The Tropical Fruit Forum

My mango Trees are Blooming and are recovering from an unusually cold February. At my location in SoCal, we received about 325 hours of chill.  My low chill stone fruit trees are blooming very good.

The first photo is my Dot Mango Tree on Turpentine blooming. The Nam Doc Mai #4 and Sweet tart Mango Trees are on Manila Root-Stock are in the early state of blooming.

Johnny

Don't feel bad about buying mango trees on Turpentine root stock. I did the same thing in the beginning, when I was inexperienced, and later Sold them on Craigslist. For now just buy some manila mango trees at your local nursery. You can graft them later and if you don't know how to graft start practicing with apples as they are the easiest.

Johnny

Just sent a PM.

Would like the Orange Essence and Cac.

Thanks

Johnny

No is is Not Big enough.

Over the next 2-3 years, your plant will become root bound and the dead and decaying roots will cause a slow decline over time.

Short term you're Ok, the good news. Long term it's bad news. Ever seen citrus in a container after 5-6 years, not a pretty site.

I grafted a CC Scion onto a Manila seedling tree in the summer of 2016.  Has grown quite well since then.

Hopefully in 2019 it will almost double in size again. We shall see.

If any body has Rich 16-16 Trifoliate Root Stock Seed please let me know. I am interested in purchasing some if possible.

Thank You

John

Best mango Variety? 

I will only respond to growth and in that regard, Coconut Cream is Number 1 at my location. My Grafted two-year-old tree is doing very well. (see Photo)

In two years it has outgrown other mango cultivars here in Calif. I do not know why but in our mild climate CC does well indeed.

My Lemon Zest appears to be #2 in terms of growth but I need more time to make that determination.

Sweet Tart is #3 in terms of growth at my So Cal location.

More information is needed to draw any long-term conclusions but there are many new exciting varieties now becoming available thanks to zill.

Johnny

Thus far I have grafted Lemon Zest onto two seedling tree, one manila and one Kent.  Both are doing well and are quite vigorous. I will likely have to spray the LZ with Sulfer or Copper at least several times a year to prevent powdery mildew but in my view, it is worth it for the quality of the fruit.

In 2018 my most vigorous grower was my Coconut Cream grafted on manila root-stock. Now in late October, it is starting its 3rd flush. (See attached photo)

My sweet Tart Mango tree, also on manila root-stock, grew well in 2018 but only put out one major growth flush in July so far. Perhaps it will do another in November as sometimes happens as it did in 2017 but every growing season is different.  (See 2nd Photo)

My Nam doc Mai on Manila has also done well this year. Unlike Sweet Tart is has a number of smaller flushes throughout the year on a continuous basis but the flushes only affect a limited number of branches.  Right now just like the CC some limbs are flushing but more so on the CC. (See 3rd photo)

Because I focus on the growth of my young mango trees I remove all fruit in late spring or early summer and will do so again in 2019. In 2020 I will let all of my mature trees go into maximum production. 

As a side note, the CC and Sweet tart were grafted in the summer of 2016 and the Nam Doc Mai was grafted in 2015. All of the trees were planted in the ground in 2016.

Johnny

With older well-established citrus trees you can go either way. Removing infected growth in late summer or early fall will have little effect on next years growth based on my experience as the majority of foliage is already unaffected and providing photosynthesis to the established Citrus tree.

Either way, it is a matter of preference and appearance. In the following spring, new growth will be in abundance. The 2nd flush in May will be affected by leafminer so spraying at that time may be beneficial if you care about appearance.

Johnny

Your fruit Look very nice NewGen but if you want tree growth I would suggest you remove all fruit for several years and let the tree develope foliage and a larger structure. Fruit Production on young Trees takes a lot of energy away from plant growth. Our growth rate hear in California is already slow enough and fruit production adds to the slowness.

Here is a photo of my coconut cream mango tree that was grafted to a manila seedling tree in the summer of 2016.  My manila, at the time of grafting,  was probably about the size of your tree now with fruit on it but I did not let it set young and instead focused on growth. I will not let it fruit in 2019 either as my goal when the tree is young is maximum enlargement. Fruit quality will also be higher with a more mature tree.

Johnny

All of the scions I grafted with no active buds failed.

I am sure there are others with much more experience and better grafting technique that have had success but it is much more difficult without buds.

Johnny

Tried David Bowie DF for two years and it preformed very poorly at my location and therefor I removed it. If you want a better white variety try White Sapphire as it is growing well with no major issues.  Looking forward to trying the fruit later this year.

The best and fastest growing Red Dragon fruit plant I have is Dark Star. It is out growing all of my other red's by a noticeable margin. S8 (sugar dragon) is also a winner with excellent growth and production.

Johnny