Author Topic: Prune or Pug - Need Help Course Correcting A Lopsided Mango  (Read 310 times)

hipasfolk

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New to FL and tropical fruits and was given this Orange Sherbet by my mother. It seems it was left to it's own devices and has developed quite wonky. Not only is the trunk a tad twisty but it's completely lopsided. Before I go at it armed with only a pruning saw and youtube knowledge I thought I'd ask for advice here. Would it be enough to just take off that single larger branch to encourage it to even out or should it be pugged below where the trunk is still straight? It's going to be planted in ground at some point. Any advice welcome.








kapps

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Re: Prune or Pug - Need Help Course Correcting A Lopsided Mango
« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2023, 03:56:02 PM »
Mangoes are apical dominant so they like to send energy to the highest branch or the one that’s going straight up. That tree doesn’t actually look too bad but you probably want more branching down low if you plan on keeping the tree small/manageable. I’d probably chop the big branch off in your 3rd picture above the node so it sends energy to the other 3. Then once they flush, come back and tip them to 12” or so to force them to keep branching. Keep doing this after every growth flush until sept/Oct and then stop and let everything harden off for the winter. The goal is to have as many tips a possible when it comes time to bloom at the end of winter.

JR561

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Re: Prune or Pug - Need Help Course Correcting A Lopsided Mango
« Reply #2 on: June 03, 2023, 05:46:35 PM »
Im not going past late June early July for tipping.

Ive seen a few people on here say dont prune heavy after July if you want flowers.

Might be later for you guys up north.

hipasfolk

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Re: Prune or Pug - Need Help Course Correcting A Lopsided Mango
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2023, 07:40:23 PM »
Thank you both, having it produce mangos next year would be ideal of course, but my main concern is overall wellbeing of the tree. I'd hate to have the one-sidedness cause problems later on. As for tree size I've currently allotted 15ft spacing in my yard for each tree, hopefully keeping it reasonable without holding it back.

EddieF

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Re: Prune or Pug - Need Help Course Correcting A Lopsided Mango
« Reply #4 on: June 03, 2023, 08:04:20 PM »
Hipas, get that support stick off asap.  Don't need it & looks to be cause of bend.

edit- my 2 cents
« Last Edit: June 03, 2023, 08:07:05 PM by EddieF »