The nice thing about ses2 is that the tree is very slow growing -- which is a good thing in a white sapote, as they can grow quite rapidly here. I remember the flavor being good.

I don't know about Socal or other locations, but here in South Florida, in over a decade of growing mango trees (about 3 dozen of them), I've never pruned fruit on young trees and it's never been an issue.

While pruning fruit is necessary for some species (eg, Jackfruit -- which will go into decline if allowed to carry too much fruit), mangoes will do one of two things: either they will abort the fruit on their own, or the fruit will turn out small. But neither case presents a detriment to the tree.

My sweet tart did the same thing actually. I planted mine out from a 7 gallon, and within a year, it produced 2 dozen fruits -- all of which I allowed to remain until maturity. The fruit were all excellent, albeit a bit small.

Yep. I think it's just a marketing tactic on the part of vigoro.

.90% polymer coated is 15% of the nitrogen. The Helena Chemicals and Howard Fertilizer 8-2-12 formulations are 7.2% polymer coated or 90% of the nitrogen for a slow and long feed.

Quote from: Cookie Monster on March 20, 2018, 10:48:41 PM

I don't see the label, but the vigoro "slow release" stuff is likely going to be mostly water soluble with a small % of water insoluble forms of nitrogen -- and this oftentimes means milorganite (recycled biped feces) or some other cheap form of organic nitrogen (not sulfur / polymer coated).

Sulfur / polymer coated slow release (where a significant % of all nutrients are slow release) is generally quite expensive at the big box stores -- if you can even find it there. You don't really want to buy your fertilizer at a big box store unless you don't have any other options (ie, you don't have a grower's supply nearby).

Update -- I found the label. It's a laughable 0.90% nitogen. At least it's polymer coated. But that basically means that they tossed in 50 cents worth of slow release nitrogen granules to be able to woo / dupe consumers with the "slow release" label :-).

http://www.kellysolutions.com/erenewals/documentsubmit/KellyData/ND%5CFertilizer%5CProduct%20Label%5CVIGORO_CITRUS___AVOCADO_PLANT_FOOD_6_4_6_4_25_2011_11_06_00_AM.pdf

Persimmon. Yummy. Don't eat until soft to the touch.

Best deal will always be your local nursery / grower supply. There is normally always a higher markup if you buy online (this seems strange, as it's the reverse with consumer items). 7springsfarm.com is a place to consider. As far as online supply shops goes, they are one of the cheapest. And, if you need a lot (ie, 10+ bags), they do freight, which is very reasonably priced.

As for rates, depends on the size of the mango tree.

http://www.7springsfarm.com/potassium-sulfate-granular-sop-0-0-50-sulfur-17-50-lb/

http://www.7springsfarm.com/potassium-sulfate-granular-sop-0-0-50-sulfur-17-10-lb-bag/

I've used this before and been happy with it for potted plants: https://www.amleo.com/osmocote-fertilizer-15-9-12-slow-release-8-to-9-months-50lb-bag/p/159128/

HAHAHA

Quote from: Frog Valley Farm on March 19, 2018, 06:46:07 AM

If given a choice of alfalfa pellets between a non gmo feed, a conventional feed or an USDA certified Organic feed.  They will always go to the Organic option, finish it off and leave the non-gmo and the conventional feed options.

Wow, so you organic types have even brain washed your horses?     I've heard some good testimonials but this beats the best of 'em.

Love the bonnet! 
 

Use sulfur to get rid of powdery mildew. However, there is a caveat: sulfur should not be used when temps are above, say, mid to low 80's, as it can burn -- meaning no sulfur application after the temps start to warm up in early April.

The leaf notching is caused by sri lankan weevil, which should be controlled when in the grub stage. I've been told that Talstar (soil application) works.

The old vs new bark looks like the tree might have been severely cut back / busted up from high wind.

If the tree is not producing any fruit at all, it could be due to the powdery mildew or an abundance of male flowers. Mangoes will generally produce acceptably without fertilization.

If you have no other budwood, then it's worth a shot. Break off the new growth first though. Under good grafting conditions, you could likely get cambium to cambium heal. Then it would just take a little longer for the scion to build up energy again (assuming the rootstock has some energy reserve), resulting in a delayed push. But if there is a choice, you really want to choose something else or wait for the new shoot to harden off before harvesting.

Actually -- you know what you could do: break off the new shoot now and then come back to harvest the scion in a couple of weeks, when it's had a chance to rebuild energy reserves.

Since I don't grow in that area, I don't have good info on specifics. I suggest you call Dr Jonathon Crane from TREC. He has given me good advice on my own growing struggles, and he works with growers in your specific area. He is also the instructor for the HOS 5555 course. I've found him to be fairly accessible and willing to give advice. If you can't find his telephone online, message me, and I'll send it to you via a private message.

Dr Crane did strongly suggest the use of Sunn Hemp as well as irrigation for freezes (Homestead gets freezing temps every couple of winters, and irrigation is one of the tools they use to mitigate damage -- basically coating the trees with ice to protect them).

Hi Jeff,

I like the cris cross idea and I can see the roots can spread in all directions. what should be the depth of this trench? How about a 2 feet deep hole at X and 1.5 ' deep * 5 ft wide  trench in all 4 directions. Can I manage this with renting a back hoe? I don't want to rent a trencher and trying to keep low on rental expenses.

At the moment I am planning on having Sugar apple , Jack fruit trees.

What about coconut trees? I am planning to put these around the farm and what should be the depth and width of the hole for coconut trees? I also have some mango trees.

Please let me know if certain type of trees need bigger and wider holes.

Home Depot mulch would cost a fortune. To mulch to a depth of 1 foot over 3 acres would cost close to 6 figures using HD muilch.

Yah, it's amazing that homestead is so productive given the soil (or lack thereof). I have a remotely similar situation where I'm at. The original plot here had about 3 inches of top soil on top of about a foot of crushed limestone. My situation is not as bad as that of Homestead, as there is no hard pan to prevent drainage, and I don't need heavy equipment to plant trees. However, it was an issue that I needed to deal with. Here's what I did:

On one side of my plot, I raised the soil level by about 9 inches of solid black "muck" -- the result of a decade worth of heavy mulching. That combined with the original 3 inches of top soil left me with roughly a full foot of top soil. As I've discussed on other threads, growing in heavy organic matter has a couple of drawbacks, namely super high phosphorous, too little calcium in relation to potassium (manifesting itself as fruit with low brix and soft flesh), and a worsening chlorosis due to OM locking up micronutrients. I've been able to rectify both issues by fertilizing with various calcium sources (literally tons of it) and by fertilizing with micronutrients. The nice thing is that the organic matter tends to retain what I put down. So, it needn't be an ongoing thing. OM acts like bio-char, in that it becomes a reserve of nutrients once "filled."

On the other side of my plot (purchased about 4 years ago), I didn't feel like waiting a decade nor spending thousand of hours worth of labor pushing mulch piles around. So, I trucked in loamy sand from Palm Beach County. That was one of the best decisions I made. It came out to about $12 per yard, and with 250 yards, I was able to raise the soil to nearly a full foot above the limestone. I've subsequently been mulching to add organic matter and encourage beneficials. Since it is still mostly sand, I've been fertilizing that plot more heavily than the "muck" lot.

The trees on both lots look phenomenal, in stark contrast to those of my neighbors. With a bit of sulfur, I've even been able to lower the pH. Even though it's essentially impossible to lower the pH on the limestone that lies beneath everything, I can keep the foot or so of topsoil at a pH below 7 with infrequent (eg, once per year) sulfur applications.

The TLDR version is -- if you can simply build up about a foot of topsoil, you should be able to grow successfully, even on top of solid limestone. The only thing you'd need to deal with would be the lack of drainage due to the hardpan below.

Ohh, I didn't realize you were in socal. Here it's generally a non-issue, since our soil is basically sand. But I'm not 100% sure how things would turn out in socal. I know phytopthera has been an issue in your growing area. I'd personally give it a try anyway.

Thank you, Sir! In southern California, we have to water the grass everyday unfortunately.

Quote from: Cookie Monster on March 09, 2018, 04:58:44 PM

You could. As long as your soil drains well enough. Not 100% ideal, but it would work. But daily watering sounds a bit extreme. Here, they only let us water the lawn twice a week, which is sufficient.

If you need something that's water loving, plant jaboticaba. I have daily drip irrigation on those buggers.

Quote from: Mugenia on March 09, 2018, 02:29:52 AM

So basically, I can't plant mango trees on my lawn and have sprinkler heads spraying on my trees daily. Am I correct? I have a long walkway in the back of my yard. I was planning to line it with mango trees. I guess I will be planting it with sapodillas then.

Quote from: zands on March 08, 2018, 09:18:00 PM

Quote from: palmcity on March 08, 2018, 02:56:07 PM

Any other opinions and any others that water at the tree trunk like Zands does during the dry periods and any bad effects noted or not???

Let me correct that to watering mango trees with my garden hose at ground level. As opposed to having your mango trees planted on a lawn like many members do. Then having your lawn sprinkler system sending sprinkler water into the mango leaves and panicles and developing fruit. Then you might promote rot and fungus.

So do not train your garden hose only where the tree trunk meets the ground. But within the four- five foot diameter around the tree trunk. None of my trees are mulched more than a five ft diameter so this is where my roots and root absorbing action is. So I think. My philosophy - The feeder roots are on their own and should go scrounging for their food and water, which I know that many do not advocate.