New Mango Tree in Ground. Tipping Questions

[Carbo]

I purchased this Honey Kiss from Truly Tropical in July.  Planted in ground and immediately tipped the primary branch.  To my surprise that cut produced only 1 new shoot.  See Pic 1.  I was expecting 3 or 4.  Did I not trim enough off that branch?
Pic 2 shows lateral branch.  Should that be removed?  It's low to the ground.
Pic 3 is a view of the trunk.  Is that fungus already taking hold?
Pic 4 is an overview of the young tree.  It's about three feet tall presently and has grown a few inches since planting.  It has received two light feedings of 8-3-9 since planting.  Oh, and the ants are having a party at the base and running up and down the tree.
So. . .where and when should this future beauty be tipped and trimmed?
Advice welcome.  Thank you!

[weiss613]

First I must say you are right on top of this situation. Congrats for your concern. When you tip sometimes you get 1 extension and sometimes you get a lot more and it’s that simple. Just keep tipping and staying on too of it like you are doing and you will get a nice full tree. I have a lot of mango trees and when I pass young ones with new shoots and I don’t have a s scissor or pruner with me I just use my fingernail on young tips. If say there are 30 tips that need tipping and say they are from 4-5” to 10” I’ll tip them all because I don’t want to come back to tip that tree again till the next bunch of branches firm. Yes even if they are only 4 inches long. What’s my thinking? Well I don’t let my trees produce till they have been in the ground for 3 full years and it doesn’t matter those 3 years how long the branches are when you tip them but you do want the fullest tree not the tallest tree. This year one of my experiments is that any tree I am letting fruit in 2022 I did not tip or prune. I want to see if this increases my yield and you how much.
Sometimes I will go back to where a single shoot emerged and cut it off below where it emerged but rarely will I do that because with a healthy tree one can just tip it when it’s 1-2-3 or 4 inches long. But I think if it’s tipped further back where the beach is wider with more girth there might be a better chance it will push out more branches because that branch is bigger and has the size to hold more shoots.

[fruitnut1944]

You didn't get more shoots when you tipped because the tree didn't have enough vigor to push more. It wasn't well enough established ie didn't have enough active roots or growing conditions didn't warrant more vigor ie it was too dry. So getting one shoot to replace the one you already had tells you it wasn't ready to be tipped for purposes of increased branching. Next yr if you tip/cut it back to the same position and growing conditions are good you'd probably get several shoots.

[Carbo]

You didn't get more shoots when you tipped because the tree didn't have enough vigor to push more. It wasn't well enough established ie didn't have enough active roots or growing conditions didn't warrant more vigor ie it was too dry. So getting one shoot to replace the one you already had tells you it wasn't ready to be tipped for purposes of increased branching. Next yr if you tip/cut it back to the same position and growing conditions are good you'd probably get several shoots.

Interesting.  I hadn't thought of that.  So it's best to wait for Spring, March or so in my part of the planet, and then reassess the tree and growth.  What about that lateral branch?  I'm thinking that needs to be removed.

[roblack]

I would not cut anything else until it starts to show good growth. It needs leaves to produce energy. Feed it and water it.

[Carbo]

I would not cut anything else until it starts to show good growth. It needs leaves to produce energy. Feed it and water it.

I agree.  Other than watering it frequently during our dry season, I'm going to let it be until Spring.

[pineislander]

Carbo, in your first picture there was only one leaf axil (where a leaf comes off the stem) available below where you tipped so that is why you only got one new shoot. Next time when you tip, leave 2, 3 or 4 leaves below and usually several of them will bud at the leaf axil.

I walked out and took some shots:
1. Carrie which was a fairly large stem (1/2") made 4 shoots from leaf axils after tipping:


2. Mahachanok was a smaller stem (~1/4") but also made 3 shoots:


These varieties are what I would call "well behaved", they usually branch nicely when tipped . Other varieties may be more or less cooperative, and there's probably also some difference when weather or growing conditions aren't just right.