Lemon Zest mango tree

[spaugh]

Lemon Zest tree grafted in September 30th 2018.  Tree is flushing nicely.  Its on a very vigorous Kent rootstock that was grown from seed last summer.  Only the fastest growing rootstocks got grafted late last year.  Will need to be kept in a greenhouse or indoors for a few months to avoid flowering.  It's in a Stuewe tall tree pot.  This is super nice tree.  If no one buys its getting planted here in a couple months.

100$ local pickup.

[spaugh]

[Snookid]

Wow ,high price

[spaugh]

Yeah, we aren't in FL.  Finding a decent tree not on terpintine rootstock here is pretty much not possible.  And getting a mango tree to do vegetative flushes in February, not easy.

[vall]

I'll buy it.  Saves me the trouble of ordering from FL.

[spaugh]

Vall, this tree is going to grow much better than a mail order tree from FL as its on a better rootstock in a tall pot and is less than a year old.  This is the kind of tree people in CA should try and use to be successfull.  It isnt completely rootbound with circling roots, it's been kept in a greenhouse so no flowers, and not staked up and limp. 

If you would like the tree please send me a PM.

[roblack]

It's getting harder to find LZ trees here in FL. Don't think Zill is grafting them anymore. Scions are much easier to find.

[johnb51]

It's getting harder to find LZ trees here in FL. Don't think Zill is grafting them anymore. Scions are much easier to find.

There's always PPK. Lemon Zest was an attempt to create a better PPK (that didn't succeed)?

[CA Hockey]

For all interested I've bought 4 grafted trees from brad past year and all 4 are growing much better than my Florida trees.they actually have dense growth and look like they're in their natural habitat. They easily made it though several rounds of Santa ana winds and more recently 5 days of morning frost.

Brad -thats a great looking tree and I'd buy it from you except I've already got a brad LZ creation! How is that ardith doing by the way?

[hawkfish007]

For all interested I've bought 4 grafted trees from brad past year and all 4 are growing much better than my Florida trees.they actually have dense growth and look like they're in their natural habitat. They easily made it though several rounds of Santa ana winds and more recently 5 days of morning frost.

Brad -thats a great looking tree and I'd buy it from you except I've already got a brad LZ creation! How is that ardith doing by the way?

Could you post some pictures? I am stuck with 20 different varieties of mangoes on turpentine rootstock before I read about it, most of mine were on 15/25 gallons and flowering currently. I am planning to grow ataulfo seedlings in deep nursery bags and graft as a replacements. 

[spaugh]

For all interested I've bought 4 grafted trees from brad past year and all 4 are growing much better than my Florida trees.they actually have dense growth and look like they're in their natural habitat. They easily made it though several rounds of Santa ana winds and more recently 5 days of morning frost.

Brad -thats a great looking tree and I'd buy it from you except I've already got a brad LZ creation! How is that ardith doing by the way?

Could you post some pictures? I am stuck with 20 different varieties of mangoes on turpentine rootstock before I read about it, most of mine were on 15/25 gallons and flowering currently. I am planning to grow ataulfo seedlings in deep nursery bags and graft as a replacements.

You may have some failures but many of your trees will likely do ok.  I would advise you to use mexican Kent rootstocks.  You can get cases of them in summer for cheap.  And they are much more vigorous than ataulfo seeds.  The ataulfo seeds tend to get long and lanky and not short and stout.  They like to flop over and seem to die back easier over winter.  At least grow both types and hedge your bets. 

For what its worth, I am going to do some more trees with Simon this summer on the rootstock stockpile we have and then thats probably it.  Because getting seedlings through the winter here and then the success rate on grafts makes it not really worth the effort even at 100$ a tree.  Theres a reason no one is growing grafted mango trees in CA.  You need a greenhouse to really keep them happy and keep from flowering.  And lack of heat units and light units over winter even in San Diego is really hard on these plants.  So by the time I grow out 100 trees maybe I have 30 good ones that make it to be grafted and good takes in a state people want to purchase.  Any slow seeds, lanky seeds, sick seeds etc I toss.  Then the rest have to stay good for 6+ months of cold weather, then have to graft and have good takes.  Major PITA.

[Cookie Monster]

Bummer about LZ not being grafted anymore. Of the LZ, OS, PPK trio, LZ is my favorite. It's bigger and better tasting than PPK.

[zephian]

For all interested I've bought 4 grafted trees from brad past year and all 4 are growing much better than my Florida trees.they actually have dense growth and look like they're in their natural habitat. They easily made it though several rounds of Santa ana winds and more recently 5 days of morning frost.

Brad -thats a great looking tree and I'd buy it from you except I've already got a brad LZ creation! How is that ardith doing by the way?

Could you post some pictures? I am stuck with 20 different varieties of mangoes on turpentine rootstock before I read about it, most of mine were on 15/25 gallons and flowering currently. I am planning to grow ataulfo seedlings in deep nursery bags and graft as a replacements.

You may have some failures but many of your trees will likely do ok.  I would advise you to use mexican Kent rootstocks.  You can get cases of them in summer for cheap.  And they are much more vigorous than ataulfo seeds.  The ataulfo seeds tend to get long and lanky and not short and stout.  They like to flop over and seem to die back easier over winter.  At least grow both types and hedge your bets. 

For what its worth, I am going to do some more trees with Simon this summer on the rootstock stockpile we have and then thats probably it.  Because getting seedlings through the winter here and then the success rate on grafts makes it not really worth the effort even at 100$ a tree.  Theres a reason no one is growing grafted mango trees in CA.  You need a greenhouse to really keep them happy and keep from flowering.  And lack of heat units and light units over winter even in San Diego is really hard on these plants.  So by the time I grow out 100 trees maybe I have 30 good ones that make it to be grafted and good takes in a state people want to purchase.  Any slow seeds, lanky seeds, sick seeds etc I toss.  Then the rest have to stay good for 6+ months of cold weather, then have to graft and have good takes.  Major PITA.

Hmm, I think we can get kent here. Maybe I'll try some of those for rootstalk to.. I have some nam dac mai, manilla, tommy atkins plants right now that took a bit of a beating but made it through some cold weather (They're inside now)

[CA Hockey]

When I get home I'll take pictures. They are healthy, full of leaves with tight node spacing and dense growth, and they are bigger than their Florida cohorts.

I'll take pictures of the trees I got from brad and planted last June and compare with Florida trees I received from excellent Florida nursery and planted at the same time (same size initially as well).

No comparison. Will also compare with Florida 7g and 15g. Those trees are bigger but less dense and leggy. Those j will have to prune back to shape them up and I spent some time in reaching them to give them a boost.

Khaled

For all interested I've bought 4 grafted trees from brad past year and all 4 are growing much better than my Florida trees.they actually have dense growth and look like they're in their natural habitat. They easily made it though several rounds of Santa ana winds and more recently 5 days of morning frost.

Brad -thats a great looking tree and I'd buy it from you except I've already got a brad LZ creation! How is that ardith doing by the way?

Could you post some pictures? I am stuck with 20 different varieties of mangoes on turpentine rootstock before I read about it, most of mine were on 15/25 gallons and flowering currently. I am planning to grow ataulfo seedlings in deep nursery bags and graft as a replacements.

[RodneyS]

I have several CA Keitt seedlings growing right now for grafting.  They're available around September at Aldi for about 50 cents/each. Other supermarkets will have them for upwards around $1.50/each.  CA Keitt seems to have good vigor, from what I observe

[CA Hockey]

No pictures tonight due to rain.

Sorry.

[simon_grow]

Growing mango trees on alternative rootstocks is a pain and very costly. Many of the seeds we plant never even sprout and not all seeds that sprout are used for grafting because they lack vigor.

Once we do select a rootstock, we have to order scions from Florida and pay for the scions plus shipping and not every scion that is sent to us is selected for use because they may be damaged in shipping or the quality of the scion is not what we are looking for. Our best success is achieved when we are able to use scions from our own trees but this is not always possible.

Unless you are an advanced gardener, I would highly recommend against planting Florida rootstock mango trees with the caveat of the more vigorous varieties I already mentioned. I have several threads regarding the difficulties associated with planting mango trees from Florida.  Many of the trees slowly die off or they grow at a snails pace.

This is probably the last year I will graft Mango trees for our SoCal members, it’s just too much work. I want our members to succeed in growing mango trees in SoCal so if you miss out on the trees that Brad and I are grafting this year, you will have to plant a bunch of seedlings and learn to graft. Learning to graft is a skill that will be very useful in this hobby.

Simon

[hawkfish007]

That's very nice of you and Brad. I wish I stumbled upon this forum before going all in on 15 gallon mango trees on turpentine rootstocks. Since most of them are already in ground, my goal is to keep them as happy as possible while learning how to graft, and growing replacements on Cali friendly rootstocks.

[Vernmented]

I have a nematode permit to ship to California. I planted out some Ataulfo seeds a while back to graft onto and possibly sell to to people in Cali. I was told Zill and Duncan are vigorous here in Florida so they are on my list to try. It sounds like I should plant some Kent as well. I haven't gotten around to selling trees online and shipping yet. I need to figure out the best way to ship. Hopefully I will get around to it this year.

[OCchris1]

Hit me up Josh, when you're ready to do a "trial" run 
(I call shotgun)

[Vernmented]

 

Hit me up Josh, when you're ready to do a "trial" run 
(I call shotgun)

[Vernmented]

Direct sow a seed next to it and inarch the new rootstock.

That's very nice of you and Brad. I wish I stumbled upon this forum before going all in on 15 gallon mango trees on turpentine rootstocks. Since most of them are already in ground, my goal is to keep them as happy as possible while learning how to graft, and growing replacements on Cali friendly rootstocks.

[CA Hockey]

As promised 😀



Brad LZ 8 months



Brad sweet tart 8 months


Florida orange sherbet with 3 seedlings planted around it (don't be fooled by how bushy it looks. Those are actually 4 plants, 3 of them are seedlings)


Florida tara lay 8 months


Florida Peach cobbler bought as 15 gallon, in ground for 8 months


Florida sweet tart, I've had this for 2 years (1 in pot and 1 year in ground)


Brad sweet tart and cac in ground for 8 months but I believe tree is 1.5 years old. Compare to the Florida 15 gallon (much bushier and compact) and 2 year old Florida sweet tart (spindly )

[vall]

How far apart are the trees in the first picture?

As promised 😀



Brad LZ 8 months

[CA Hockey]

4-6 feet trunk to trunk