Fun with Mango Grafting

[PixelTreat]

As I have no more room to plant new trees but a desire for new varieties, I decided to try my hand at grafting. I ordered Cotton Candy, Fruit Punch, Pina Colada, Sugarloaf budwood from Tropical Acres Farms. They were quick to respond and mailed out immediately. I've never attempted this before so I watched hours of youtube on the subject. I would have preferred to use Buddy Tape but used Parafilm grafting tape as I had an unused roll that I had bought years ago. I had 12 scions and spread them out between two trees, an established heavily producing Glenn and a 5 year old Sweet Tart that hasn't given any fruit yet. I decided to do a variety of different types of grafting styles to see what works. Though it did seem the key was simply to have good cambium contact. So... now I wait. I'll check in on them in 5 weeks or so.

[Johnny Eat Fruit]

If your grafting outdoors in SoCal in April your chance of success is fairly low based on past experience.  I start having success outdoors in May and peaking in July-August at my location. Hope you have better luck than me. Heat, or the lack thereof, is the biggest factor affecting the success of grafting sub-tropical fruit trees. Hope for a huge heat wave lasting 14-21 days in duration. 

That being said I also ordered (15) scions from Alex recently including some you ordered recently and grafted them on April 14th, 2021. But the big difference is I have Ataulfo Seedings trees that are in my small greenhouse. The daytime temperature in my greenhouse is 90 degrees when the outside temperature is 64.  In 2020 I had a 55-60% success rate with mango grafts in the greenhouse vs less than 10% outdoors. Just my experience. We are definitely not in Florida.

Give your sweet-tart mango tree more time. Remember one growing season in Florida is equivalent to 2-2.5 years in California because of the lack of heat especially in the Spring. June gloom and the coastal eddies have a major impact on our heat index keeping templatures much cooler relative to the East coast. Pacific Ocean temperatures are very cool this time of year, which has a major influence on our weather.

Johnny

[PixelTreat]

Good to know, and thanks for sharing, it'll temper my expectations... I'm considering this a test run and I'm glad to have gone through the experience. If the scions fail to take I'll try again in the hotter months.

As for the Sweet Tart, I'm not trying to convert it, I'm just trying to add a bit of variety while also waiting for it to mature. I have a citrus fruit salad tree with lemons, navel oranges and mandarins. It's more than enough citrus for a single household. I'd like to have that with my mango trees.

What grafting technique have you found works best for you? I mostly did side grafts with a couple veneer grafts.

[John B]

That looks like a solid lineup. Hopefully at least one of each variety takes for you. I checked out TAF and a couple others for scions of sweet tart but everywhere seems to be out. If you happen to re-graft on that ST, consider preparing the branches you will graft as viable scions to sell. I would buy some from you!

Also, grab some aluminum tags like this picture from Amazon or somewhere to mark those scions. That tape will fall off shortly.

[Lovetoplant]

Johny Eat Fruit: how tall and how old are your Altoufo mangoes seedlings rootstocks you plan to use on grafting if you do not mind I am asking?

I am planning to do my first attempt to graft the mango later this year.  They grew from seeds last summer.   They might reach 2' tall by the summer  Do you think 90-100 deg inside greenhouse during the day will be too hot to leave the grafted plants in?
Thank you

[Johnny Eat Fruit]

My Ataulfo rootstocks I used for the most part are still fairly small. I started them from seed in the spring of 2020. I have enclosed some photos of some of the grafts I did on April 14-15. The trees went right into the greenhouse after grafting and so far all is well. Hoping for a 60% success rate in the greenhouse. Mango Trees do best with 80-90 temperatures. 95 is fine but when you hit 100 just make sure they get plenty of water. Mango plants can take the heat in the low 100's but vegetative growth stops after hitting about 95.

I am cautiously optimistic about fruit production on my Sweet Tart mango Tree. I can see many small fruits forming now after the flowers are exhausted. Hopefully, some will hold to maturity. (See attached photo).

Johnny

Pineapple Pleasure Grafts to Ataulfo



Zill 40-26 Graft


Cotton Candy Graft


Pina Colada Graft


Sweet Tart Mango on Manila rootstock 4-22-21

[Orkine]

Pixel, welcome to your new obsession.

If you are successful with even one single graft, this will be like a mild addiction and you will keep grafting, if you are like most of us.
It is fun to be able to clone a plant, and make a cocktail tree, or change a tree and keep your existing well developed root system, or add a variety and have it fruit earlier than planting from seed, or just show yourself you can do it

From someone already bitten by the bug to someone playing with the bug, eyes open my friend, those bugs bite and they bite hard.

[PixelTreat]

@John B. Great call on the tags. I just ordered them

@Orkine I don’t even have one success and I’m already eyeing my Lamb Hass Avocado tree thinking of the possibilities. Sir Prize? Queen? Sharwil?

[Lovetoplant]

My Ataulfo rootstocks I used for the most part are still fairly small. I started them from seed in the spring of 2020. I have enclosed some photos of some of the grafts I did on April 14-15. The trees went right into the greenhouse after grafting and so far all is well. Hoping for a 60% success rate in the greenhouse. Mango Trees do best with 80-90 temperatures. 95 is fine but when you hit 100 just make sure they get plenty of water. Mango plants can take the heat in the low 100's but vegetative growth stops after hitting about 95.

I am cautiously optimistic about fruit production on my Sweet Tart mango Tree. I can see many small fruits forming now after the flowers are exhausted. Hopefully, some will hold to maturity. (See attached photo).

Johnny

Pineapple Pleasure Grafts to Ataulfo



Zill 40-26 Graft


Cotton Candy Graft


Pina Colada Graft


Sweet Tart Mango on Manila rootstock 4-22-21

Thanks for sharing the pictures.Nice mango trees you have growing.

I noticed all your Altoufo rootstocks' lower trunks have brown barks compare to mine.
I started my seedlings in July 2020 ( 3 mos behind you), but none of them have brown woody trunks.  Maybe they are too immature? 

Here are my seedlings

[sapote]

I started my seedlings in July 2020 ( 3 mos behind you), but none of them have brown woody trunks.  Maybe they are too immature? 

I suggest not to graft on seedling rootstock until it bears fruit at least one season, so it's about 3 to 4 yrs old in SoCal. A grafted young seedling will take forever to grow because it sends out flowers too young.

[sapote]

As I have no more room to plant new trees but a desire for new varieties, I decided to try my hand at grafting.

Pixel,
It seems your trees had heavy powdery mildew resulted no fruits? Some plants have white powders on them -- fungicide?
Try next year to pick off all flower shoots appear before March, and the new flowers in late March and in April will have less PM issue and warm weather also help in fruits set.

[Lovetoplant]

SAPOTE,  2 ft tall seedlings should be the right height to graft shouldn't they?

[PixelTreat]

I do spray throughout Feb and March for powdery Mildew. I've pruned off the flowers early on really bad years on mildew but usually I do get get two waves of flowering and fruit on the Glenn. Below is an example of the fruit I'm getting from the first wave so far.




Pixel,
It seems your trees had heavy powdery mildew resulted no fruits? Some plants have white powders on them -- fungicide?
Try next year to pick off all flower shoots appear before March, and the new flowers in late March and in April will have less PM issue and warm weather also help in fruits set.
[/quote]