Author Topic: How to Apply Potassium Nitrate to Mango Trees, inducing blooming.  (Read 1210 times)

zands

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Potassium Nitrate is supposed to only work on tropical grown mangoes to induce blooming. Philippines is where its use originated. Since winters are getting warm in SE Floridian maybe it will work here now.

How to apply Potassium nitrate
Reminiscent of tropical summer sunshine, ripe mangoes are a favorite fruit of many people. Like other fruit trees, mango trees (Mangifera indica) must blossom in order to bear fruit. For years, these trees were hard to cultivate since they naturally flower erratically, often skipping every other year. In the 1970s, Dr. Ramon Barba, a horticulturist from the Philippines, figured out how to force mango trees to flower by applying potassium nitrate to the tree's trunk and foliage. This system of chemical forcing is still in use today, including among backyard mango growers.
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/apply-potassium-nitrate-mango-trees-55904.html

Potassium nitrate at Amazon   (don't get the granular)
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Potassium+Nitrate&i=industrial&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/10/philippines-overflows-with-millions-of-mangoes-as-el-nino-take-effect
7 months old
Philippines overflows with millions of mangoes as El Niño takes effect
 This article is more than 7 months old
Agriculture department sets up stalls around Manila in bid to get rid of fruit before it rots

The Philippines government has launched cooking classes to inspire people with mango recipes. Photograph: Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images
The Philippines is struggling under the weight of a sweet but troublesome burden: a glut of 2m mangoes.

The agriculture secretary, Emmanuel Piñol, said mango farmers had reported an “unusual increase” in the harvest, which they had attributed to El Niño, the climate phenomenon that has led to unusually hot, dry weather this year.

One the Philippine island of Luzon alone there is a surplus of about 2m kg of mangoes, according to Piñol, an oversupply that has led the price to drop from 58 pesos (88p) to as low as 25 pesos (38p) per kilogram.

Piñol stressed the urgency of dealing with the glut before the fruit went to waste and sent the price of mangoes crashing further, hurting farmers. “We need to do something about this in the next two weeks,” he added.

In a bid to make sure that the excess mangoes do not rot, the agriculture department has launched a marketing campaign, dubbed “Metro Mango”, to try to shift a million kilograms of the fruit in Metro Manila, with stalls selling mangoes to be put up all around the capital throughout June. The fresh mangoes will be sold at 25 pesos (38p) to 50 pesos (75p) a kilogram to entice buyers, who will get the low prices only if they buy in bulk.

The department has also launched cooking classes to teach people how to cook with mangoes and will be holding a mango festival in mid-June in a bid to drum up excitement and demand for the fruit.

Some farmers in Luzon, where the oversupply is concentrated, have taken to giving away their mangoes free, hanging bountiful bags of the fruit outside the gates of their farms.

Foreign interest in the cheap mangoes is helping ease the burden. A Japanese fruit importer has pledged to purchase 100,000kg of the mangoes, though this still leaves 1.9m kg to shift. Piñol said it were also hoping to increase daily mango imports to Hong Kong and Dubai.


zands

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Re: How to Apply Potassium Nitrate to Mango Trees, inducing blooming.
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2020, 10:20:08 PM »
How to Apply Potassium Nitrate to Mango Trees

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/apply-potassium-nitrate-mango-trees-55904.html

Reminiscent of tropical summer sunshine, ripe mangoes are a favorite fruit of many people. Like other fruit trees, mango trees (Mangifera indica) must blossom in order to bear fruit. For years, these trees were hard to cultivate since they naturally flower erratically, often skipping every other year. In the 1970s, Dr. Ramon Barba, a horticulturist from the Philippines, figured out how to force mango trees to flower by applying potassium nitrate to the tree's trunk and foliage. This system of chemical forcing is still in use today, including among backyard mango growers.

1
Spray the mango tree in midwinter. Potassium nitrate plus hot sun can scorch a mango tree so choose a day with cloud cover, or spray early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Avoid rainy days since the spray works best on trees that are dry at the time of spraying and stay dry through the rest of the day.

2
Inspect the leaves and branches before spraying to make sure the tree is healthy and mature. Only spray fully grown trees that appear vigorous and strong.

3
Blend 1 pound of potassium nitrate into 7 gallons of water. Fill the tank of your sprayer with this mixture, continuing to stir even as you pour the solution into the sprayer. Shake the sprayer often during use to keep the solution mixed.

4
Set up your ladder in a secure position near the tree if the upper branches are beyond easy reach from the ground. First spray the top of the tree, taking care to apply the spray to each side of the foliage, branches and trunks. Move down to the middle section and complete application there before you start on the lowest sections of the tree. Spray moderately. When you are done, the leaves should all be moist from the spray but few drips should be falling to the ground.

5
Repeat the spraying process several days later. Follow all of the same rules and procedures outlined for the first spray, including careful selection of atmospheric conditions.

6
Watch for buds to appear between 12 and 21 days after spraying. Count seven days from budding to flowering and another five months until you are picking ripe mangoes off your tree.

Things You Will Need
Sprayer
Ladder
Tips
Some mango trees will fruit a second time during the same calendar year if you spray again a few weeks after the first harvest.
See if calcium nitrate costs less than potassium nitrate in your garden store. A spray made of calcium nitrate will force mango trees to flower equally efficiently. If you use calcium nitrate, dilute 1 pound in 6 gallons of water.
Warning
Although Barba's trial mango trees were less than a year old during his experiments, modern horticulturists recommend that chemical sprays be used only on trees more than 10 years old.

zands

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Re: How to Apply Potassium Nitrate to Mango Trees, inducing blooming.
« Reply #2 on: February 12, 2020, 03:04:48 AM »
15 minute video of man in USA applying potassium nitrate aka stump remover to induce blooming

How to Force a Mango to Bloom
307,214 views--194 Comments
•Apr 6, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-PlOR67InY

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Potassium+Nitrate+bloom+Mango+Trees
4 more instructive blooming videos on you tube


« Last Edit: February 12, 2020, 03:08:28 AM by zands »

sunny

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Re: How to Apply Potassium Nitrate to Mango Trees, inducing blooming.
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2020, 07:25:30 AM »
I sprayed my tree twice but it won't bloom...now i'm giving it water stress but also that doesn't work...

Squam256

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Re: How to Apply Potassium Nitrate to Mango Trees, inducing blooming.
« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2020, 08:26:35 AM »
The Guy in the video doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Aside from him not actually forcing his tree to bloom (he’s merely pumping the tree full of nitrogen while it’s flowering on its own during normal flowering period), he says a 5 year old mango is too young to be physically bearing age. That’s absurd.

KNO3 works in the tropical latitudes on some mangos (while some cultivars barely respond to it), but in Florida it will not “force” a tree to flower. He could have sprayed distilled water on the tree, watched it bloom and made the same claim.

zands

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Re: How to Apply Potassium Nitrate to Mango Trees, inducing blooming.
« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2020, 10:44:38 AM »
@Squam256...... I am going to try it anyway, per the instructions way at the top.

FlMikey

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Re: How to Apply Potassium Nitrate to Mango Trees, inducing blooming.
« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2020, 12:29:57 PM »
I tried it last year February (live in Pembroke Pines) on my Sweet Tart.  I did one application and nothing happened.