The Tropical Fruit Forum

Quote from: ManVFruit on August 06, 2018, 09:53:38 PM

Quote from: zephian on August 06, 2018, 09:03:29 PM

Quote from: ManVFruit on August 06, 2018, 07:07:34 PM

Quote from: simon_grow on August 03, 2018, 02:29:25 AM

When planting these trees, plant in a square shaped hole, not round. Loosen the soil to the same depth as the pot, you can loosen the soil deeper but the plant will settle more and may sink a bit over the years if you don’t compensate by planting higher.

If you have good to decent soil, there is no need to amend the soil, backfill with 100% native soil. If you want to give it a little extra love, you can add some organic tropical Fruit tree fertilizer and some beneficial soil microbes/mycorrhizal fungi. I also like to give my trees frequent dilute feedings of kelp emulsion during the establishment period.

You can top dress with a good compost and definitely mulch the tree with at least 3-4 inches of mulch. Mulch decomposes fast and needs to be replenished every 3-6 months.

If your soil is heavy clay, you should plant on a small to medium mound to allow for adequate drainage. Many new Mango growers make the mistake of adding too much organic amendments to the soil but this is a big mistake because the organic matter holds too much water and it will decompose so your tree will sink after a few years.

Think about it this way, if you add 30% organic amendments to your planting hole, the tree will likely sink by approximately 30% when that organic matter decomposes. In real life, the tree won’t sink exactly that much because the roots will grow out and anchor it a bit but it will sink a lot and can be extremely detrimental to your trees health.

I have heavy clay soil at my place and I plant on small mounds and backfill with about 50% native soil, 40% Pumice and about ten percent organic matter to get the tree going. To compensate for the loosening of the soil and for the incorporated organic matter, I plant my tree about 10% higher. It’s already on a mound but remember that the soil will settle.

For more detailed information, see this thread.

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=23124.0

Some of my suggestions may have changed over the years as new information comes in. I have to go through the entire thread to make sure I have updated with the latest techniques that work best for growers in SoCal.
Simon

This couldn't come at better time for me, I am glad you revived some of the old posts. I see you are also from SD, I have zero experience with Mangoes, in fact I just got few seeds of Nam Doc Mai germinated and I could not be happier with how healthy they look. What is your experience with this variety? my guess it will probably be happy until winter although where I live typically does not drop below 40F in winter.

 CA rootstock sounds like the way froward, I was wondering if anyone have suggestions on what would be best varieties for my area to graft on to CA rootstock in future. As space is limited and mainly taken up by other trees I would probably be able to handle 1-2 mango trees; with that in mind what are the absolute must have. I am not not a fan of the fibrous types and generally prefer sweet + sour fruits (not overally sweet) always on the look out for rare fruits!

Very helpful information Simon, thanks. I have some seedlings I'll be planting in this next year or two and this will be a big help.
ManVFruit did you get your seeds for nam doc Mai from nimfa/seedpirates? I did and they're doing very well considering USPS lost them for about two weeks... I have some manilla and tommy atkins doing fantastic too (Though I am on the other side of the state surrounded by fires currently. )

Yes that's right, sorry to hear about the fires. Hope they have it under control?

one near me just hit 2nd largest in california history... not looking good but far enough away from me all I get is the ash rain. I need to get some pictures of all my plants soon, we should compare! I'd love to see how they're growing vs similar plants from a few hundred miles south.

When planting these trees, plant in a square shaped hole, not round. Loosen the soil to the same depth as the pot, you can loosen the soil deeper but the plant will settle more and may sink a bit over the years if you don’t compensate by planting higher.

If you have good to decent soil, there is no need to amend the soil, backfill with 100% native soil. If you want to give it a little extra love, you can add some organic tropical Fruit tree fertilizer and some beneficial soil microbes/mycorrhizal fungi. I also like to give my trees frequent dilute feedings of kelp emulsion during the establishment period.

You can top dress with a good compost and definitely mulch the tree with at least 3-4 inches of mulch. Mulch decomposes fast and needs to be replenished every 3-6 months.

If your soil is heavy clay, you should plant on a small to medium mound to allow for adequate drainage. Many new Mango growers make the mistake of adding too much organic amendments to the soil but this is a big mistake because the organic matter holds too much water and it will decompose so your tree will sink after a few years.

Think about it this way, if you add 30% organic amendments to your planting hole, the tree will likely sink by approximately 30% when that organic matter decomposes. In real life, the tree won’t sink exactly that much because the roots will grow out and anchor it a bit but it will sink a lot and can be extremely detrimental to your trees health.

I have heavy clay soil at my place and I plant on small mounds and backfill with about 50% native soil, 40% Pumice and about ten percent organic matter to get the tree going. To compensate for the loosening of the soil and for the incorporated organic matter, I plant my tree about 10% higher. It’s already on a mound but remember that the soil will settle.

For more detailed information, see this thread.

http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=23124.0

Some of my suggestions may have changed over the years as new information comes in. I have to go through the entire thread to make sure I have updated with the latest techniques that work best for growers in SoCal.
Simon

That looks delicious!

Does it have a closed eye?