Author Topic: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?  (Read 7754 times)

natsgarden123

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Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« on: April 10, 2012, 09:31:53 AM »
My Valencia Pride was growing upwards with  almost no lateral growth at all. Also, there have been no growth flushes at all  since the summer.  I always let my trees just grow out naturally  until recently-when I started reading the forums and when I started watching the Fairchild videos.  Last week, I  tipped the tree all over- cut off about 12+ inches off each limb.  Guess on the forums it would be called "pugging" since it was so severe-although I'm not sure what the difference is..The tree looked pretty sparse.   Only one week later, there is a large amount of growth and budding-everywhere.   Did the tipping actually hasten the  rate of growth?  Ill  post pics later. I'm really interested- thanks :-\

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2012, 11:42:23 AM »
Tipping increases leaf surface area and 'calms' the tree down. So, no, in the long run has the opposite effect. You did cut it back a ways, and it is spring, so the natural reaction will be for it to sprout. But it would have sprouted anyway. In the future you may want to simply tip the top 1/2 inch. Also, you will want to do it for every new growth spurt.

But, this does raise an interesting topic -- simply chopping back a tree doesn't necessarily keep it small nor is it conducive to fruiting. After you severely prune a big mango tree, its natural reaction will be to grow like a race horse. You need to 'calm' the tree down by increasing leaf surface area and selectively removing larger limbs (storehouses of energy). But, there is a fine line where if you remove too much, the tree will react by growing very aggressively and not fruiting for a season or two. You can mitigate this somewhat by tipping every new growth spurt.
Jeff  :-)

natsgarden123

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #2 on: April 10, 2012, 11:52:17 AM »
Thanks jeff  :)
The limbs I trimmed back were about 20" long and straggly-It awfully nice to see the huge amount of growth in a tree which wasn't doing anything...hopefully it will fruit next year however ( the tree was from a 7 gallon container)

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #3 on: April 10, 2012, 12:57:45 PM »
Since you are dealing with a VP, keep in mind it is one of the most vigorous growers as far as mangoes go.
- Rob

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #4 on: April 10, 2012, 12:59:22 PM »
A good way to encourage fast fruit set / precocity is to tip each new growth spurt. Once the growth hardens off, snip off the top 1/2 inch. Do this for each growth flush during the summer (about once a month).

Thanks jeff  :)
The limbs I trimmed back were about 20" long and straggly-It awfully nice to see the huge amount of growth in a tree which wasn't doing anything...hopefully it will fruit next year however ( the tree was from a 7 gallon container)
Jeff  :-)

natsgarden123

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2012, 02:20:16 PM »
A good way to encourage fast fruit set / precocity is to tip each new growth spurt. Once the growth hardens off, snip off the top 1/2 inch. Do this for each growth flush during the summer (about once a month).

Thanks jeff  :)
The limbs I trimmed back were about 20" long and straggly-It awfully nice to see the huge amount of growth in a tree which wasn't doing anything...hopefully it will fruit next year however ( the tree was from a 7 gallon container)



Its really hard to tip off the new growth-painful actually...I wait all winter to see the new leaves.Valencia Pride is one of my favorite mangoes-  If possible I want to keep the tree manageable, if possible- my sister's is huge. 
Has anyone seen this tree kept small?

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2012, 02:34:42 PM »
A good way to encourage fast fruit set / precocity is to tip each new growth spurt. Once the growth hardens off, snip off the top 1/2 inch. Do this for each growth flush during the summer (about once a month).


Jeff,

Does it matter if you tip before the new growth hardens or matures? 

I have the tendency to manually pinch off and tip the new growth before it fully grows out and hardens up.  Is that an accepted practice?

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2012, 02:53:11 PM »
A good way to encourage fast fruit set / precocity is to tip each new growth spurt. Once the growth hardens off, snip off the top 1/2 inch. Do this for each growth flush during the summer (about once a month).

Thanks jeff  :)
The limbs I trimmed back were about 20" long and straggly-It awfully nice to see the huge amount of growth in a tree which wasn't doing anything...hopefully it will fruit next year however ( the tree was from a 7 gallon container)



Its really hard to tip off the new growth-painful actually...I wait all winter to see the new leaves.Valencia Pride is one of my favorite mangoes-  If possible I want to keep the tree manageable, if possible- my sister's is huge. 
Has anyone seen this tree kept small?
Well, they are small in a 3 gallon, otherwise...NOPE  :D
- Rob

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2012, 03:15:33 PM »
In my experience it doesn't matter. I do the same thing actually :-).

A good way to encourage fast fruit set / precocity is to tip each new growth spurt. Once the growth hardens off, snip off the top 1/2 inch. Do this for each growth flush during the summer (about once a month).


Jeff,

Does it matter if you tip before the new growth hardens or matures? 

I have the tendency to manually pinch off and tip the new growth before it fully grows out and hardens up.  Is that an accepted practice?
Jeff  :-)

natsgarden123

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #9 on: April 10, 2012, 03:27:10 PM »
A good way to encourage fast fruit set / precocity is to tip each new growth spurt. Once the growth hardens off, snip off the top 1/2 inch. Do this for each growth flush during the summer (about once a month).

Thanks jeff  :)
The limbs I trimmed back were about 20" long and straggly-It awfully nice to see the huge amount of growth in a tree which wasn't doing anything...hopefully it will fruit next year however ( the tree was from a 7 gallon container)



Its really hard to tip off the new growth-painful actually...I wait all winter to see the new leaves.Valencia Pride is one of my favorite mangoes-  If possible I want to keep the tree manageable, if possible- my sister's is huge. 
Has anyone seen this tree kept small?
Well, they are small in a 3 gallon, otherwise...NOPE  :D

small  in a 3 gallon... ??? duh
I didnt think so either- the mangoes are so good-larger tree just means more for me

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #10 on: April 10, 2012, 04:19:46 PM »
The real lesson starts at 3:50 .....he gets into tipping a three year old tree. He moves very quickly
Mango Pruning-- Tipping

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #11 on: April 10, 2012, 05:26:35 PM »
Tipping increases leaf surface area and 'calms' the tree down. So, no, in the long run has the opposite effect. You did cut it back a ways, and it is spring, so the natural reaction will be for it to sprout. But it would have sprouted anyway. In the future you may want to simply tip the top 1/2 inch. Also, you will want to do it for every new growth spurt.

But, this does raise an interesting topic -- simply chopping back a tree doesn't necessarily keep it small nor is it conducive to fruiting. After you severely prune a big mango tree, its natural reaction will be to grow like a race horse. You need to 'calm' the tree down by increasing leaf surface area and selectively removing larger limbs (storehouses of energy). But, there is a fine line where if you remove too much, the tree will react by growing very aggressively and not fruiting for a season or two. You can mitigate this somewhat by tipping every new growth spurt.
hi, :D
he is right, it would have simply tip the top 1/2 inches, so that it becomes round.
you cut 2 years.

natsgarden123

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #12 on: April 13, 2012, 05:46:03 PM »
I wanted to post some pics- This particular tree was over-fertilized, and sprayed with Roundup, and then pulled completely out of the ground and moved.  It was looking pretty bad.  All of the new growth sprouted within days...

\






bsbullie

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #13 on: April 13, 2012, 10:08:45 PM »
I wanted to post some pics- This particular tree was over-fertilized, and sprayed with Roundup, and then pulled completely out of the ground and moved.  It was looking pretty bad.  All of the new growth sprouted within days...

\





Nat - in the second picture, what are the three trees that appear to be planted close together in front of the pine tree ?
- Rob

natsgarden123

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #14 on: April 13, 2012, 11:10:15 PM »
I wanted to post some pics- This particular tree was over-fertilized, and sprayed with Roundup, and then pulled completely out of the ground and moved.  It was looking pretty bad.  All of the new growth sprouted within days...

\





Nat - in the second picture, what are the three trees that appear to be planted close together in front of the pine tree ?


There are 3 mango trees: Carrie, Pickering, Fairchild.  My husband worked for a landscaping company for a number of years and he decided that the fruit trees should be in groups. 

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #15 on: April 13, 2012, 11:37:25 PM »
I wanted to post some pics- This particular tree was over-fertilized, and sprayed with Roundup, and then pulled completely out of the ground and moved.  It was looking pretty bad.  All of the new growth sprouted within days...

\





Nat - in the second picture, what are the three trees that appear to be planted close together in front of the pine tree ?


There are 3 mango trees: Carrie, Pickering, Fairchild.  My husband worked for a landscaping company for a number of years and he decided that the fruit trees should be in groups.
Its palms that should be in groups, or odd numbers, like that...from the picture it appears that those three mangoes are planted a little to close to each other.
- Rob

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #16 on: April 13, 2012, 11:40:24 PM »
Yah, I agree with bsbullie. The trees are going to eventually shade each other out which translates to less fruit and more disease.

Its palms that should be in groups, or odd numbers, like that...from the picture it appears that those three mangoes are planted a little to close to each other.
Jeff  :-)

natsgarden123

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Re: Does Tipping increase the rate of mango growth?
« Reply #17 on: April 14, 2012, 08:13:47 PM »
Yah, I agree with bsbullie. The trees are going to eventually shade each other out which translates to less fruit and more disease.

Its palms that should be in groups, or odd numbers, like that...from the picture it appears that those three mangoes are planted a little to close to each other.

The trees are about 8ft away from each other. I knew it was too close but Its hard to argue with the boss ..the trees will probably grow into each other ...Ill have to do some creative pruning.