Mangosteen in Florida

[Rico_Kryptic]

I just bought a Garcinia mangostana and I'm wondering who else has one in south Florida and if there's any tips and tricks I should know. I'm currently planning on treating it like my Cacaos or Rambutans.

[cbss_daviefl]

I have a few in pots and 2 in the ground.  They are challenging.  This year was tough on them because the rainy season started in the middle of August when it normally starts middle of May.  The hot temps with low humidity could not be compensated by irrigation.  I should have increased the shade.  The trees only grow new leaves a couple times a year so it is hard to gage their nutrient needs. This year growth happened in February,  May, both during low humidity causing wilting and small leaf size, and November just before being hit with the artic blast down to 47F causing wind burns on the immature growth, some new leaves dropped.  The trees shrank this year.

Shade, protect from wind, water daily before the start of the rainy season, keep humidity up around 70%, mulch and fertilize light but often.

Expect it to take a decade or two to fruit from seed. One of my potted trees flowered but the flowered dropped without setting fruit. A grafted tree may fruit quicker but tend to grow slower.

[Rico_Kryptic]

It came in yesterday. I'm excited to grow this plant!

[cbss_daviefl]

Here are my trees that are in the ground. 

This one has been in the ground for two years. It was bigger when I planted it. It got sun burned and under-watered and suffered while I learned. Hopefully I will be able to manage it better this spring.


This one I planted this year. It is grafted.

[Rico_Kryptic]

Here are my trees that are in the ground. 

This one has been in the ground for two years. It was bigger when I planted it. It got sun burned and under-watered and suffered while I learned. Hopefully I will be able to manage it better this spring.


This one I planted this year. It is grafted.

looking good! I gotta figure out if I'm going to put it in the ground or keep it in a pot. I'm planning on setting up a greenhouse for my redfoots as it is and can keep it in there.

[docky]

Here are my trees that are in the ground. 

This one has been in the ground for two years. It was bigger when I planted it. It got sun burned and under-watered and suffered while I learned. Hopefully I will be able to manage it better this spring.


This one I planted this year. It is grafted.

Wow! Looks like its bouncing back well. My 2 trees lived under shade cloth until 5ft or so. When I removed the shade cloth they died back and suffered for a couple years but eventually recovered. Once they recovered the growth really started to pick up speed. Until then id get just a few flushes a year and id be lucky to not loose a flush to caterpillars. If I sprayed BT a few times through the flush it would make a big difference

[brian]

Here are my trees that are in the ground. 

That top one looks fantastic, I hope you get them to fruiting.

[roblack]

Here are my trees that are in the ground. 

This one has been in the ground for two years. It was bigger when I planted it. It got sun burned and under-watered and suffered while I learned. Hopefully I will be able to manage it better this spring.


This one I planted this year. It is grafted.

Your mangostana makes me simultaneously jelly and hopeful. Mine is hanging in there, but not looking happy. Did not like the drought and enduring dry conditions.

[TropicalFruitHunters]

Your mangosteens look real good Brandon...especially the big seedling.  Have you noticed any differences in growth between the two?

[cbss_daviefl]

The grafted tree hasn't been in the ground long but the two seem to grow(struggle) at the same pace. The big seedling is still pouting from the abuse. There are extra seedlings at the base of the grafted tree, planted at the same time as the rootstock but never grew. Planting them in the ground seems to have awoken them. The seedling to the left pushed three times while the grafted tree has pushed once. If these are kept in the sweet zone, they can grow faster but I haven't figured out the right protocol.  That base seedling would overtake the grafted tree in another year if it continues at this pace. I will approach graft it to the main tree when it gets a bit bigger.  I think seedlings will out pace grafted. I think most grafted garcinia have impaired vascular systems, even when rootstock species match the budwood species.  But I would rather have a 5 ft fruiting grafted mangosteen than a 9ft non-fruiting seedling. Hopefully, in a few years, I will have both.

[cbss_daviefl]

I checked the grafted tree this morning and their is another push, rapid fire! The previous isn't fully hardened. Now, I need 6 weeks with no artic blast.     Why don't these come during the rainy season?

[TropicalFruitHunters]

When you say you will approach graft it to the main tree, do you mean so that the result will be multiple rootstock for the main tree?

[cbss_daviefl]

Yes, that was my original intent when I seeded each pot with 3 seeds. I read a report of someone that used multiple rootstock with mangosteen and it increased growth rates. However,  in the 15 sets of 3 I did, only one seedling per pot grew at a normal rate, the other two barely grew. Now that they are in the ground,  the dormant seedlings are actively growing. 

There is an old study that states that approach grafting g. tinctoria (xanthochymus) to mangosteen and keeping both rootstock increases the growth rate. They are not really graft compatible and the study states that the xanthochymus rootstock does not continue to grow. I have not tried this myself.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&rct=j&url=https://journals.flvc.org/fshs/article/download/100453/96408/0%23:~:text%3DFor%2520a%2520long%2520time%252C%2520horticulturists,different%2520growth%2520rates%2520of%2520stock&ved=2ahUKEwiqyJG6xLCRAxU_RjABHS52FgsQmL8OegQIBhAG&opi=89978449&cd&psig=AOvVaw29HcbHkqaANeXF9-ec4T4L&ust=1765370693928000