San Diego Mango-top working mature tree

[Kankan]

I have an unknown variety mango thats at least 12 years old, about 12' tall. It fruits annually but most the fruits are really small. Id like to graft it partially over to 1 or 2 varieties. I love keitt mangoes but struggle finding budwood. Any recommendations for varieties to graft? Considerations are  regular producing, not prone to health issues (not sure keitt fits this), and of course good tasting. I also prefer larger mangoes.

A couple other questions:

Im planning on grafting in June, is this the right time of year in San Diego?

Tropical Acres seems to not have scions available currently, any good sources of scions?


Thank you in advance,
Kevin

[Kankan]

not sure why pic didnt come through....

[spaugh]

June is good but I have found the best way is to chop the tree down in April and then graft onto the new shoots in June or July. 

You want to be grafting way in toward the trunk of the tree for variety change.

As far as variety, sweet tart is excellent but they are not large.  Can't help with scions.

[Kankan]

Thanks for the reply. Do you think its too late to cut the tree back now for July grafting?

[spaugh]

Its probably not too late if you can get growth by July or August.  After that, the scions sometimes dont push and can fail. 

If its not urgent you could wait till next spring.  I had some trees to do the same thing on and I got sidetracked and never cut them down.  I will go ahead and stump thrm this weekend. 

[simon_grow]

I’ve top worked a bunch of huge mango trees in Leo Manuel’s yard and I prefer to bark graft first and if any of the bark grafts fail, then I will graft over the new shoots that form after the branches are cut back. If you want a regular tasting mango that is nice sized, productive and disease resistant, you may want to consider Edward or Valencia Pride.

These mangos are not flavor bombs but they’re reliable and relatively disease resistant. I would agree with Brad that Sweet Tart is one of the varieties I would highly recommend although it can be smaller in size. ST can get to about 1 lbs if thinned to 1 fruit per panicle. Pineapple Pleasure is an awesome variety that gets large, is a flavor bomb and is productive at my place. Others in Florida report it can be a lower producer or one that takes longer before it starts producing.

Simon

[simon_grow]

Venus and CAC are also great varieties that are productive and relatively disease resistant in my area. Honey Kiss is reliable and disease resistant but it’s a bit on the smaller size because it holds so many fruit per panicle. Disease resistance in one area does not guarantee disease resistance and productivity in another area. Here’s a thread with some additional information.

https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=31480.0

Simon

[Kankan]

Thank you for the advise. I have been thinking a lot about Valencia Pride as well as one that I hear does well here-Corriente-I suspect its known under a different name. I moved here about 2 years ago and have planted the following grafted mangoes in the ground (see below), I think VP and ST are good options for me. I like the idea of a bark graft then follow up with a graft on new shoots as needed.

Fruit Punch
Mango Nam Doc Mai
Kesar
Chok Anon
Keitt
Coconut Cream
Lemon Zest
Peach Cobbler
Sweet Tart
Angie
Orange Sherbert
CAC
Nom Dok Mai
Diamond
Haden
Pickering
Florigon
Glenn
M-4
Sugarloaf
Kathy
M4
Lancetilla