Can you keep Mango trees small forever and expect consistent production?

[Honest Abe]

I have read and and heard people say that you can keep your mango trees under 12 ft forever…AND expect good production. I understand that a 12x12 ft mango tree is a good size tree, but Will the tree eventually be hurt by continued pruning to keep that small? I have an aggressive Baileys Marvel I have at just over 9x9  ft and it’s holding about 30-40 mangoes, but tree is still young. is this something you can continue to do successfully forever? It seems tough atleast with my baileys.

I have 5 other mango trees in ground as well and I need to make a pruning decision before they get out of hand. Not sure If the fast growing cultivars can be managed like this or not…WITH good consistent production…

Thanks

-Abe

[FMfruitforest]

I followed Zills advice for pruning larger trees where he said remove half the canopy each year, the half  I removed after fruiting did not bloom this year.

[johnb51]

It seems Richard Campbell has been successful at keeping mango trees small yet productive, and he considers that the ideal.  Also, commercial growers with intensive operations keep their trees small, don't they?  On the other hand, certain vigorous varieties don't take to that type of regimen so it would hurt their productivity.  As far as impacting the health and life expectancy of the tree, I don't see how that would be the case.  There are bonsai trees that are hundreds of years old!  Anyway, that's my two cents.

[Victoria Ave]

A technique with many fruit trees and I’m sure would work with mango trees would be to remove large branches to refresh moving in a clockwise or counterclockwise pattern around the tree 1 major branch a year. This would allow that major branch to rejuvenate and flush new growth the next season while harvesting fruits from the still mature branches

[Epicatt2]

A technique with many fruit trees and I’m sure would work with mango trees would be to remove large branches to refresh moving in a clockwise or counterclockwise pattern around the tree 1 major branch a year. This would allow that major branch to rejuvenate and flush new growth the next season while harvesting fruits from the still mature branches

What a sensible idea!  Doing this puts the tree in a far less stressful situation than a more thorough trimming would create.

Frankly I tend to suspect that the mango would in nature have adapted to some limited damage such as a dead limb from an neighboring tree in the forest/wild falling and knocking off a branch or two of the mango.

Thanx for this pruning suggestion, Victoria!

Cheers!

Paul M.
==

[Satya]

It seems Richard Campbell has been successful at keeping mango trees small yet productive, and he considers that the ideal.  Also, commercial growers with intensive operations keep their trees small, don't they?  On the other hand, certain vigorous varieties don't take to that type of regimen so it would hurt their productivity.  As far as impacting the health and life expectancy of the tree, I don't see how that would be the case.  There are bonsai trees that are hundreds of years old!  Anyway, that's my two cents.

John, in commercial groves they have a certain height above which workers could not pick for safety reasons, so the tree should be topped every year to avoid injuries and law suits. Not necessarily the healthiest thing for trees, that's why varieties selected for mass production aren't usually the best tasting but the most convenient (shelf life, tree size, consistent productivity, disease resistance, etc).

[Honest Abe]

Thanks all,
Satya, are you proposing that pruning aggressively growing trees yearly could be bad for them/their production over the course of many years?
Thanks

[Satya]

Thanks all,
Satya, are you proposing that pruning aggressively growing trees yearly could be bad for them/their production over the course of many years?
Thanks

topping is not considered a healthy practice, opens lots of large wounds for disease entry. Here is an article on that: https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/conservation/Forestry/UrbanForestry/Documents/Tree%20Topping.pdf

[simon_grow]

Variety selection would be very important and there may also be specific rootstocks that may help control size. I believe it would be very difficult to keep extremely vigorous varieties small and productive without the use of plant growth regulators.

The age of the previous growth flush prior to blooms has weight on the balance of blooms vs shoots. Pruning too much may also spur vegetative growth. One of the best ways to keep a tree small is to reduce vegetative growth by carefully planning when you fertilize and also when and how you prune your trees.

Pruning mango trees to have less vertical growth and more horizontal growth may slightly increase the odds of flowering but when you prune is also important because you want the previous flush to fully harden and store some energy prior to bloom induction in Winter.

By promoting flowering and thus more fruit set and more fruit yield, the tree will use up more of its resources on making fruit as opposed to wood and leaves. Again, variety selection is imperative and although Julie is known to be less vigorous, it may be more prone to disease at specific locations and thus have lower yields which in turn could mean more energy for vegetative growth.

Simon

[skhan]

Variety selection would be very important and there may also be specific rootstocks that may help control size. I believe it would be very difficult to keep extremely vigorous varieties small and productive without the use of plant growth regulators.

The age of the previous growth flush prior to blooms has weight on the balance of blooms vs shoots. Pruning too much may also spur vegetative growth. One of the best ways to keep a tree small is to reduce vegetative growth by carefully planning when you fertilize and also when and how you prune your trees.

Pruning mango trees to have less vertical growth and more horizontal growth may slightly increase the odds of flowering but when you prune is also important because you want the previous flush to fully harden and store some energy prior to bloom induction in Winter.

By promoting flowering and thus more fruit set and more fruit yield, the tree will use up more of its resources on making fruit as opposed to wood and leaves. Again, variety selection is imperative and although Julie is known to be less vigorous, it may be more prone to disease at specific locations and thus have lower yields which in turn could mean more energy for vegetative growth.

Simon

Great response Simon!
The only thing I can add is that training the trees when they are younger will make the yearly pruning easier on you and the tree.

Topping is a really drastic cut, I prefer to not do it and mainly remove select vertical growth from the center.
I should also say i keep my trees around ~15ft tall. (I still want the benefit of having a yard and the shade from the trees makes the weather even in summer bearable)

[Satya]

Topping is a really drastic cut, I prefer to not do it and mainly remove select vertical growth from the center.
I should also say i keep my trees around ~15ft tall. (I still want the benefit of having a yard and the shade from the trees makes the weather even in summer bearable)

same here, i want to eventually walk under a continuous canopy of all the trees in the garden, like malls in Singapore that are all internally connected 

[johnb51]

Topping is a really drastic cut, I prefer to not do it and mainly remove select vertical growth from the center.
I should also say i keep my trees around ~15ft tall. (I still want the benefit of having a yard and the shade from the trees makes the weather even in summer bearable)

same here, i want to eventually walk under a continuous canopy of all the trees in the garden, like malls in Singapore that are all internally connected 

  Are they outdoor malls in Singapore, or indoor ones?

[Satya]

indoor, some of the fanciest in the world. All the buildings are in a line in the central street, and you don't need to walk out into the heat and rain to move from mall to mall. And the funny thing is, the name of this street is Orchard Road 

[Honest Abe]

Thank you all For responses.

[johnb51]

This video has tons of good information about best practices for growing mango trees.  Dr. Crane really knows his shit, and Paul relentlessly picks his brain!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtYPnyszllE

[palmcity]

Can you keep Mango trees small forever and expect consistent production?

Can keep Mango trees small forever? Yes all can by trimming/cutting/decrease fertilizer/etc. etc. etc.

All can have expectations.... Few to none will be lucky enough to have consistent yearly production as too many variables & unknowns... Regardless of tree size.

However, keeping the trees small forever will guarantee a long term lower production than with a larger tree over the years unless you have many small tress vs. 1 large tree etc. Ex. My pickering stayed small for 5 years. I finally started fertilizing it more and thus a temporary yearly less fruit production per canopy area and now more growth finally. I will probably cut back fertilizing next year to have a larger small tree produce a few more mangos than 3 yrs ago with the smaller canopy when it was loaded & small but actual mangos were few.

You can tell when you've read too much on this forum over the years...
The previous long methodical youtube video of 39 minutes 52 seconds becomes a good way to absorb many ZZZZ  as I could not make it through without skipping rapidly rapidly through it to the END... lol

The 13 days ago video with Walter Zill is much more relevant to this Topic...
IMO Walter shows trees large & small and talks of his lowered fruit production this year. IMO he also mentions that it is more important for him to have a tree producing good  fruit than one of the believed "best" tasting varieties that seldom produces fruit for him.... lol... IMO I agree with him ... Really really funny when IMO he indicates he top worked one of the best tasting varieties recently... (IMO did not want to disclose which one lol as some are still selling it)

Maybe my opinion was wrong, so Go to YOUTUBE type Walter Zill Recent and it will pop up fast  lol...