My young wax jambu dropped 75% of the leaves this past Winter, and new baby leaves are very slow to grow, compared to in the past. So, how much watering do you give your tree? I don't want to miss current season's bloom...

Hi friends,
Beside having issue with a large cracked trunk on my NDM mango - (discussed here recently: http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=27710.0) -
I also notice that some leaves of the "Golek" mango next to it showing this:

Top view:


Bottom:


What is causing this and should I be concern about it? If so, any suggested remedy?
A bit of background: Bought this tree as 1 G at the same time and place where I got my NDM tree over 3 years ago in a nursery in EL Monte, Ca. Only bear a single fruit to maturity last year, no flower this year. (The NDM never flowered).

Hi guys (gals included),
Thanks for all your suggestions. The crack is facing West; but it’s got some shade from tall Podocarpus trees and kids’ playpen nearby, so it doesn’t get full Western sun in the afternoon.

I used drip mini sprayer on watering this tree, before I converted to “Dripline” just a couple of months ago. I don’t think the spray water touched the trunk when it was on. Btw, the tree trunk at the bottom looked normal back in January this year; the NDM is on the Right: (before I pruned it only 2 weeks ago)



Ok then, I am keeping an eye on this tree for some time longer, while my replacement (if needed) seedling in pot needs to grow bigger anyway…

It's labeled as NDM, I bought from a local SoCal nursery. In the ground for about 3 years, never bloom, and had lanky/droopy branches that I had since prune them hard.

I am wondering if it's worth growing and saving this tree, if so, how? Thanks for your advice!

Sorry to hear about this. Hope, the experts' recommendations will do good
for your trees. 3 out of 5 of my mango trees I bought beginning in Sept. 2014
I suspect to be of Turpentine rootstock too, - this was prior to me started
reading about it in this forum - , so I am following this  thread closely.

Wishing the best outcome to your trees!

Thanks for posting the video Mark, I already applied the strategy!
But I think I need to wait much longer to do the next step pruning, though!
(California mangos don't grow that fast... ).

Every time it catches a rodent (squirrel or rat) they were already dead! The spring is very strong, (I need to use an adjustable plier to help me open the "kill bar" up, then make sure you latch up the safety pin on it) so yes I would say it kills squirrels/rats very quickly.

This is the model I use:
https://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/animal/NWSKT01.html

Here is one helpful video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuDh3hRanzc

I modified the bait plate a bit: I made it little heavier by adding a couple of large washers then screwed them together, this help make it more sensitive. Keep in mind, I don't use any box enclosure for it ...yet; so yes, I supposed birds can get trap in here too...; unless you go with the tube enclosure model above. I may get this tube model myself, if more ammos are needed... .

I placed mine at end of 2 feet 4" ABS pipe (I read that rodents can't resist going into a tunnel) and hang it just below the top of my 6ft wood fence, since I see the squirrels use the top fence as one of it's entry pathways and my dog can't get to it:

Good to see! Thanks for posting, Bill!
Mine still small, but now I am feeling more optimistic.

Just wanted to add a short clip of my "dripline" in operation:

To determine how much you water the tree; I placed a measurement bowl under the dripping water, and run it lets say 15 minuets, then stop and multiply the amount of water collected by 4, to get your hourly volume dispenses per hour, multiply again by the number of emitters in your "loop" around the tree...(And you can adjust the flow easily by having a variable 1/4" shut off valve installed prior to connecting the Dripline).

By the way, the company, DIG; made this drip line with 3 options: every 6"; 9" or 12" distance between the emitters inside the tubing; both Home Depot and Amazon carry them...
 
Well, somehow my clip does not play in this forum, sorry!

Thanks for the opportunity, Xue!
Order placed.

Good to see someone is doing this kind of experiments; am pretty sure whatever the conclusions will be, they will be useful to us. Thanks for sharing this (and other experiments you're doing) Simon, and have fun doing them too!

Yes, I will update this as it goes along. The idea of placing 2 seeds in "a hole" (to get smaller tree and saving yard space) is also got me interested, as well as trying to do the epicotyl grafting later on.

I appreciate your continuing effort to give valuable advice, Simon!

I’ve had been contemplating (after hanging in my mind for over 2 plus years) to practice what Simon (and maybe others) preached on growing Avocado with this direct seed in the ground planting method, with no soil amendment added. (I hear you too, Mark!).
So, yesterday, after seeing that my Fuerte seeds in the moist bag showing some roots, I grabbed one and buried it in the ground.



Now, lets see if I can find another spot somewhere in the yard so I can squeeze in another one…