uptake of water.  I water the plant in the top of the pot with a hose or watering can.  The excess will fill the basin and serve to supply a thirsty mango in hot weather with a reserve.  It is sort of like your car's radiator overflow reservoir.  It will help keep your mango tree happy and keep it from getting too confused.

Hello all.  Great pictures and info.  If anyone wants info on fruiting mangoes from seed, I will be glad to give advice because we do crosses and grow thousands of them from seed.

Tim Thompson

To Tropicdude:   Yes our mango breeding project is large and we have been working at it for a long time.  We are continuing to come up with new varieties.  See the attached new one!  As I have stated before, all of our new varieties that we release must pass serious tests.  The one we have attached has passed all the tests but still must pass the big one.  It must taste good!  Since it is fruiting for the first time, we are crossing our fingers for now.  We will do the taste test when it ripens, then we will know: keep it or cull it!  Like JF said about his red manilla, it will get the axe if it doesn't pass the final test.

To Jbaqui:  we have some of the California Rare growers doing some field trial plantings in the Bay area starting next year.  If you want to participate, send us an e-mail.

Tim Thompson

Hello Mike,

Thanks for contacting us.  You can check our website for more info on our mango varieties and their cold tolerance data.  We would love to get a few field trial sites in those EU Countries that have mild frost growing areas.  Areas with hard freezes or temps much below 25 degrees F probably won't work.  Lets stay in touch.

Tim Thompson