NDM fruiting in November?!

[StPeteMango]

Hi, folks. I was on this forum nearly 2 years ago, asking for advice about mango trees. I listened to what folks suggested and planted one each of Mallika, Nam Doc Mai #4, Cogshall, Neelam, Pickering and Graham in Feb./March of 2013. The Graham was a 5-gal (pot), the others were 3-gallons. All bore a fruit or two in summer of 2013; the plucky Pickering produced 4 this year, the Graham 2 (with 2 others spoiled by critters), the Cogshall just one; the NDM dropped all its fruits while they were still quite small, and Neelam and Mallika failed to get past the flowering stage.
The strange thing is, the NDM is carrying 10 fruits now; three are decent sized, the others are still quite small. Are they likely to grow slowly and become early-season mangoes around April, or is this some oddball event taking place? None of the others have even flowered so far, some are still pushing out new leaves.
I follow the Fairchild method; no fertilizers other than potassium 3 times a year and a citrus micro-nutrients foliar spray couple of times a year.
I have several days off from work, and my project is to re-apply the mulch. Got 12 cubic yards from the city, and it will take a few days to get done.
Trying to post a url to a photo (success!!).
Any advice/ideas on the fruiting NDM would be welcome.

[bangkok]

Ndm-gold can fruit offseason and then will get the highest price on the markets here.

My ndm-green makes flowers whenever it wants. Not many but just a single branch now and then.

They look good, i would cherish them but i don't know how cold your winter is. When you have flowers and just break them off it will make new flowers. This way you can extend the season as well.

[TnTrobbie]

St Pete, you should be telling us your secret for having NDMs in February/March. NDM#4 is tricky becasue of it's notorious fruit splitting issue due to inconsistent watering (natural or intentional), poor usable Ca2+ content in soil, or both. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I'd just apply the mulch as planned, avoid manual watering, and hope for the best. You mentioned you had a critter problem in the past. Mabye large grocery clam-shell plastic packaging (that strawberries come in) would protect those NDMs as they develop. Hope those NDMs mature for you.

[cmichael258]

My NDM produced 2 small fruit but both fell off the first cold snap. now it is
showing a lot of new growth. Strange.

[bangkok]

St Pete, you should be telling us your secret for having NDMs in February/March. NDM#4 is tricky becasue of it's notorious fruit splitting issue due to inconsistent watering (natural or intentional), poor usable Ca2+ content in soil, or both. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I'd just apply the mulch as planned, avoid manual watering, and hope for the best. You mentioned you had a critter problem in the past. Mabye large grocery clam-shell plastic packaging (that strawberries come in) would protect those NDMs as they develop. Hope those NDMs mature for you.

I think his secret is the potassium.

My ndm-green totally blooms about 1-2 months before the tree's from my family who live 200 km away from Bangkok. I use much mulch and also natural fertilizers which they don't. My tree's get all the best and water daily (not much though) but i still have split mango's after some rain.

[ClayMango]

Picked my last 2 off the tree today...one weighed in at a 1lb and a quarter ounce...the other at 13 oz.... I didnt let them completely yellow up on the tree so the flush on the same branch can push a bit before the frost.

I also have about 5 panicles forming...ill probably cut them once fruit sets in hope for a later season.

[bangkok]

Clay my wife is our mangopicker and she would say this one is picked too early. If you wait longer the point will get more round and they will be  sweeter. They look great though. Try it with one the next time.

[ClayMango]

Clay my wife is our mangopicker and she would say this one is picked too early. If you wait longer the point will get more round and they will be  sweeter. They look great though. Try it with one the next time.

Will do Bangkok...I wanted to leave it so bad...but its getting into the low 40's F now and I want the flush to finish pushing. Man I couldn't even imagine this thing getting any sweeter than the first one I picked...Such a great Mango...hopefully these will be better than the first one picked.

[ClayMango]

Clay my wife is our mangopicker and she would say this one is picked too early. If you wait longer the point will get more round and they will be  sweeter. They look great though. Try it with one the next time.

Bangkok are these the Gold NDM you speak of?

[bangkok]

Clay my wife is our mangopicker and she would say this one is picked too early. If you wait longer the point will get more round and they will be  sweeter. They look great though. Try it with one the next time.

Bangkok are these the Gold NDM you speak of?

That is for ndm-green and gold. And if you want them very sweet you can add potassium 0-0-60 or any other form of potassium.

[Samu]

StPete, it's encouraging to see that after only 1 or 2 Summers your mango plants already start to bear fuits!
How tall was your NDM when you planted? I am curious of how long I need to wait on mine, since
it is only 22 inches tall from the bottom of the pot.
Congratulations! Great looking NDM you have in the palm of your hand!

[MangoFang]

Clay - your mangoes look great!  Beautiful actually....

Gary

[socal10b]

Nice NDM clay, is that a 7g you got from toptropicals? looks like a monster.

Clay or Fang, do you guys experiencing any splitting on NDM? thanks.

[MangoFang]

SoCal - my NDM is on my multi-grafted tree, and I've only had 1 mango from it (last year)
and no it didn't split....but the Floridians I've heard have issues with NDM splitting....

Gary

[ClayMango]

Thanks Gary

Socal10b

Yeah thats the 7g i bought this year, it's easily a 12g or 15g now....it put on a tremendous growth for Cali standards, did some crazy flowering and flushing twice his year...now I have a whole new set of panicles forming for next years early season...I'm going to remove all fruit though in hopes for a late season again... I hear NDM can give more than one season?

[bangkok]

Thanks Gary

Socal10b

Yeah thats the 7g i bought this year, it's easily a 12g or 15g now....it put on a tremendous growth for Cali standards, did some crazy flowering and flushing twice his year...now I have a whole new set of panicles forming for next years early season...I'm going to remove all fruit though in hopes for a late season again... I hear NDM can give more than one season?

You don't have to remove the fruit for the new flowers. Or it must be for your climate then it's up to you. Here they have fruit and still make new blooms or flushings.

[StPeteMango]

Clay - your mangoes look great!  Beautiful actually....

Gary

Samu and Bangkok,
All the mango trees I have are healthy. No credit to me; I mulch heavily, and the potassium is probably doing the trick as far as the fruiting goes. We had a strong rainstorm last week, and I was afraid the wind would knock the mangoes off the NDM, but it didn't.
The Graham is the tallest of my lot, at under 8 feet; the Mallika and Cogshall are about 6 feet each. The NDM and Neelam are less than 5 feet, and the Pickering is a runt, barely mid-thigh.
I'm attaching a picture that shows the Mallika in the forefront and the NDM in the background. Bangkok, the NDM was in a 3-gallon pot (between knee and mid-thigh height) when I got it from the Wagonwheel Saturday market in Pinellas Park in Feb. 2013. It had several mangoes on it already, but only a couple survived that year.
My hope is that the mango trees have settled in and will start producing well. I enjoy my work, but it can get hectic with tight deadlines and a fast pace. I find peace in gardening. The body goes the work, the mind is free to chill and wander. My wife likes the look of the yard; I like that too, but it's mostly the mangoes that get me going. Have an Emperor lychee as well; it had 2 lychees last year, but some critters got them.
 

[StPeteMango]

Bangkok,

I don't water the mango trees at all. Some of the hibiscus, ginger and Hawaiian Ti plants are in strategic places to protect the mango trees from spray from the lawn sprinklers.
I watered the mango trees for the first three months after planting them; every other day for the first 3 weeks, twice a week for the next 3 weeks and once a week for the next 6 weeks. Now they get water only from the rain - which, in Florida, can be a lot in the summer and well into the fall.
It gets to the low 40s here (about 5 or 6 Celsius). The USDA zone for my area is 10A. The county is a peninsula, and I'm the lower part where Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico are on either side. Helps keep the temperature moderate.
My understanding is that mango trees need a dry spell that causes some stress, and that induces flowering. When it rains these days, I worry that the tree will see it as an excuse for new growth rather than make fruits.   
Here's a photo with the Pickering in the foreground and the Neelam in the background. The ground looks a bit scruffy because the weeds/grass were/was pushing through; hence the re-mulching project.

[StPeteMango]

TnTrobbie,

Love your line: "The Earth laughs in flowers. And bear gifts through fruits."
So true. And working with the Earth is backyard meditation as far as I'm concerned.
Now that I have a handle on how to post pictures, here's the Cogshall. Hope to see some action from it next summer.

[Rob1977]

Very nice trees you have there! I had a NDM for the first time a couple weeks ago from the Asian Market. Went back and bought 3 cases the next day. The following week got 3 more cases. Plan on making another trip Monday!!!! They are delicious!!!!

Strong work and I really enjoy the pics, please keep them coming!!!!