The Tropical Fruit Forum

Three years ago, a mango grove owner called me to look at his grove, much of which was producing poorly.  He was especially disappointed in a block of several rows of Orange Sherbit, in the ground several years, each tree over 15-feet tall and wide, and healthy looking.  Most OS had produced nothing, and the remaining OS, almost nothing.

When they mentioned that they had been spraying insecticide to kill Sri Lanka Weevils, I recommended that they stop.  Two reasons:  the weevils were causing only minor cosmetic damage, and the insecticide was killing off pollinators (especially flies).

I also recommended fertilizers and nutritional and fungicidal sprays to use.

In 2020, production reportedly (I didn't visit in season) increased on the other varieties, but not a bit on Orange Sherbet.  Same this year.

In 2015 I was hired for just that Summer, to pick the experimental mango grove of Zill High Performance Plants.  I picked the original Orange Sherbet tree, and also a very large Orange Sherbet produced by top-work grafting on an old tree.  Both were highly productive.  They were surrounded by hundreds of other mango varieties.

I have heard reports of other individual, productive Orange Sherbet trees, surrounded by other varieties.  At the grove with a problem, there ARE other varieties in the same field, but....

At this year's "Mango Summit", Dr. Alan Chambers, of the Tropical Research and Extension Center (TREC) in Homestead, reported on genetic research done on the 200 plus varieties of mango at that research station.  When he studied the genetics of many seeds from those trees, he found that many varieties had produced large numbers of selfs, while others had produced almost no selfs, instead favoring outcrosses.  Some of these, that favored pollen other than their own, were also picky about which other variety of pollen that was accepted.

Har Mahdeem, "Guanabanus" on this forum, of Har's Services, will deliver 5 bags (50-lb. bags) or more, of  Palm Beach Chapter of the Rare Fruit Council's "Fruitilizer Special" 0-3-16, which Har formulated, anywhere in eastern or central Palm Beach County, or northern or central Broward County.   Smaller numbers of bags will only be delivered in conjunction with services, or neighborhood co-ordering.

Note that this is a "zero Nitrogen" / "NO Nitrogen" fertilizer, for use any time of year, including in winter, on any fruit tree that is not showing a need for Nitrogen:  especially MANGOS, Lychees, and Longans, that have been planted in the ground for at least 1 1/2 years and look adequately green.   This is to slow vegetative growth and increase flowering and fruiting, and also to improve fruit quality and sweetness--- Nitrogen applied to fruiting mangos makes the fruits watery and can cause internal breakdown.

Many other kinds of fruit trees, including Carambola and Canistel, especially after growing in the ground for several years, will require less constant pruning if they are switched from full-mix fertilizer to zero-Nitrogen fertilizer.

Large herbs, such as Bananas and Papayas, benefit from heavy amounts of a full mix fertilizer AND 0-3-16.

1-9 bags:  $40 per bag of 0-3-16 (50-lb. bags)

10-15 bags:  $38 per bag of 0-3-16 ---(load limit on small pickup)

If you have sandy soil, apply 1/4 bag of Calcium Sulfate along with each bag of 0-3-16 applied, to maintain balance of Potassium and Calcium.   Calcium is extremely important for plant health, fruiting, and fruit quality.   Internal breakdown and blossom-end rot are symptoms of inadequate amounts of Calcium (often made worse by too much Nitrogen or not-enough Boron).

per bag of Calcium Sulfate / mini-prill gypsum:  $20 (50-lb. bags)

For trees that show a need for Nitrogen, be sure to obtain another fertilizer, such as a full-mix fertilizer, showing a first number (NPK sequence) higher than 0 (usually 6 or higher).

cell phone:  561 523-6599

e-mail:        mahdeem@bellsouth.net

Gary Zill, owner of Zill High Performance Plants, and famous mango breeder, will be bringing buckets of many distinctly flavored mangos, to demonstrate his subject on the types of mango flavors and aromas.

7:30 PM this Friday, Mounts Botanical Garden, Mounts Building, Military Trail, West Palm Beach.  Rare Fruit Council Meeting.

A lengthy note about plant importation was just lost, while my picture and "Hello Guanabanus" in the top left-hand corner seemed to indicate that I was still logged in.

Saturday I worked on the worst case of mango malformation that I have been asked to remedy.  The 18-foot tree is affected in all its main branches--- so probably got the infection when it was about 7-8 feet tall in the nursery it came from.  Maybe even the graftwood it was produced from was already sick, but a counter-arguement to that is that the trunk is nice and straight.

I did sanitation pruning, removing two large bags of material, sanitizing clippers between each cut and daubing fresh cuts with a solution I prepared.

For more pictures and details, see my company page on my Facebook page: Har Mahdeem :  http://www.facebook.com/#!/HarsServices