My 1.5 year old mango that does not grow.

[Gentman]

I bought a grafted mango tree 1.5 year ago and it does not grow. I pulled it out to find out what's wrong with this plant.  However the plant and leaves look healthy. (see pic). If you look into the root, it does grow deep into the soil but no sign of growing horizontal. If you see there is a growth on the root like a ball. I am looking to replace this tree. Can someone tell me what happened to this plant?

[simon_grow]

Not sure what the round growth is but did you try giving your tree some fertilizer to spur growth?

Simon

[JakeFruit]

The greenish-tint above the soil mark on the trunk makes me think it might be getting too much water, or be in very poorly-draining soil. The "ball" doesn't look unusual, there's usually a "collar" at the soil line (looks like it was buried 1-2" too deep, if the dark/moist area indicates the soil line).

Was this an in-ground or potted tree? How often was it getting watered? Can you take a pic of the hole it came out of?

[GFC]

Like the old saying goes the first year they sleep, the 2nd yr they creep, the 3rd yr they leap.

[Orkine]

I vote too much water.

[pineislander]

The round growth was probablly where it was air layered.

[Orkine]

Interesting if it was air-layered.  I did a few in the past and one in particular was a super slow grower.  I planted a seed next to it with the intent of doing an approach graft so it would have a decent root system with a tap root.  The seedling grew so rapidly I ended up grafting to it and keeping the two trees (both about the same size now).
 

[achetadomestica]

I had a 7 gallon Super Hass avocado I planted in a spot in my yard a couple
years ago that did nothing. It actually died back a little. I gave up and dug it up a
month ago and put it in a 7 gallon pot. Now it's flushing new growth constantly?

[Gentman]

While I dug it out, I just pulled out the plant without any effort showing there is no root to hold the tree. . Is it too wet, now I put water to the hole and wait and see how long it disappeared or  if it is waterlogged.

[JakeFruit]

That soil looks like it has a lot of clay in it, doesn't look loose/well-draining. Mangoes like very loose, sandy soil, you might be challenged to get one going without amending that soil. You could possibly get away with just amending a dozen gallons or so; once the tree starts getting established and building it's strength it'll push stronger roots.

Do you have any neighbors that are successfully growing mangoes in the same soil as yours?

[Gentman]

Tested the ground for water retention twice. Water disappeared after two half hours. My garden has a layer of top soil. Two feet below is clay soil. Over here mango tree grows normal. Neibours are ok.

[JakeFruit]

2 hours(!), that's your problem. You should amend the clay layer (heavily) with sand, perlite, or whatever you have that'll loosen up the soil and increase drainage. If your neighbors have healthy trees, the underlying soil layer(s) should support your tree. You just need to give it a little help in developing a strong root system. That clay is holding water too long and is tough to push roots through.