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Preparation of scion material The best scion material is obtained from the tips of mature (rounded) shoots with prominent buds (called tip wood) immediately before the August (winter) growth flush. Tip wood is prepared two or three weeks before use by removal of leaves from the scion, leaving 1 cm of petiole (leaf stem) remaining. The graft stick is cut from the mother tree when required and should be about 6-8 cm long. If not used immediately scions can be stored, wrapped in a moist towelette and plastic bag, in a cool, dark position for periods up to seven days. Ref: Terry Muller
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Researcher Dr Chrys Akem says: “After we prune the trees, clean out all the dead tissue that’s hanging on the trees, all the panicles, all the leaves under the trees, let’s clean them up, bury them, because that’s the source of the diseases that develop on the fruit when they start developing,”
- When I was in New Guinea, my golf caddies would spend a lot of time up mango trees. Interestingly they ate the new leaves and prized these just as highly as the fruit. Ref: Jennifer Vickers
- John Hatch says that a mango is ready to pick when you turn it on the horizontal and it snaps off!
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We are successful in bringing mango to bloom without chemical. I used eggshell and vinegar and of course OHN. http://www.agribusinessweek.com/make-your-own-ohn/ Ref: Jojie – Philippines
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In Vietnam there are 130 varieties of Mangoes and they can manipulate the tree to produce flowering at any time of the year. To induce flowering from the vegetative state to reproductive growth, they water stress and use chemical fertiliser. We stop fertiliser or use just a minor dose of nitrogen to make the roots weaker. If this does not produce results, then we cincture the trunk. Sheryl What stage of plant growth do you cincture? A. After fruiting we promote new growth to get new flushing, then we consider when we want the fruit and from that point we count back to the time we apply this technique and it’s used 6-7 months before we want to have fruit. Sheryl So you cincture the trunk 30cm from the ground ie 2-3 months before flowering and Coaltar is used as a growth retardant in conjunction with this process and is applied directly on the tree trunk. Our Mangoes give 2 crops per year – one main crop and then a minor crop.
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Because of the tropical climate in Malaysia, you can graft Mango and Chempedak all year round. The scion wood is quite long at about 8 inches – 20cm. If the scion is too short on the mango the success rate is low. You can graft anywhere – either in the green or at the brown hardened off stage. Wrap the graft then put a long plastic cover over the graft Ref: Mr. Zahar – Agricultural Park in Kuantan
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Autumn – Tip prune when you pick your Mangoes but it is very important to prune in May. Take out crowding limbs and reduce the number of tip shoots if the tree canopy is dense – open up your tree so air and light can get into it. This encourages flushing then flowering at the correct time. Don’t let them get too large. Fertilize after harvest with 1-2kg of Gypsum. Spray Copper monthly to prevent anthracnose on fruit. In addition, you can also mix up a solution of Copper with a water based paint and paint it on the trunk.
- There’s a mango called Dunn’s Special which really appeals to me. It has a very rich tangy taste that is unique. Kasper says people either love it or dislike it, but everybody that I gave a taste to liked it, even one person who normally didn’t like mangoes. It a bit smaller than a Kensington Pride (Bowen), and the seed is smaller, colour is not as intense, fibre similar, skin thick. It is considered to be a juicing fruit, and is used at the rate of one to seven because of its strong taste. It’s also good for drying. It bears consistently down here and is a medium size tree. The original tree in Queensland is at Bahrs Scrubb and is about 100 years old and is of Indian origin (mono embryonic). It is named after the introducer who also has his name on a road in the area. Kasper first got it through one of our club’s members Len Hansen (an ex-president). Unfortunately he hasn’t propagated from it, so if any one wants it they will have to put an order in. Ref: George Allen
- A Queensland orchardist says he has discovered a new variety of mango which will revolutionise the industry. Gin Gin grower Errol Balke says the “Bundy Special” is a cross between the Keitt variety and the popular Bowen mango. He says it produces more than double the crop of current varieties. “It’s what 90 per cent of the breeders are trying to achieve. A very highly coloured fruit, real pretty pink when it’s ripe,” he said. “It’s purply colour on the trees and as that purple turns to a pink it’s virtually mature, ready to pick. “It’s what they call a mono-embryonic seed, which is a single seed and it gives you a heck of a lot more flesh recovery.” Sheryl: Excellent flavour and dripping with juice!!
- John Picone had mangoes on his trees when most trees in S Qld and I would think N NSW have lost them to disease due to the wet weather even though they have sprayed. John said that he started weekly sprays, alternating with copper and mancozeb from early flower bud stage and kept it up on a weekly basis. Normally copper is not recommended for spraying on the open flowers, but John’s results speak for themselves. The enclosure should have made the moisture-encouraged diseases worse. Ref: George Allen
- Excellent info here: http://www.nt.gov.au/d/Primary_Industry/index.cfm?header=Mango%20Irrigation%20and%20Nutrition%20Research
- Control of Anthracnose must start when you have young flushes (new leaves). Spray the young leaves with 300 grams Copper Oxychloride combined with 2 kilos Muriate of Potash (0-0-60) dissolved in 200 litres of water. Spray at bud break and repeated 3 times at 2 weeks interval. During fruit production, include fungicide in the spray solution. After harvest, use hot water dip. Ref: Tony Rola
- Powdery Mildew in Mangoes Signs to look for are when they completely lose their first flowering but put out a second flowering. You’ll usually see a white residue and the panicle flowers are brown and brittle. Some people spray neutral copper and a wetting agent when the panicles are almost ready to open and others swear by wettable sulphur and a wetting agent. Sulphur will give a good set. Copper seems to be best after the small fruit have formed and will avoid the black spots from anthracnose.
- Why do mango trees often flower but bear no fruits? Ref: pestnet The answer may be fungus, insects or both. In Australia, Johnson and Muirhead (1988) recommended a spray of Mancozeb (800g/kg) at the rate of 2 g/ltr weekly during blossoming and then monthly until harvest. In countries with high rainfall, flowers are commonly infected by the anthracnose fungus, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (sexual stage, Glomerella cingulata). It causes a blossom blight. Symptoms begin as small black spots on flower buds, peduncles, pedicels and the rachis of the inflorescence. Necrotic flowers abscise leaving the persistent peduncles. Lesions may enlarge and coalesce to form large patches of necrotic, brown tissue. As for non-chemical methods: prune out diseased twigs and clean up fallen infected trash. Also, make sure there are no mangoes sitting in the trees as they are likely to be a source of inoculum. Sounds good, but almost impossible to do on large trees! Therefore, prune trees to no more than 4 m tall, starting from an early age. The other cause of the problem is blossom moth, the larvae of which eat the flowers. The easiest way to recognise blossom moth damage is to look for clumps of flower debris held together by webbing. If the remains of the flowers are pulled apart, it is possible to find the small caterpillars hiding inside. Other insects are a possibility: beetles, large grasshoppers or chafer beetles, which would only be obvious at night time. Put a sheet or umbrella beneath the trees to catch any insects that may be present when the flowers are gently tapped.
- Researchers from the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) in Batac City, Ilocos Norte discovered that two microorganisms commonly found in the soil could be used as biocontrol agents against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, a causal organism of anthracnose, is the most serious fungal disease in mango. According to Dr. Thelma Z. Layaoen, MMSU professor and study leader, the microorganisms, Trichoderma harzianum and Bacillus subtilis, were able to control and reduce the infection caused by anthracnose. To test the fungicidal effect of the microorganisms, suspensions of pure cultures were sprayed on anthracnose-infected mango seedlings every two weeks. The fungicidal effect of the microorganisms, 12-14 weeks after treatment, is comparable with the use of commercial fungicide and could be used as an alternative. The researcher recommends that the technology could be part of an integrated pest management program for mango to reduce the use of chemical pesticides. The result of the cost analysis study, however, showed that the use of the microorganisms as biocontrol agents is 20% more expensive than the commercial fungicide. Hence, it is recommended that low-cost materials for the production or multiplication of the microorganisms be studied further to reduce the cost. The MMSU researchers also noted that the microorganisms are sensitive to heat, so they recommended that application be done in the late afternoon. The researchers see potential for these biocontrol agents and stress the long-term beneficial effect of the microorganisms on the environment and human health.
- Guinness Book of World Records has certified a 3.5 kilo mango from southern Philippines to be the world’s biggest. It surpassed the 2.4-kilo mango from Canada which was a product of Sergio at Maria Socorro Bodiongan of Iligan City.
- Queensland researchers have proven that mango disease can be reduced by 20 per cent simply by taking the cleaners through a plantation. The Queensland Department of Primary Industries found growers who improve the cleanliness of their orchard can reduce the amount of chemicals used, and improve fruit quality within two years. Researcher Dr Chrys Akem says it’s simply a matter of going back to basics. “After we prune the trees, let’s go back and clean out all the dead tissue that’s hanging on the trees, all the panicles, all the leaves under the trees, let’s clean them up, bury them, because that’s the sources of the disease that do develop on the fruit when they start developing,” he says. Ref: abc.net.au
- The only tree that fruited well was my Banana Jack and it had a few dozen on it but as it is a long thin mango, the flesh to seed ratio is not great – you need to eat 2 or 3 to get a mouthful! Gordon Tait from Bundaberg reports that his Java, Chok Anan, Bullocks Heart, Keitt and Brooks gave him a few.
- Mango Grafting info from Berns in the Philippines When I visited the Mandaue Experimental Station (MES) in Cebu, they have 3 different varieties of Mango – Guadalupe, Guimaras and Lamao. What is interesting is that they have a unique propagation method in mangoes. They use bantam grafting in Carabao mangoes. They use 5-6 months old mango seedling and graft the preferred variety in a very low graft union way. It’s like Carabao Mango Bonsai. I think the principle is like Mr. Loquias low bark grafting, keeping the canopy small with pruning the side and an open centre. Low bark grafting is grafted in a low graft union too.The reason for this bantam grafting is to make the mango trees dwarf with excessive pruning.
- Grafting If you get Mango scion at 1 to 6 months from flushing, the graft will have a long time to bear fruits, while if you get dormant scions 8 months up from flushing, they will be bearing earlier. However, when you transplant your grafted seedlings and they grow healthy with good fertile organic rich soil, it will grow faster and bigger. Usually we can start making them flower and fruit at 5 years from field planting. Others may start bearing in one year, but we remove the flowers to induce faster vegetative growth. The bigger the tree, the more fruits it can produce. Ref: Rex – Philippines
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Most Mango trees found for sale in Thailand are all airlayered trees. They airlayer from small to gigantic sizes. 5-6 inches diameter and bigger and they do the same for Jackfruit and Santol. Ref: Jay – Miami