Mango seedling

[alexander]

I have a mango seedling which I grafted maybe 6 months ago. At the time, the scion was thicker than the rootstock and I had never grafted before so I was too scared to completely remove leaves from rootstock. Anyway, now scion has 3 leaves but the plant seems to only want to grow from the rootstock. I cut off the growing tip from the rootstock but it is trying to grow more shoots from the rootstock rather than the scion. What should I do?

[Rauf]

It's because of apical dominance. Cut the rootstock so it becomes lower than the graft or remove completely.

[alexander]

Ok, I cut it, thanks.

[alexander]

The mango is still growing from the wrong place. Do you think the graft is still viable?

[kapps]

Keep knocking buds off the rootstock. Some rootstocks are more/less compatible with certain varieties and it’s always easier for the rootstock to push new growth to its own self. Are the 3 leaves on the scion from the initial push of growth after grafting?

[alexander]

There was an initial push, but those leaves fell off (possibly because I prematurely removed the plastic bag I was using to incrase humidity). This was the 2nd set of leaves but it has been like 6 months since anything happened. Although I just recently cut the rootstock back as in the previous post.

[kapps]

Well first, I would unwrap the graft union. It looks like there are several layers of tape wrapped there and it could be restricting both rootstock and scion. If it’s been 6 months, the union should be healed. The graft has definitely “taken” after that long and 2 pushes.  Another possibility is nutrients in the soil. I have a neglected graft in a pot from 3 years ago that has pushed twice in that time because the soil has zero nutrients in it. If the rootstock is pushing, that’s probably not the issue.

Your options with the rootstock are to either keep knocking buds off of it until it gets with the program or cut it back more. I would be willing to cut the rootstock down to its two lowest leaves. Once the scion pushes and hardens off one more growth flush, then take the rootstock back as close to the graft union as you can.

[alexander]

I unwrapped it and youre probably right about strangling the growth, it looks a bit gnarly. To be honest Im a little surprised this kind of worked, given I had no idea what I was doing other than some youtube videos. (lighter green is the scion in case it wasnt obvious in close-ups)

[kapps]

Yeah they say buddy tape degrades over time and splits when the plant grows but that’s only with one or two layers. I sometimes use twine over the buddy tape to ensure cambium contact which needs removed.  A little long with a vigorous seedling can sometimes end up looking like this but it does grow out of it.


This is the same graft a bit further away. It’s similar to yours since I left several leaves on the rootstock above the graft. If you look close, I was not only cutting back buds from the tip but also right above the base of every leaf.


I cut the rootstock all the way back to the graft soon after taking these photos. It’s only pushed new growth from the scion since then and the tree is doing great.

[alexander]

There seems to be a bud forming at the base of the scion (below the graft point, but  I checked and the scion has not rooted despite stem extending below graft).

[alexander]

Should I keep it, or remove?